Project Neck Rolls On!

Project Neck is off and running!
Project Neck, now being conducted at Elon University in North Carolina.  Test subjects are working hard.
The Project Neck Lab consists of two state-of the- art pieces of strength training equipment being provided by Pendulum of Rogers Athletic. We have a compact squat rack and several hundreds of pounds of weight and a olympic bar.

Project Neck differs from any other concussive forces study in the fact that this is the only study to ever research the head and neck together. The only study to induce hypertrophy of the capital muscle of the head and neck. The only study to examine  neck cylinder size and how that size difference lowers concussive forces.
Project Neck’s goal is to build a better dissipator  of kinetic energy by anatomical and morphological changes of the musculature of the head and neck through resistance training.
Project Neck is a simple study. We want to lower concussive and subconcussive forces.
We believe Project Neck to be a noble cause.  Project Neck is the only research study looking at what can be done  prior to the concussive episode.  If Project Neck’s research helps to lower dangerous forces to the brain through an established protocol we will feel our time to be well spent.  A protocol would allow an athlete to prepare for the rigors of his or her sport.  Concussions will always be a risk of playing competitive sports and the only cure for concussions is to stop playing sports.

The mission of every sport coach, strength coach or parent should be to protect the athlete first. Project Neck’s research results hope to give coaches and parents the tools to prepare their athletes for competition.

The Rules Of Manual Resistance

The Rules Of Manual Resistance                                              
In 1979 Dan Riley introduced Manual Resistance to America at the National Strength Coaches Convention.  More importantly Dan demonstrated to exercise physiology researchers that muscular strength and functional abilities could be enhanced significantly without the use of barbells or machines utilizing manual techniques.
Dan coached at West Point, Penn State, with the Washington Redskins and also with the Houston Texans. He is still an important force in the strength training community and if you ever get a chance to hear him speak take advantage of it.

When you train manually never neglect to pause at the top of each repetition with pressure. After pausing the key is a very slowly application of force by the spotter during the lowering of the movement.

The most important rule is rule number one...Know the Rules!
1). If you use Manual Resistance make sure you and your spotter know and understand the rules.

2). The Lifter begins each exercise with the goal of 6-8 reps. This requires pacing, in other words, the first repetition is not an all out effort. The effort must be increasing for every subsequent repetition.

2a). The Spotter should allow the lifter to perform each repetition at the same pace or speed of movement. This will require different amounts of pressure by the spotter during the rep (because of leverage). The lifter will feel as though the resistance is similar at all joint angles (the resistance will feel smooth).

3). The lowering phase of every repetition should be slower than the raising phase. A guide in learning manual resistance is raise the involved limbs up in 1-2 seconds or at a 1-2 count and lower them in 4-5 seconds or at a 4 or 5 count.

3a). The Spotter must make sure that they feel more force by the lifter during the lowering phase of each repetition.

4). The Lifter should continually contract their target musculature during the raising phase and the lowering phase of every repetition.

4a). The Spotter must give feedback to the lifter to ensure there is always a constant contraction on every repetition performed. The spotter should identify any relaxation or loss of force by the lifter during the movement.

5). The Lifter should pause with pressure against the spotter's resistance at the top of every movement. Pausing with pressure and no relaxation is extremely difficult.

5a). The Spotter should insure the lifter is applying force at the top of the movement. The spotter must feel if the lifter is relaxing. The spotter must ease slowly into the lowering phase of the exercise. Slowly easing into the lowering phase or decent is extremely important.

6). The exercise is completed when the athlete reaches momentary muscular failure.

Get Strong

Central City High School Nebraska

Train The Head And Neck To Lower Concussive Forces

Train The Head And Neck To Lower Concussive Forces
Time Magazine talks about concussions. Get a copy. Train the head and neck. Lower concussive forces. Get strong.

The Pendulum 5 Way Neck

The Pendulum 5 Way Trains The Head And Neck

Tags: Pendulum neck

Pad-Up With Muscular Tissue

Pad-Up With Muscular Tissue

You can only wear so many pads when you play the game.

There are other ways of protecting athletes from injury, the Pendulum 5 Way Neck is one of them.

Train the head and neck to pad-up with muscular tissue and Get Strong.

Train Those Beams.

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.

He is currently developing a protocol for strength training the musculature that protects the cervical spine.

Biopolmer molecules can resist bending forces similar to the bending elasticity of flexible beams. Bent squeezed or pulled molecules try to drift back to their equilibrium distribution. This occurrence represents an opposing effect against external forces and they act as entropy springs and dissipate the energy.

Deflection of Beams:

The deformation of a beam is usually expressed in terms of its deflection from its original unloaded position. The deflection is measured from the original neutral surface of the beam to the neutral surface of the deformed beam. The configuration assumed by the deformed neutral surface is known as the elastic curve of the beam.

Deflection of Necks:

The deformation of a neck is usually expressed in terms of its deflection from its original unloaded position. By increasing the number of molecules in the neck which is done by developing muscular tissue you obviously increase its strength and reduce deflection thereby protecting the athlete.

Make sure you train the athletes' neck this season and reduce deflection.

TRAIN THOSE BEAMS-KEEP SHRUGIN'