At the age of 18, Mike Tyson indulged in intense training. His training method had a special technique known as neck bridges. With the help of a neck bridge, his neck circumference reached 20 inches, and it helped him absorb big hits.

To train his neck, Mike Tyson followed the old school wrestling routine, and the neck bridge was a huge part of that routine.

First, he lay down on the floor on his back. Then made an arched bridge by placing his head and feet on the floor and rolling his head around in that position. The movement strengthened his neck under stress from different directions.

Back in his heyday, Tyson's strong neck helped him march forward despite taking a few punches before delivering the knockout blow. However, before fighting Jake Paul at 58, he used safer moves, like machine-based exercises with pads.

Apart from his neck training, Tyson also followed a daily 3-4 mile jogging routine. A longtime fan of Calisthenics, he did push-ups, neck crunches, tricep extensions, and squats.

Yet, was Mike Tyson's neck training simply about taking punches?

Why Mike Tyson trained his neck

A strong neck assists in shock absorption, not just in the ring. Strong neck muscles help stabilize the head, helping reduce all kinds of impact and whiplash injuries.

While Mike Tyson trained to absorb punches, Formula 1 drivers train their necks to withstand massive g-forces. Although you may not need to train your neck either in pro boxing or driving F1 cars, a strong neck can help you prevent injuries.

So what do you focus on for a strong neck? Isometrics and Shrugs. Neck isometrics help strengthen one’s neck without any equipment. And shrugs help build upper neck muscles.

Apart from that, with a neck harness, one can train one's neck by progressively adding weight.

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi