Tips » Weight Training
What's the best exercise to strengthen my neck?
I'm trying wrestler bridges right now (the forehead/nose to floor variety). I've read the pros and cons and personally don't see them as dangerous. It's like the presses to the back of the neck. Most trainers are worried sick about liability and swear there is no reason in the world to do them, but I've never had issues working with people who have a healthy shoulder joint. Same thing with stiff- legged deads. There is a new trend that you can never round your back, it's the most horrible thing in the world. Personally, I've had success strengthing the lower back doing full range stiff-legged deads where the back is allowed to round slightly at the bottom.
That's just me, trends come and go (Squat is bad, squat is good, leg extensions are bad, leg extensions are good) but I think many of these exercises are like guns - they are only as dangerous as the person wielding them.
Anyhoo, that's a different topic altogether. After only one week of bridging, I've noticed phenomenal (positive) changes so I'm continuing down that route for now. It's interesting that bridging has been used for thousands of years while neck exercises with weights came about just this past century. Doesn't mean one is right or wrong, but I'd say there's a fairly good practical argument that bridges aren't so dangerous due to their widespread (safe) use.