How To Get A 20 Inch Neck As a Drug-Free Lifter

I have said it countless times that a huge neck is one of the most important things that a drug-free lifter should be striving for when trying to look massive and I still stand by this philosophy until this day. There aren’t as many androgen receptors in our traps when we are drug-free so it is harder to make them grow very tall, but a good way to improve our yoke and look bigger would be to start training the neck with some direct work because that will give the illusion that the traps are higher than they actually are.

First off, I know that you may be a bit intimidated by the title and you may be thinking to yourself “how in the hell is it possible to build a 20 inch neck?”, but have you ever thought about the fact that 99% of people don’t hit their eck with any direct work so this is why its even uncommon to see somebody with an 18 inch neck in your typical commercial gym.

Its kind of like if nobody ever hit their forearms with any direct work, you would probably never see anybody with 16 inch lower arms and it makes a lot of sense because if you want to grow a muscle then you must hit it directly for it to grow optimally (which is something that people don’t often do).

Being a guy who had a 14-15 inch neck when I first started lifting, I know that it can be very irritating at first, but you have to attack this battle in little steps. You see, if you were to train your neck properly for 5 years then you could most likely get there with enough hard work (some might get there in even less than 5 years). Think about it, all you would have to do if you had a 15 inch neck would be to try to add an inch to your neck every year for 5 years. To be more specific, it means that you would have to be getting about 1/10 of an inch per month to add to your neck, but it adds up overtime.

Genetics are going to play a huge role and it is true that not everybody will be able to hit the 20 inch mark (lets just be real here), but if you have some decent genetics then you will most likely get there if you follow everything that I have to say below.

Today I am going to give you 5 of the best tips in order to achieve that 20 inch neck, follow carefully because everything counts. I am a simple guy and I did all of the dirty work for you so take notes and you too will get a bigger neck.

 

1.GAIN SOME WEIGHT

One of the most important tips that seems to be so overlooked is that you have to eat a lot and be in a caloric surplus so that you can gain weight because if you weigh 140lb and you are drug free then it will be very hard to get a 20 inch neck unless if you have some Corey Taylor genetics or something, but most of us aren’t that lucky. They say that for every 10-15lb gained that you will add an inch to your arms, well it is a bit similar to the neck as well except not to that degree for the most part. My father doesn’t even lift weights, weighs 230lb and he has an 18.5 inch neck. If someone who doesn’t even train could reach that mark then what is stopping you? A lot of people that I know who weigh 225lb who don’t even know anything about training already have at least a 17 inch neck too so once you get there then you’re pretty much almost half way done the battle.

Now don’t get me wrong, getting a 20 inch neck as a drug-free lifter is going to require that you put on a bit of extra bodyfat, but that’s the price that you have to pay if you want that 20 inch neck because there is no way that you are going to be 160lb shredded with a 20 inch neck, its just not going to happen for most people.

So remember, you need to eat. It is really the lifestyle outside of the gym that is going to dictate how you are really going to look. The gym is great, but there are a lot of other factors that come into play than just spending 3 hours of training per week in the gym. I am not saying that you have to get fat either, but if you are at 10% bodyfat then go up to 15% and see what happens or you can even go a bit higher than that.

 

2.HIT THE NECK WITH DIRECT DEDICATED WORK AND HIT IT IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ANGLES

The last tip was important, but this one is just as important, you need to train the neck with some direct and dedicated work if you want it to grow optimally. Shrugs at the end of a shoulder or back workout aren’t going to do shit, you need direct work!

When I say direct work I am not talking about 3 sets of neck curls that are half assed at the end of a back workout either after shrugs. I am talking about a good 15-25 minute session where you hit your neck from different angles. This could be at home, after your session, before your session or whatever, the important thing is that it isn’t half-assed.

If you want your neck to really grow optimally then you MUST hit it from the front, back and the sides as well. Hitting your neck from all angles is the same thing as hitting your triceps form all angles. The triceps have 3 heads and if you only do push-downs then you are limiting your development.

Don’t make the same mistakes that I used to make, I used to be that guy who would only do neck flexion work because the neck extension work would hurt the back of my neck and my posture, but you just have to know how to do it properly a way that doesn’t hurt you. The same thing applies to the sides of the neck. You have to do some lateral neck curls in order to add that width from the front or else your progress will severely be limited.

If you don’t already have a neck harness then you should consider buying one because it could really help you with your neck training and make it a lot more user friendly and convenient.

Although one thing that I must add is that the front of the neck is really the meat and potatoes of your neck training because that is the biggest part of the neck so you should train the front the hardest, but don’t neglect the other sides for overall development. I have a 4-way neck machine at my gym, but if you don’t have that then you could easily get a winter hat to put on your head, lie down on a bench then put the weight on your forehead, back of head or side of the head to hit your curls and extensions.

 

3.TRAIN YOUR NECK 3X PER WEEK

(MORE: Q&A with Mike “The Machine” Bruce: Man with the Worlds Strongest Neck & “Neck Flex” Representative)

Now that we got the fact that you have to train your neck with some dedicated work out of the way, lets talk about frequency of neck training. Just like anything else in life, if you want to get good at it then once per week ain’t going to cut it. If you want to make the 20 inch neck one of your long term goals then you need to make it a regular part of your program for the long haul. As far as incorporating the exercises into your program, you could do your neck workout on your off days or just at the end of your workouts.

 

4.PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD FOR LOW & HIGH REPS IS KEY FOR NECK GROWTH

Another important thing is that people have to stop babying their neck training. Most people that I see perform any sort of neck work perform it with baby weights and no intensity. I don’t advise anything under 10 reps for direct neck work unless if you are a lot more advanced, but you could still push yourself a lot during the higher rep (25-50) sets. If you feel like it might be challenging then get a spotter or someone with a bigger neck to push you too while you are at it.

Guys like Mike the Machine have a 20 inch neck (I am pretty sure that he is a drug-free lifter too) and he does lying neck curls with 45s stacked on his face like its nobodies business. Most of the guys with the biggest necks also have the strongest necks (coincidence or not?). If you could do a lying curl with two 45lb plate on your face with strict form for sets of 50-100 then do you honestly think that the front of your neck will be lagging? Yeah that’s right, I didn’t think so either.

 

5. GET VERY STRONG ON ALL OF YOUR RACK PULL/OLYMPIC LIFTING VARIATIONS

I know that I said that you have to do some direct work for the neck, but it also does help if you do some heavy rack pull variations because the neck is still being overloaded and involved to a certain degree. There are actually some people who get to the 18+ inch neck club who are drug-free without doing any direct work for the neck. The thing is that these people will usually be doing some extremely heavy pulling variations and that is going to help contribute to getting a bigger neck, it will also train the traps to a great extent as well.

If you want to know about the Olympic lifts for getting bigger traps then you can check out my other article related to topic.

One thing that you have to understand is that eventually your traps will get so big that they will just add to your neck measurement. So eventually the blob of mass will be so big that you won’t even be able to differentiate where your neck is and where your upper traps are because you will be so yoked.

 

CONCLUSION

SEE ALSO:  101 Tips Injury Prevention Ebook

To summarize everything and make it all as simple as possible:

• Gain some weight to add a bit of extra measurements to your neck

• Get your neck curls, extensions and lateral neck work strong for low reps and high reps (1-100)

• Get extremely strong on all of your rack pull and olympic lifting variations

I did all of the homework for you guys and hopefully there doesn’t need to be any more confusion on this topic. Getting a big neck is hard work, but its not rocket science either.