Part Five in a Series

THE BEHIND THE NECK PRESS Auxiliary exercises should be chosen with this following point in mind. Will this exercise that |am considering spending my valuable time and energy on help me win in my sport? You then rate the exercise based solely on that criterion. For example, ona scale of one to ten how important is a big thick strong neck for football? How about wrestling? Next, consider basketball. The answer becomes obvious. We rate a neck exercise very high for football and wrestling but low for basketball. We then see that auxiliary exercises should be varied from sport to sport.

I believe the Behind the Neck Press is a great auxiliary exercise for football. I rate this auxiliary high because it develops the shoulder or deltoid area. All football players need powerful shoulders to help in blocking and tackling as well as preventing injuries to that area. Behind The Neck Press: The Start Stefan Fernholm is shown demonstrating this exercise. As in the squat, the athlete should spread the chest, look straight ahead and lock in the lower back. Breathe in on the way down and hold the breath on the initial upward thrust. At about the half-way point, breathe out.

| suggest, as with most auxiliary the exercises, to do two sets of ten reps or you may plug it in to the regular BFS Set-Rep System.

The easiest way to get the bar on the shoulders is to use a squat rack. You may also have two spotters lift the bar to the starting position. This lift may be done from a standing or sitting position. Most body builders do this exercise from the sitting position with a bar or with dumbbells. This is perfectly acceptable. However, I prefer that a football player do the Behind the Neck Press from a standing position and with a heavy weight. If you get help from the legs, I believe this is OK for a football player because a heavier weight can be used. It goes along with the axiom: Lift Big — Get Big.

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From BFS Magazine — January/February 1988. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).