One of the most common themes of the Highlander Franchise is in order to have the strength and power of another immortal is to decapitate them using the stroke of a sword that releases what's called the quickening. In other words, if you won the fight, you gain power and knowledge of your opponent. Enhancing the abilities of the victor.
So, what the hell does this have to do with fitness? Well, in a nutshell, it's the training of the neck. A fun little tidbit of developing real strength and conditioning for one of the most neglected body parts in the Fitness Culture. Unless you're a football player, MMA fighter or wrestler, you don't see a ton of programs involving Neck Training.
Working your neck is more than just building muscle, it's the possible prevention of injuries and concussions that occur a lot with Spinal issues and recurring neck problems. Many don't train their neck in a typical gym setting or even at home because there isn't a ton of information and whatever is, usually involves using weights, bridges on the head and merely using a wall or laying on your side as you only use the head. Weights have their place in training the neck and bridging is a cornerstone for building a strong neck to prevent being pinned down or getting out of a jam if you're fighting on the ground but it doesn't always constitute the idea of working the neck for longevity and strength.
If you know anything about what I love doing, it's finding exciting and cool ways to train using practicality and realistic ideas to keep things going in the long run. Neck Training is no different. I've done Bridges, Mobility Work and Self Resistance stuff for many years and rarely ever got injured in my neck. Had plenty of soreness at times but I feel grateful that I've never had a concussion or had to wear a neck brace from having whiplash or worse.
One of the best pieces of equipment I've ever used so far since earlier this year has been the Neck Flex that was the baby of the man known as Mike The Machine Bruce, a Marine with a background in shoot fighting and wrestling. Also is dubbed the man with the World's Strongest Neck, holding records such as Neck Curling with 300 lbs, having rebar and horseshoes bent across his throat and other things. In his prime, had a 20-21 inch neck that you really couldn't get a good choke hold on. He inspired me to get this crazy looking thing. Since I've had it, I've done thousands of reps doing exercises in various directions. Working up to 300-400 reps per session, sometimes more with experimenting the door anchor style.
I use the resistance band variation of the NF because it's just my preference and I can hook it up to the D Rings and just go to town man. Here is my Demo of exercises and some Neck Curls using a strap. This has kept my neck thick, strong and mobile. I plan on testing out more exercises in the near future, even might work on Isometrics using chains, that would be bad ass to do LOL. For real though, you don't have to be a wrestler or a fighter to train your neck, it's an add on to what you can do for your current program or do Neck Work on off days so you can give the other muscle groups a break, whatever is comfortable for you.
When you train the neck with intent and safety, you're learning to value the body from another perspective. We have to keep our heads up high and let people know we are strong. Guys like George F. Jowett knew this, Farmer Burns and others that made the importance of building a powerful neck worth the effort. In a nerdy sense, there would be more immortals in Highlander if those people knew how to truly their neck and those swords would have a much tougher time to cut. Then again, the villain The Kurgan had his throat cut and didn't get decapitated the first time, maybe there was some special training he did because you never see that happen at any other time in the films or tv series.
Be amazingly awesome and remember.....THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!!
*If you click the link to the Neck Flex, you can get a special discount off your order if you use the code POWERANDMIGHT at checkout.
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