As I talked about in a recent article, having a strong neck is super important in jiu-jitsu because it helps prevent injury, makes it harder for you opponent to break your posture and choke you, and allows you to use your head offensively as a fifth limb.

Essentially there are three directions that you need to strengthen your neck:

Forwards and Backwards Side to Side (ear to shoulder left and right) Rotationally (turning clockwise and counter-clockwise)

In an ideal world you would do different exercises, or combinations of exercises, to strengthen your neck in each of these directions.

But time is limited and no one tool does it all, so if I could only choose one direction I would choose first strengthening the back of the neck.  

This is because in modern society we spend a TON of time slumped over our computers, tablets and phones, with our faces forever angled downwards, with the end result that back of our necks keep getting stretched out and weaker.

Think of how you need to keep your head up to prevent your opponent from tightening a triangle choke…

Or to stop him from breaking your posture and pulling you … Continue reading How to Safely Strengthen Your Neck for BJJ