Wrestling Shouldn't be a Pain in the Neck

Believe it or not, you can use this as a training tool

 No matter how much you stretch, you well you warm up, or how flexible you are in the neck bridge, there will inevitably be times when your neck gets cranked and you end up in a lot of pain.  I consider myself to have a pretty strong, flexible neck, but I still occasionally get my neck tweaked and it's no fun when it hurts to turn your head.  The worst neck injury I've had was my freshman year in high school at a tournament at Notre Dame High School.  I took third, and the guy that beat me really did a number on my neck.  So much so that my head was cocked to the side for a couple days and I had to walk around looking like an idiot.

I didn't know as much at the time, so I just iced my neck and upper back where it hurt and tried to roll my neck around to keep it loose.  If only I had known some of the tricks I know now.  Aside from neck bridging and other stretches, one of the best ways to relieve a strained neck muscle is by using a tennis ball to apply pressure and massage out the knots.  Since you probably don't have a masseuse at your beck and call, this is a great substitute.  Simply place the ball on a mat or carpeted surface, and lay down with the point of pain directly on top of the ball.  One thing worth noting is that one of the muscles on the back of your neck is actually your trapezius (see the picture here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezius_muscle) and it is usually there where I need to massage things out.  The trapezius muscle extends horizontally from your shoulder to your spine, and vertically from the base of your skull to the middle of your back.  Even if the strain is somewhere in your upper back, it probably still will hurt to turn your head or rotate your neck since the muscle works as one unit.

When you lay on the ball, put as much pressure on the muscle as you can.  If you can stand the pain with your hips off the mat, then do so.  Slowly move yourself over the ball so that it rolls around the area that hurts.  When finished, you will probably be surprised at how much looser your neck feels.  Give it a try next time!

Buy a tennis ball,
Jeff