Build Your Neck Mobility

The neck (so: the cervical spine) is, when healthy, the most mobile part of the spine.

It’s essential for everyday function and overhead lifts, and yet it’s often neglected in physical training, despite being strained by forward-facing habits like screen time and driving.

Here’s how to make it better:

It’s time to raise the bar

Literally, you will need a bar. You don’t have to get sportier about it than you want to; a broom handle is equally good!

For each of the exercises in this routine, maintaining rib-hip connection and shoulder stability is important:

1. Chin retraction: place a stick at the base of your skull (occipital lobe) and pull the chin straight back (not downwards) to create a double chin. Maintain a neutral spine, keep your rib cage stable, and repeat.
2. Neck flexion: from the retracted position, slowly curl your chin downward towards your chest—moving only the neck, not the mid-back. Maintain retraction and stable ribs. Repeat, deepening the range each time.
3. Neck extension: starting in retraction, slowly tilt your head backwards so that it moves behind the body without arching your spine or crunching your neck. Return to neutral and repeat.
4. Neck rotation: with the stick behind your occipital lobe, maintain chin retraction while applying isometric tension. Rotate your head to one side, keeping the back of your head pressed into the stick. Return to center and repeat to the other side.
5. Neck lateral flexion: put the stick across your shoulders to stabilize them. Retract your chin, then slowly drop one ear toward the same-side shoulder. Isolate your neck—do not let your shoulders move. Hold briefly, return to center, and repeat on both sides.
6. Partial neck CARs*: begin with lateral flexion (ear to shoulder), then rotate your chin towards that shoulder, return to lateral flexion, and come back to the center. Repeat on the other side.
7. Neck CARs with flexion: begin in lateral flexion, rotate your chin towards the shoulder, and trace your collarbone across into full neck flexion. End with lateral flexion and return to upright. Reverse the motion to complete one rep.
8. Neck CARs with extension: from lateral flexion, draw a semicircle with your chin outward and around into extension. Pass through the opposite side’s lateral flexion, rotate your chin towards the shoulder, and return to the start. Reverse for a complete rep.
9. Full neck CARs: combine flexion, rotation, lateral flexion, and extension into a slow, smooth chin circle. Keep the stick across your shoulders and the rest of your spine still.

*CARs = controlled articular rotations

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Want to learn more?

You might also like:

3 Unconventional Ways To Fix Your Stiff Neck (Without Stretching) ← these ones are because often, your neck is not the actual problem

Take care!