Neck Press

Also called guillotine press and neck bench press.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Intermediate

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium-width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over your neck with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.

1. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your neck.
2. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up).
3. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
4. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Cues

• Medium grip, elbows wide.
• Lower slowly toward the neck.
• Use a light weight and a spotter.
• Pause 1 second, press up.

Common mistakes

• Bouncing off the neck.
• Going heavy without a spotter.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

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