Cimmerian Neck Power
I believe bodybuilding is gateway drug back to nature. Training is necessary for all men. My own love of training goes beyond obsession—it’s pure devotion. BUT, I’m not a bodybuilder or a powerlifter. There’s nothing wrong with training for sport, but the specialization required comes at great cost. Powerlifters struggle to go up stairs, bodybuilder’s don’t have the power their body portrays.
I’m fan of the Barbarian Aesthetic. Men must make themselves intimidating and hard to kill. Become a massive hulking barbarian! It’s not enough to look the part, you must become power. You must train for strength AND aesthetics. You all know about Conan the Barbarian, right? This is what you should strive for.
Conan was big, but also as quick and nimble as a panther. The product of a hard life—the barbarian life.
Have you read Shadows of Zamboula?
Shadows of Zamboula has Conan helping some woman—in hopes he’ll get laid afterwards—but she’s abducted. Conan while trying to get her back runs into the bad guy’s henchmen, a brown acolyte named Baal-Pteor. This man was massive and used illusions to confuse the barbarian.
Baal-Pteor taunts the Cimmerian, boasting he had been twisting heads off people since he was a child. He started with babies, then to children and women. When he became an adult, he twisted the heads off men. All with his bare hands. This Baal-Pteor was a strangler. After discombobulating Conan, Baal-Pteor’s hands closed around his neck for the kill. The barbarian didn’t try to stop this.
Right after feeling the chords of muscles in Conan’s neck, Baal-Pteor gasped as the Cimmerian’s hands locked around his neck. They stood there—a battle wills and necks. The veins in their temples begun to show. It was at this moment that Conan grinned at the acolyte. Fear shown in Baal-Pteor’s eyes. Conan’s thick neck would not give.
Baal-Pteor started to panic. He heaved and struggled to get free. The barbarian’s fingers ground deeper and deeper into his neck. Conan overpowered the large man, prying him onto a table and this is where he told the acolyte:
“‘You fool!’ he all but whispered. ‘I think you never saw a man from the West before. Did you deem yourself strong, because you were able to twist the heads off civilized folk, poor weaklings with muscles like rotten string? Hell! Break the neck of a wild Cimmerian bull before you call yourself strong. I did that, before I was a full-grown man—like this!’”
You must read to know what happens next, but you can probably guess. Pretty boys train to look pretty. Fat boys train to be strong. You need both.
Train your neck.
I can guarantee almost no one trains their neck. Maybe if you’re training MMA or boxing, but beyond that no one trains the neck. Why? It’s boring that’s why. No one wants to put on the boring neck harness when you could be benching or curling. These are the mirror muscles the females see—but so is the neck. A thick, striated neck is True Cimmerian Power.
Everyone knows about the neck harness. If you don’t have one, there is cheap Everlast harness on Amazon. A simple weight plate can be be used for head bangers(front neck raises), done for high reps. Don’t ever try to max out on neck exercises. Start light with 5lbs and get 100 reps in as few sets as possible. You can also use wrestler bridges. If these seem too dangerous, they are scalable. Try first with lifting body off ground with head and traps pinned to ground.
My favorite neck exercise is a Neck Plank.
Everyone knows what a plank is, right? It’s a core exercise. Now instead of using your forearms, use your forehead and you have a Neck Plank. Do not try this right away, your neck strength must be built to it.
Start first in a straddle pike, use your hands to support your neck. Aim for 60sec of plank time with as few sets as possible. When you can do full 60 secs, progress to next level.
Neck Plank Progression:
- Straddle Pike, with hand support
- Pike, with hand support
- Then slowly start moving your feet back to achieve plank before you remove hand support
Your neck and traps will be blown up by this exercise. It’s an awesome exercise of power. Never put your neck in compromising position. Always start with easiest progression. Do 4 to 6 sets for 15 to 10 secs.
I recommend one neck exercise per workout. Use 4-6 sets. Treat as finisher exercise. Not only will you be harder to kill, but a stronger neck will help with exercises like the deadlift and the press. You don’t realize how your neck has to work during a heavy press. If you played football, you’d have gotten a stringer at some point this. That is what it feels like to tweak your neck during the press.
Always train your neck.