How to do the Weighted Lying Side Lifting Head (With Head Harness)

Muscles worked

Step-by-step

1. Lie on your side on a bench with your head hanging off the edge and the harness securely fitted and loaded with an appropriate starting weight.
2. Begin with your head lowered toward the floor in a controlled stretch, feeling the lateral neck muscles lengthen under load.
3. Drive your head upward in a smooth arc toward your top shoulder, contracting the lateral neck muscles fully at the top position.
4. Lower slowly back to the starting position over two to three seconds, resisting the weight on the way down for maximum stimulus.

Common mistakes

• Using too much weight too soon which causes jerky momentum-driven reps instead of controlled lateral neck flexion, so drop the load and own each rep through the full range.
• Allowing the torso to rotate or assist the movement, which takes tension off the neck, so brace your core and keep your body completely still throughout the set.
• Rushing through the eccentric phase and letting the weight drop freely, which wastes the most productive part of the rep, so actively resist gravity on every single descent.

Sets & reps by goal

Rest: 60–90 sec between sets.

More Neck exercises

Weighted Seated Neck Extension (With Head Harness)Weighted Lying Neck ExtensionWeighted Lying Neck FlexionLever Neck Extension (Plate Loaded)Lever Neck Left Side Flexion (Plate Loaded)Lever Neck Right Side Flexion (Plate Loaded)