Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Neck Roll

oec:neck-roll

A gentle cervical mobility exercise performing controlled circles through the neck's full comfortable range of motion.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Neck Circle, Clockwise neck circles, Head Roll, Head Circle, Counterclockwise neck circles

How to do it

Setup

  1. Sit tall in a chair or cross-legged on the floor with your shoulders relaxed and down away from your ears.
  2. Gently drop your chin toward your chest without forcing the stretch.

Movement

  1. Slowly roll your right ear toward your right shoulder.
  2. Continue the smooth circle by gently tipping your head back to look toward the ceiling, avoiding aggressive backward compression.
  3. Trace the circle over to the left side, bringing your left ear toward your left shoulder.
  4. Complete the revolution by returning your chin to the starting position at your chest.
  5. Repeat for the desired repetitions, then reverse direction.

Breathing

Breathe smoothly and continuously, exhaling as the chin rolls forward and inhaling as the head tilts backward.

Cues

  • Slow and controlled
  • Keep shoulders down
  • Draw a smooth circle with the crown of your head

Common faults

Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears
Actively depress and relax the shoulder blades throughout the movement.
Moving too quickly or using momentum
Slow the motion down to maintain full muscular control and avoid joint irritation.
Forcing aggressive hyperextension of the neck
Keep the backward roll gentle and elongated rather than hinging sharply backward.

Safety

  • Stop immediately if you experience sharp pain, dizziness, or tingling down your arms.

Muscles

  • Sternocleidomastoid prime mover
  • Splenius prime mover
  • Levator scapulae synergist
  • Upper trapezius synergist
  • Deep neck flexors synergist

Joints

  • Cervical spine: Circumduction, Flexion, Extension, Lateral flexion, Rotation

Details

Movement
Neck isolation, Mobility drill
Modality
Mobility, Flexibility
Mechanics
isolation
Force
not applicable
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
open
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Repetitions; or Duration
Load
none

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

neck-roll.json