How do you prevent neck injuries?

[mataleo]

Hi,
i am training for the last 3 years no gi and 1,5 bjj. i had neck injuries before - in most of the cases you just feel like a robot for a week and thats it. i would get them once in every few months. Recently after every single training i am in pain... i have no idea what changed but its not good. do you have any ideas how to avoid neck injuries?
before every training i am stretching and warming it up but i feel thats not enough.

its sad coz it takes all fun away...

[Jamie Taylor]

Strengthen your neck regular exercise, it will reduce the frequency of injuries at least. Also tell people about it before you roll so they aren't overly aggressive with collar chokes etc. And keep well away from well known head squeezers :)

I suffer with my neck and have done for over 9 years, I was dropped on my head and didn't bother to get it checked out. Get an mri just to be safe, if there's already disc damage you don't want to be making it worse. Two of my friends who train bjj have both just had surgery :(

[Simon Hayes]

OLD SCHOOL CARLSON GRACIE NECK STRENGTHENING ROUTINE-
Frequency- EVERY DAY (for Casca Grossa's twice per day).

Lie on the floor on your back.
Lift your head off the floor-IMPORTANT-do not let it touch the floor again until finished.
Nod your head forward (imagine an ab crunch but using your neck instead of your core) repeat 100 times.
Look left and right 100 times.
Tilt your head towards each of your ear's 100 times.
Finish.
So the set is 300 reps.

[manofearth]

Wrestling neck bridges. Its more of a preventative measure rather than if you are already injured, but if you do bridges and strengthen your neck in the first place you will be less likely to be injured in the future.

[lovegrove]

I went into BJJ with a lot of scar tissue in my neck from a serious rugby accident, and a subsequent car accident. My neck was really tight, would get impingement, pain and it was weak as hell.

I had loads of scans and so forth to make sure there was no damage to physical architecture of my neck, so if you have not already had this I would highly recommend it. I had a course of physio after my rugby accident, and then had a course of private physio after my car accident (however, I know this option is not available to everyone it was simply due to my circumstances at the time). I have maintained a regime of soft tissue work after this which has all but gotten rid of the scar tissue build up in my neck.

For me personally, I did a lot of strengthening work very similar to the outline Simon gave, and that worked really well for me. Since then, I have found just training has helped a lot, and compound exercises like deadlifts and pull-ups. Manofearth recommended wrestling bridges, personally I avoided these as I was already injured as the hyperextension results in masses of intravertebral pressure and in my case was just asking for a herniation. I do them now (sparingly, as my weight goes between 100-110kg) but as manofearth rightly said they can be good if done with a healthy neck by the right person.

In summary; you only have one neck, look after it! If you are now in pain after "every single training" and it "takes all the fun away" I would say it's time to get it checked out!

[lovegrove]

Simon- thanks for that neck strengthening routine, definitely going to start trying that!

[System Addict]

Bridging is great if you don't have any neck issues. But give it a miss if you do.

Simons' routine looks excellent. I will be trying that very soon.

[david5]

Simon- thanks for that neck strengthening routine, definitely going to start trying that!

if you've never done it before i personally suggest building up to 100. start at 60 or so. 100 is a lot harder than it looks!

i do the same thing as simon, the only downside is i'm a skinny fucker with an 18 inch neck and can't buy suit shirts that fit lol

[bomberh]

How do you prevent neck injuries?

Tap or give away position if you find your neck under pressure. There is no point getting injured in training.

[Simon Hayes]

The beauty of the Carlson routine is that the only resistance is the weight of your head,and obviously
our necks were designed to lift the weight of our heads.The moment you add more resistance (ie extra weights or wrestling bridges) the ability to get stronger is increased,but so is the risk of neck injury- which ironically is the very thing we are trying to avoid in the first place.
I am not being negative about wrestling bridges-just stressing that unless your neck is 100% healthy they may not be a good idea.

[Evzy]

Another neck exercise - lie on your side, place a towel on the side of your head (over your ear etc) place a small weight on the towel, then do side neck crunches (towel being their simply to remove discomfort of having the weight directly on your head) - slowly increase the weight over time, but this would suit once you are used to doing the Carlson exercises first and just weight of your head resistance isn't enough to see further gains.

[manofearth]

Obviously you can build up your neck bridges by supporting yourself with your hands either side when you first start doing them, and not attemptiong the full range of motion - I don't suggest you touch the mats with your nose or anything!

I have found that having a strong neck has helped me avoid injuries in the past - once got swept and had my hands tied up in a way I couldn't base out (or judo roll out of it). I had a slowmo period of falling face forward and landed smack on my forehead - my neck and body tensed up automatically to brace at the last second and after a hard hit it barely had any effect after the initial *ow* moment.

[scaron]

Whilst stubbornly trying to defend against an armbar, using both hands, I lost my balance and fell on my head. Thankfully it wasn't too serious and I got off lightly with just a slightly sore neck. I decided that I ought to strengthen my neck, as well as work on a decent armbar defence!, and so for a couple of months now I've been doing much the same routine as suggested by Simon, though at lower reps.

I've noticed improvements in my neck strength and am now wondering if by increasing reps one can replicate results from bridging. Seeing bridging exercises generally makes me a little uncomfortable and so I guess I'm asking if the routine Simon suggests is sufficient or whether bridging will eventually be required in order to continue making progress?

[twitchboy]

Without a doubt increasing the reps will help strengthen your neck. I detest bridging. It always leaves me feeling injured the next day.

Simons routine is ideal for strengthening the neck. Just keep increasing the rep range as you become better at it.

[Duchman]

Try not to use any guard subs, just sweeps and top game.

[liamwandi]

OLD SCHOOL CARLSON GRACIE NECK STRENGTHENING ROUTINE-
Frequency- EVERY DAY (for Casca Grossa's twice per day).

Lie on the floor on your back.
Lift your head off the floor-IMPORTANT-do not let it touch the floor again until finished.
Nod your head forward (imagine an ab crunch but using your neck instead of your core) repeat 100 times.
Look left and right 100 times.
Tilt your head towards each of your ear's 100 times.
Finish.
So the set is 300 reps.

This sounds fantastic for the neck!

[jackmcd]

One thing I have always wondered about bjj neck exercises: surely they unbalance the neck muscles? I mean, I do all the ones that Simon mentions, but no-one has ever told me to do the reverse of the first exercise (eg lie flat on your front and tilt head backwards/upwards)

[TRIBULUS]

I find that doing a headstand before I train stops me from getting so many neck injuries.

[mataleo]

thanks guys,
there is lots of knowledge here.

i went yesterday to chiropractor - he cracked me properly - i am having one more appointment tomorrow.
i feel much better already - i can move :) i can even look behind :D

for sure starting from today i will do Simons neck routine.
i am 105kg and i am not chicken neck - as well never had problems with bridging on my head before - even with somebody mounting me.

i recommend chiropractor to everybody with any back problems. especially in sport like bjj / no-gi.

thanks again
ooooossss

[Murphydeepheat]

I just did CGJJs neck workout, fuck me, I could only do 50 of each rep, and my neck is hurting like hell. That was a lot harder than I thought it'd be.

[Evzy]

Tito's missus has stronger neck muscles than him I heard.... not sure why..

[david5]

told you :p

after 80 i have to force myself to do the last 20 lol, the nods are the hardest of the 3 i find too

[nihilist]

we all do the same neck exercises at Nova Forca as part of the warm-up for every class. Fully recommended.