I have always trained the head, neck, traps, and the upper back musculature 2-3 times per week.
As research and talk with peer has been ongoing we feel it is necessary to get those muscles as big and strong as possible. The bigger, stronger and more girth there is around that region of the body the more potential there is for force from blows (hits) to the upper body to dissipate.
We track all of our exercises for progression and improvement: based on sets, reps and measurements. Our main tracking modality is the Pendulum 4 way neck machine. We consistently train flexion, extension, lateral movements, and 30 degree nods of the head and neck. This is usually done with 1-2 sets of all 5 exercises in the 8-10 rep range. We use the same weight on 2 lift days per week: 8 reps the first day and 10 reps the second day… then the weight gets bumped up. Following that exercise we typically do heavy shrugs with a 5 x 5 rep scheme followed by a set of 15-20 reps with a little lighter weight.
We really stress the pause of all the movements in the contracted position because that is where muscular tension is the highest. If a rep is not paused it does not count and must be redone. We add in variety to the movement every 5th or 6th session and make our athletes hold the last rep for a 10 count to really add intensity.
As the training of the head and neck musculature increases in weight lifted, mass size should also increase. So we measure our athletes’ necks every 6 six weeks all year round in a relaxed state and a flexed state.
Some people really get wrapped up in bench and squat numbers, we get just as wrapped up in how much weight we can complete on the neck machine, the shrug and what the measurement of our neck is!
I really believe training the head and neck region is one way you can help with the safety of athletes in any sport. It is a necessity! The bigger and stronger athlete will always have a competitive advantage if their skill set is equal, wouldn’t that be the same for the head and neck too?