How You Can Lengthen Your Neck Naturally

Of all the things that affect how tall you look, your neck is the most overlooked.

A short or visually compressed neck quietly erases height you may have already worked hard to gain.

When I started paying attention to mine, I realized it was one of the simplest and most consistent improvements I could make . No equipment, no gym, no excuses.

The neck responds well to targeted stretching.

Two of the major neck structures that can easily be targeted by the neck lengthening exercises include the cervical spine and the superficial neck muscles .

Understand what you’re working with, and the exercises make immediate sense.

The Cervical Spine

This consists of seven vertebrae (bones of the neck) and the spinal discs which lie between adjacent vertebrae, act as shock absorbers and together with the neck muscles, they allow the neck to rotate.

The way the vertebrae are aligned determines the shape of your neck.

Research on disc distraction (a technique that creates space between intervertebral discs) has shown that it leads to disc hydration.. [1]

Hydrated discs are thicker discs, and thicker discs mean a measurably longer neck.

Neck stretches work in part by encouraging this hydration. [2]

Stretching The superficial Neck Muscles

The three major muscles you will be targeting with the neck stretches are:

A. The platysma ( the muscle that stretches from the collar bone across the front of the neck, to the jaw).

B. The sternocleidomastoid ( muscles that extend from your collar bone, across the side of your neck to just behind the ears)

C. The trapezius (the muscle that extends from the shoulders to the back of the head and covers the back of your neck)

Scientific research among humans demonstrates that passive stretching does increase muscle length.

Passive stretching is when a stretch position is held in a relaxed manner,

which is exactly what each of these exercises involves.

Taken together, they lengthen the muscles while simultaneously decompressing the cervical discs.[3]

Hence, targeting the exterior muscles of the neck with stretches can significantly contribute to neck length as the head is fully extended in different directions.

How I Lengthened My Hitherto Short Neck With Neck Exercises

To have a longer neck, all it takes is one or two minutes of flexing your neck around any where, any time of the day so don’t be lazy and stretch your way to a longer neck.

Step One

Start by Standing freely with legs and hands slightly apart and the chest slightly out..

1. Neck Extension

Hold: 10 seconds

Targets: Platysma

Slowly tilt your head back and upward, extending the neck until you feel a full stretch across the front .

You should be looking at the ceiling or the sky at full extension, and the head should resist moving any further.

Hold the position for 10 seconds or simply count one to ten slowly since you may not be in position to look at the clock ticking.

Halt the stretch position the moment you start feeling dizzy even if it’s less than 10 seconds then proceed to the next stretch.

2. Standing Neck Flexion

Hold: 10 seconds

Targets: Trapezius

After stretching the platysma muscle , proceed to stretch or lengthen the trapezius muscle.

Gently lower your head towards your chest until the trapezius muscle at the back of your neck is fully stretched.

You may gently push the head towards your chest from the back with your fingers to ensure that the muscle is fully stretched.

Note:

Because this is quite a huge muscle, you may not effectively stretch it by simply flexing your neck while standing so the sitting neck flexion exercise will be more effective as discussed later but you will need a seat to execute it.

If you have no where to sit, then the neck flexion will do in the mean time.

3. The sitting Neck Flexion Stretch

Hold: 10–30 seconds

Targets: The trapezius muscle.

Begin by sitting in an upright position with your hands rested on your knee joints.

Lower your head gently until you feel that the trapezius muscle is stretched right from the back of your shoulder to the back of the neck.

Hold position for at least 10 seconds but you can hold on for as long as you wish to stretch your trapezius muscle even further.

You may get up, relax a bit before repeating the stretch.

4. Lateral Neck Flexion (Left & Right neck bending)

Hold: 5–10 seconds each side

Targets: The sternocleidomastoid muscles

Tilt the head as close to the shoulder as possible to ensure that the muscles on the right hand side of your neck are fully stretched.

Hold position for 5 to 10 seconds before proceeding to the next stretch.

Follow the same procedure to lengthen the muscles on the left hand side of your neck.

Neck Strengthening Exercises: Keep Your Gains

After the stretches, your neck muscles will be longer but temporarily looser.

Muscle length gains are greatest immediately after stretching and start to decline within 15 minutes , which is exactly why it makes sense to strengthen the muscles right after.

Most females prefer slimmer necks so, If you want a slimmer neck, then you don’t need the neck strengthening exercises but most males prefer stronger or thicker necks.

why You Should Strengthen Your Neck Muscles

Weak neck, and upper back muscles may lead to increased pressure on the pine in the neck and shoulder regions thus resulting into neck pain.

Strengthening the neck muscles not only improves posture, it also helps to keep the head perfectly erect.

This is what you need to do;

Exercise 1 : Manual Neck Press (No Equipment)

Interlace your fingers and place them firmly at the back of your head with your chin lowered.

Push your head upward against the resistance of your hands. Aim for 10 controlled repetitions.

