(Video Below)

Don’t forget about your shoulders!

As you probably know by now, I’m BIG on WARMING UP before you train. It prevents injury and makes your workout more productive.

Besides warming up my neck directly, I make sure to also warm up my SHOULDERS. After all, your neck, shoulders and back all work together.

One of my previous emails I wrote about SHRUGS, which work your traps, but make sure to get that blood flowing in your shoulders too.

Here’s one of the shoulder warm-ups I do EVERY single time I lift weights or do a conditioning circuit:

I’ll use either a 2.5 – 10 pound plates or dumbbells for my first warm up set. If weights are not available, I’ll use whatever I can get my hands on, like gallon jugs filled with water, something like that (gotta be creative here; all you need is a little weight for some resistance).

I do at least one big compound set (maybe 2 or 3 depending on how I’m feeling) with the following exercises:

I’ll start by doing standing side lateral raises, with my arms STRAIGHT out (I don’t bend my elbows at all), and do 10-20 reps.

Then I’ll bend over, keeping my back straight at about a 30 degree angle to the floor and do rear lateral raises. 10-20 reps.

Then I’ll stand back up and do front raises. 10-20 reps.

Follow up with 10-20 reps of shoulder presses.

Then 10-20 reps of shrugs.

Then I’ll put my arm at my side, elbow glued to my side and bent at 90 degrees, and go in and out just to get some motion going in my rotator cuff. Because I’m going in and out to the side, there is hardly any resistance; I’m doing this more for the range of motion and just to get my rotator cuff moving a little bit. (There are a lot of variations of rotator cuff exercises so I’ll post more of them soon.)

Then 10-20 push-ups.

All back to back, no rest until you go through the WHOLE thing.

All those exercises put together in one large compound set (I call this a “compound set” instead of a “super set” just because all the exercises are working some part of the shoulder).

Then I’ll rest a little bit for about a minute, stretch a little during that time and then do the whole “warm-up circuit” again, sometimes 3 or even 4 times in a row to make sure my shoulders are good and warmed up before I hit the training hard.

I’ll do at least one of these compound sets before I do any kind of conditioning circuit, any time I do a bodyweight workout, any lift – including legs, squats, etc. (gotta make sure my shoulders and neck are warmed up before I put those big weights on the back of my neck) or even BJJ class.

That little warm-up for my shoulders and neck might seem like a regular workout to a lot of folks, but keep in mind, I’m using VERY light weights for this.

I have to make sure to get the blood pumping in my delts and neck before I train! A lot of tweaks, kinks, strains, sprains, stingers and pinched nerves happen because of a failure to thoroughly warm up the shoulders and neck properly before training.

So don’t neglect your shoulders! Do this IN ADDITION to your neck warm up.

Here’s the video:

Give this a try and let me know what you think!

Protect Your Neck!

James Kelly
Founder of GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com

P.S. You can use the above “warm up circuit” for the shoulders and neck as a workout too, of course. Just make sure to do the warm-up first, then gradually up the weights to make it more intense. Always work with what you’re comfortable with.

P.P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to my NEW free “Neck Training For Grapplers & Combat Athletes” ezine, just enter your name and valid email in the box below and I’ll immediately send you exclusive content that will help get your neck bigger and stronger.

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*** These emails are in no way intended as medical advice. Always consult a physician before beginning any new fitness program or trying a new exercise. Safety should always be your first concern, and if you feel any pain or discomfort, stop immediately. ***

Visit www.GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com to receive free neck exercises and neck training tips to get your neck big and strong for wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), submission grappling, mixed martial arts fighting (MMA) and all combat sports.

You’ve got to protect your neck! Go to www.GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com to get the whole story.

Visit www.GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com right away to get your free “Neck Exercises & Neck Training For Grapplers & Combat Athletes” Ezine sent directly to your email inbox. On a regular basis, you’ll get neck training tips and all kinds of neck exercises and neck workouts to build neck strength and mass on your neck, back and shoulders.

If you’re a grappler, wrestler, fighter or combat athlete of any kind, you’ve got to protect your neck!

Go to www.GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com to read the newspaper articles from my neck injury so you can find out for yourself how important neck exercises and neck training are for wrestlers and fighters.

Jim Kelly
Team Lloyd Irvin MMA

www.GrapplersProtectYourNeck.com