Joe Kenn has been a strength training innovator for more than three decades. He created the Tier System, an athletic-based strength training template in which athletes work on their whole body daily utilizing the means and modes of the various strength disciplines.
A key factor in athletic-based strength training is evaluating movements and plans that help protect the athlete. One of the key areas to build a protection plan is training the “shield.” The shield is the area of the body that helps support the head. With head and neck injuries on the rise in sports, it is recommended that coaches emphasize training the muscles of the neck, trapezius, and posterior shoulder capsule. The goal is to build the shield’s body armor to give the athlete the confidence to know they have been prepared with their safety at the forefront.
Recently, after seeing the emergence of head exercises to train the neck as a way to minimize head injuries, Coach Kenn came to a realization. Strength training of the neck needs to be performed not only in a two-dimensional manner, but rotational movements need to be also included. In evaluating movement patterns that are minimally trained in programming, Coach Kenn realized several that could be an asset to protecting the athlete.
“When it comes to strengthening the neck, rotation is crucial,” he said. “Most strength exercises for neck strengthening are front and back and up and down. Doing neck exercises that involve diagonal and lateral rotation is crucial to properly train the neck because these movements mirror what occurs in athletic competition.”
Coach Kenn has created a course to share his innovative neck training program. The course is called “Reinforcement: Strength Training for Head and Neck Support,” It is available now on this website.
The course contains three hours of content. It includes an E-Book and seven modules showing programming examples. A quiz will be taken at the end of each module to ensure practical application. The course is NSCA (.7) and CSCCa (1.5) CEU-approved.
One of Kenn’s other key principles to strength training the neck is putting neck strengthening exercises at the beginning of the workout when attention is the greatest. “It achieves the maximum benefits from the neck exercises, sets the tone for the rest of the workout, and by doing it early in the workout, it sets the tone to the athletes that this area of improving strength is very important,” he said.
For Coach Kenn, the purpose of conducting an introspective look at how to train the neck best is to help strength coaches take steps to reduce the number of traumatic head injuries that have been on the rise over the last decade. And, more important, to help athletes fulfill their goals as both athletes and individuals.
“The course protects the athlete’s body armor, serves to help them avoid serious injury, and helps them have an effective athletic career that propels them to success off the field as well,” Kenn said. “At the end of the day, that’s the mission of every strength coach.”
