maratoolNeck-SMR
How to do the neck-smr
- Using a muscle roller or a rolling pin, place the roller behind your head and against your neck. Make sure that you do not place the roller directly against the spine, but turned slightly so that the roller is pressed against the muscles to either side of the spine. This will be your starting position.
- Starting at the top of your neck, slowly roll down the muscles of your neck, pausing at points of tension for 10-30 seconds.
Muscles worked
The muscles under tension are the cervical flexors and extensors, which move the head and hold it steady on top of the spine.
A stretch loads them at the far end of the range they normally work in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.
Every exercise for:Neck
How this movement works
Nothing travels once you are in position. The muscle holds a length under tension instead of working through a range, so effort is measured in seconds rather than repetitions — and the honest progression is more time in a good position, not a deeper one forced early.
It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.
What you need
These train the neck too, using equipment this one does not:
- Static Neck Flexion and Extensionbody only
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 10 neck exercises in this database, 4 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.