Neck pressing is mainly used in various throwing and pushing disciplines in athletics and bodybuilding. However, neck pressing does not train the trapezoidal muscle that makes up the “bull’s neck” in weight training. By stretching the arms over the head, the shoulder muscles (M. deltoideos) and the arm extensor/triceps (M. triceps brachii) work. If you want to specifically train the trapezius muscle (Musculus trapezius), you should prefer shoulder lifting. Neck pressing can be performed as barbell and dumbbell training, but for beginners it is recommended to perform the movement on a multi-press, since the coordinative requirements are particularly high for neck pressing.
Trained muscles
- Anterior part of the deltoid muscle (M. deltoideos)
- Arm extensor (M. triceps brachii)
Neck pressing is comparable to bench pressing. The athlete sits on an almost 90° steep training bench, his feet are shoulder-wide on a second bench. In order to avoid back pain, the lumbar spine maintains permanent contact with the backrest, and pressing from the hollow back is not possible.
The head is in extension of the spine. The hands grasp shoulder width at the barbell bar of the Multipress. The weight is lifted out of the guide (a training partner helps with maximum strength training) and slowly guided to the height of the back of the head.
Caution: if the weight is guided up to the shoulder, the load on the shoulder joint increases many times over. From this position, the athlete pushes the weight back to the starting position in the concentric phase. In order to keep the load on the elbow joint as low as possible, the arms should not be stretched out to the maximum. The number of repetitions varies depending on the training goal.
