http://www.training-conditioning.com/2012/07/18/a_case_for_training_the_neck/index.php
www.concussionpreventionprotocol.com
WWW.concussionpreventionprotocol.com
A Case for Training the Neck
By Ralph Cornwell, Jr., Ph.D. (abd)
To protect athletes from concussions and other head
injuries, strength coaches should focus on strengthening the neck and
trapezius muscles. In fact, the author argues that neck strengthening
should be a training priority.
In a tradition that dates back centuries, physicians take the
Hippocratic Oath before they practice medicine. In the original
interpretation of the oath, a doctor would swear to “prescribe regimens
for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and
never do harm to anyone.”
This code of moral conduct offers up valuable lessons to strength
coaches and athletic trainers who work with the “patient” in their
world: the athlete. Strength coaches are charged primarily with the duty
of preparing athletes for the rigors of their chosen sport. Referring
back to the Hippocratic Oath, one could argue that increasing the
performance of an athlete should become the second priority for strength
coaches because a great athlete standing injured on the sidelines does
no one any good.
Instead, the top priority for strength coaches should be a training regimen targeted
first at protecting their athletes
from harm as they tune them for competition. If strength coaches look
first to protect their athletes from potential harm and prepare properly
and diligently the most vulnerable region of athletes’ bodies, one
could argue that the number of serious sports injuries could be reduced
or minimized.
And what is the most vulnerable region of the body that, if
traumatized, could lead to a serious, possibly life-threatening injury?
Without question, it is the neck region (cervical spine).
The neck supports the head, which encases the hierarchy of human
beings’ functions, the brain. The trapezius–either of the two large
muscles that run from the base of the back of the skull to the middle of
the back–makes it possible for persons to raise their heads and
shoulders. In essence, these muscles act as the foundation and support
the driving force at the top of the body–back to the brain. If the
foundation is strong, then the head is better supported and the brain
better protected.
Given the critical role these muscles play, one would think the neck
and trapezius would be at the top of strength coaches’ regimens for
their athletes. But in a recent survey I distributed as part of my
dissertation, over 200 college and university strength coaches were
asked about their neck/trapezius training regimens, and their answers
revealed this muscle region has a lower training priority than others.
Survey questions ranged from “does your weight room have a four-way neck
machine,” and “do you do any direct stimulation to strengthen the
neck,” to simply “how important is training the neck in your program?”
The lack of emphasis on training this area may be explained by the
fact that many coaches are simply unaware of the importance of training
the neck and the trapezius muscles, which the neck relies on to
dissipate forces. If strength coaches knew of the vital role the neck
plays in sports performance, as well as the importance of increasing
neck strength, then these results may have been very different.
Muscle regions other than the neck/trapezius area were emphasized in
most strength-training programs. Does the following sound familiar when
examining many of the nation’s strength training programs? Athletes use
the bench press for the upper body; squats and leg presses for the lower
body; and some abdominal and lower back work. This is a complete
regimen, as many would suggest, if the strength coach’s only priority is
the performance of the athlete rather than protection of that
individual.
However, by training the neck and trapezius muscles, strength coaches
can enhance protection and performance of their athletes. A stronger
neck increases the strength of an athlete, who then functions as a
complete working unit. For example, consider that the trapezius muscles
run from the base of the back of the skull all the way to thoracic
vertebrae 12. Overlooking such a critical and major muscle group
certainly does not enhance an athlete’s overall performance.
To minimize head injuries, let’s revisit the neck/trapezius area and
see how these muscles play a critical role. Neck muscles act as springs
and shock absorbers; bigger, stronger necks can better absorb with less
deformation. Recalling the laws of physics, consider the neck as a
cylinder. The larger the circumference of the cylinder, the more load it
can support without buckling.
As training the neck area increases strength there, the soft tissue
thickens and the neck becomes stiffer. Using physics again to explain
the necessity for stiffness, view the neck as a coiled spring. The
thicker the coils of the spring, the greater the stiffness ratio. A
smaller, less stiff spring is easier to compress from an axial-loading
standpoint. A stiffer spring–or stronger neck–deflects greater frontal
or side impact forces.
All variables being equal, if a given cylinder increases its diameter
by two inches–say from six inches to eight inches–the deformation
decreases 43 percent. Common sense, simple logic, or even strong
speculation suggests that a bigger, stronger neck would give an athlete a
better chance of avoiding serious injury when absorbing impact forces
during collisions.
And female athletes should not avoid training the neck area, just
because many think they will get a “fat neck” from such conditioning.
Biologically, females do not achieve the hypertrophy that males do, but
they can benefit greatly from the strength gained in this region of the
body.
Training the neck area in four directions–flexion, extension, and
left and right lateral flexion–followed by a shoulder shrug exercise
offers the most effective direct stimulus to this region of the body.
Neck machines are great devices to help with this training, but if
strength coaches cannot afford these machines, they should educate
themselves on the protocol of manual neck resistance, along with a
barbell or dumbbell shrug.
Relating back to the original premise, if strength coaches truly
believe their first priority is to protect the athlete and prevent
injury, and that the neck and cervical spine are at risk during
competition, why would they not train this region of athletes’ bodies
religiously? If strength coaches train all the agonist and antagonist
muscle groups but neglect the neck and trapezius area, are they truly
preparing their athletes effectively for the rigors of their sport?
Well-informed strength and conditioning professionals would see the
logic in this premise and would want to help their athletes in any way
they could.
Strength coaches need to find 30 minutes twice a week to train the
neck and trapezius area. With effective time management and
efficiencies, any strength and conditioning program could meet this
objective. In setting up a strength training facility, would it not make
sense also that for every station, say, for squatting, there would also
be a station for protecting the brain and turning the head?
As these questions tumble forth, again the Hippocratic Oath comes
back into play–”to prescribe regimens for the good of my patients.”
Maybe the essence of that document created long ago can have relevance
in more ways than one to strength coaches everywhere today.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dan Riley for all of his help and wisdom over the
years. I would like to thank Mike Gittleson for his guidance with this
article and the completion of my Doctoral Degree. Also, special thanks
to Chris Potter Mechanical/Structural Engineer for his help and insight.
Lastly, I would like to thank Tyler Hobson for the use of a great neck
machine that will allow me to finish my research.
Ralph Cornwell is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human
performance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, with
additional course work in sports psychology. A Certified Strength and
Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning
Association. An honors society member, he currently is conducting a case
study on neck injuries and the prevention of or leasing of concussive
forces. He has more than 17 years experience as a strength and
conditioning coach, consultant and lecturer. Having derived his training
philosophy from Dan Riley while with the Washington Redskins, Cornwell
has worked with high-school, collegiate and professional
athletes–including those in the National Football League, Major League
Baseball and Major League Soccer–as well as women’s soccer and lacrosse
players, NFL Europe athletes, European and Russian basketball players,
and several international players from Africa and Australia. He has been
the head strength and conditioning coach at Radford University, the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State University, and assistant coach at the
United States Military Academy at West Point. Cornwell points to the
fact that he never had an injury in a weight room where he was the head
coach. At age 45, he still trains as hard as any of his athletes.
Ralph Cornwell
is a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion/human performance at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to
pursuing his Doctoral Degree he was a collegiate strength coach.
