Pack the Neck!

“Neck-Packing” is a combination of strong cervical retrusion and capital flexion. In more simple terms, it is more or less making an unattractive double chin. Try this two-part process. Stand with your back against a wall and your head touching the wall. Wiggle your head up the wall to make yourself as tall as possible. Next, allow your chin to drop back toward your throat. You have now executed a packed neck. I have known for a while that training with your neck in a hyperlordodic position, like the guy in the picture below, is probably a safety issues and is going to lead to problems down the road.

However, not until recently watching Charlie Weingroff’s “Training = Rehab” did I begin to realize the performance implications as well. In movements used in training, such as swings and deadlifts, the spine functions as one long chain rather than as distinct sections of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. The human spine has unique curves that allow it to act in a spring-like fashion to balance out compressive forces and accommodate shearing forces. Thus, when one area of the chain moves, the human body will respond by doing what it does best and compensate in other areas.

For now, lets consider the consequences of letting the neck drift into extension with a movement like the deadlift. When this occurs it causes what Mike Reinold has termed a “kinetic chain ripple effect“ (you can read more about this topic here: http://www.mikereinold.com/2011/11/the-problem-with-the-kinetic-chain-concept.html). When the head falls out of optimal alignment, strap muscles from the anterior neck that attach to the scapula pull it into slight protraction and elevation. The thoracic spine then accommodates by flexing slightly as well.

In addition, when cervical spine extends, the deep neck flexors become inhibited. As the deep neck flexors are intimately connected to the rest of the inner core (including the diaphragm, transversus abdominus, multifidus, and pelvic floor), inhibition leads to suboptimal or delayed contraction in these other important muscles of intrinsic stabilization.  Further down, the lumbar spine will continue the previous compensatory patterns by falling into lordosis. This results in the lumbar spine relying posteriorly on bony approximation for stability and therefore telling the core stabilizers that they can take a break.

(This looks so much better!)

These may not seem like major changes and might not even be visibly noticeable all of the time. Nevertheless, these compensations bring the joints out of positions of centration where optimal stabilization and force transmission can occur. From a performance standpoint, this creates energy leaks where force is sub optimally transferred up or down the chain.

I believe that in all controllable training environments, packing the neck is a key feed-forward mechanism you can use that will lead to improved performance and safety. At first when attempting this with your training, you might have to lower the weights and really focus on keeping the neck in the right position.  I have found, though, after practicing it for several months, it has become more reflexive and something I have started to find myself doing out of habit. Check out Bret Contreras in the video below for a good demo of what this looks likes. 

Hope you will give this a try!