In biomechanics the degrees of freedom is equal to the total number of independent directions or aspects of motion. The neck has >25 pairs of muscles with multiple degrees of freedom with some muscles not even attaching to the cervical vertebrae. It can be said the head-neck system has more muscles than degrees of freedom making it a redundant system.
Redundancy is necessary as the preferred neck muscle activity does not align solely with the assumed biomechanical function. The neural system takes control and combines the biomechanics of numerous muscles to achieve the goal of the movement.
Pausing at the top of the action in neck training is important in development as the nervous system has time to include muscles that can be recruited and assist in the contraction. To delay the onset of force decline pausing increases the contribution of synergist muscles to increase or maintain the resultant muscle force The inclusion comes into play as not enough muscle may be optimally aligned to perform a given task at the highest level.
Pause at the top of every repetition when training the head and neck to Get all the cervical musculature Strong and maximize potential strength.
Pausing at the Top of the Movement on the Pendulum 4-Way Neck
