Combining evidence and practice to optimise neck training aimed at reducing head acceleration events in sport: a systematic review and Delphi-consensus study

Review written by Shruti Nambiar info

Key Points

  1. This study combined a systematic review with a Delphi consensus to develop best practice guidelines for neck muscle training to reduce head acceleration events (HAEs) in sport.
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Despite growing interest in mitigating head acceleration events (HAEs), practical implementation of neck training varies widely across sports. Practitioners often operate without unified, evidence-based protocols, leading to inconsistent exercise selection, progression strategies, and monitoring approaches. The lack of consensus hampers translation from experimental findings to sustainable, sport-specific interventions.

This systematic review and Delphi consensus aimed to integrate empirical evidence with expert insight to establish clear, practical guidelines for designing, periodizing, and delivering neck training programs that could be feasibly adopted in diverse sporting contexts to optimize cervical function and potentially reduce HAE magnitude.

Practitioners often rehabilitate without unified, evidence-based protocols, leading to inconsistent exercise selection, progression strategies, and monitoring approaches.
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Practitioners should adopt a cautious, evidence informed approach - using neck training as a complementary, not standalone, prevention tool.

METHODS

This study had two parts:

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