This exercise can be done anywhere, anytime.

Alternatively;

Exercise 2 : Towel Resistance Raise

Roll up a towel and position it at the back of your neck with your head facing down.

As you gently pull the towel forward around your neck, slowly raise your head as high as you can, then return to the starting position. Do up to 10 repetitions.

How To Relax Your Neck and Shoulders After The Stretches

Shoulder Shrugs

Conclude your set of neck exercises by relaxing the neck and shoulder muscles with shoulder shrugs immediately after the stretches for optimal results.

Shoulder shrugs will help you to get rid of all the tension in neck and shoulder regions leaving your neck perfectly erect.

Start by looking straight forward, then gently raise both shoulders as shown in picture.

Hold for 1 to 2 seconds, then return to starting position.

Do 10 repetitions rapidly to relax your muscles around the neck and shoulder.

6 Tips to Get the Most Out of These Exercises

1. Consistency over intensity.

It’s easy to forget to stretch your neck daily.

Either incorporate it into your main grow-taller exercise routine if you have one or do it whenever you remember, the beauty of these stretches is that they require no equipment and can be done anywhere, including at your desk.

2. Stretch your chest at the same time.

Whenever you work the neck, give the chest a stretch too as described in The Grow Taller Exercise Routine Handbook →

Your entire cervical spine will appear much longer and tension will be relieved from both the chest and neck.

3. Your neck, can feel tense and tight when you are stressed.

This symptom can surface and dissipate sporadically, occur frequently, or persist.

Anxiety, fear or nervousness may contribute or lead to neck tension though the neck may also become tense without any specific cause.

When you are anxious, a stress response is triggered.

Such a response is meant to deal with danger through either fighting it or fleeing from it.

Such a response may include tightening of muscles to defend the body from danger.

The stress response includes making the muscles rigid in order to defend the body from any danger.

Muscle constriction in response to stress can affect any muscles including those in the neck.

A number of nervous and anxious folks suffer from neck stiffness as a result of the stress they encounter.

Calming yourself down will bring an end to the stress response and its changes.

So make sure you relax your neck muscles with stretches or shoulder shrugs whenever you feel nervous or stressed.

4. Always stay hydrated.

As you go about your daily activities, the spine discs get compressed due to gravity and poor posture among other factors including the cervical discs.

With every move you make, the water within the discs is squeezed out.

So, keep your body hydrated at all times.

When you are not properly hydrated your body cannot replenish the cartilage discs between your vertebrae with water which leaves them compressed.

Taking beverages like soda is not an effective way of keeping your body hydrated .

You need to make sure that you drink at least 2 – 3.5 liters of water every day.

Dehydration will also affect muscle growth including neck muscle growth.

5. Not getting enough quality sleep each night will affect your muscle growth including neck muscles..

Lack of sleep increases the concentration of cortisol (a stress hormone) in your blood which has a negative impact on growth hormone in the body and glycogen all of which affect muscles.

Hence, sleeping at least 7 – 9 hours every night is critical.

6. Stay physically active.

Research shows that it takes approximately 14 days of physical inactivity for those who are physically fit to lose a significant amount of their muscle.

Due to inactivity, less protein for muscle building is synthesized thus reducing muscle mass which makes it harder for the muscles to grow or lengthen.

So, keep your body active.

Get out and take a walk, do some running or cycling.

Any physical activity will do.

Frequently Asked Questions

1 . If I do the neck strengthening exercises, will my neck gains become permanent?

Yes, the height gains in the neck are relatively permanent but even when your neck lengthens, you should continue with the exercises every once in a while.

2. How quickly should I expect to see a difference in my neck length?

All factors remaining constant, Within one to two weeks of neck stretches you will notice a slight difference in your neck length.

3. After doing the exercises, I feel soreness around my upper shoulders and jaw. Am I doing something wrong?

Neck stretches should not cause pain they relieve it.

Some mild muscular discomfort in the upper shoulders after introducing new exercises is normal in the first few days.

However, if you’re feeling sharp discomfort in the jaw, you may be over-extending or clenching during the extension stretch.

Just make sure that the stretch is slow and controlled.

4. Will these exercises make my neck wider as well?

The stretching routine alone will lengthen and slim the neck.

If you want a wider, more muscular neck, place more emphasis on the strengthening exercises particularly the towel resistance raise and progressively increase your repetitions over time.

5. By how much will my neck lengthen?

You can realistically expect approximately 1–2 cm of measurable lengthening.

That said, the visual impact especially combined with improved posture and reduced shoulder tension tends to look more significant than the raw measurement suggests.

References

1. Disc Distraction Shows Evidence of Regenerative Potential in Degenerated Intervertebral Discs — Spine Journal, 2006

2. Disc hydration and height contribution — NCBI PMC, 2004

3. Effect of passive stretching on muscle length — NCBI PubMed, 2012