In this episode, Physiotherapist and Sports Injury Researcher, Kerry Peek, talks about sports injury research and the neck. Today, Kerry talks about her research into sports injuries, developing training programs, and evaluating feasibility and adherence to programs. How can greater neck strength assist in reducing head and neck injuries? Hear about measuring neck strength, defining “normal” neck strength, and get Kerry’s advice to her younger self, all on today’s episode of The Healthy, Wealthy & Smart Podcast.   Key Takeaways “You wouldn’t send an athlete out without doing knee exercises, and yet we do it quite regularly with the neck.” “We need to do some isometric exercise but with ballistic intent.” “I don’t think isolated neck exercises is going to give you the best bang for your buck.” “The best exercise is the one they’re going to do.” “We need to make sure that the research in this space is high-quality research.” “We need to be more critical in the way that we apply research in neck strengthening.” “If you’re really good at designing exercise programs, get creative.”   More about Kerry Peek Dr Kerry Peek (PhD) is a physiotherapist, behavioural scientist, strength-and-conditioning coach, and sports injury researcher with the University of Sydney. She has over 20 years of clinical experience in both Australia and the UK working with many athletes across a range of sports, age groups, and playing levels, including elite athletes in football (soccer), rugby, motor racing, American football, and athletics. Her current research is focussed on mitigating sports related head and neck injuries and has just completed a project on neck strengthening and heading funded by a FIFA Research Scholarship. Kerry has presented to the UEFA medical committee and assisted in drafting UEFA's heading guidelines. Kerry is the Chair of the New South Wales State Council for Sports Medicine Australia.   Suggested Keywords Healthy, Wealthy, Smart, Healthcare, Physiotherapy, Research, Injury Prevention, Neck Strength, Exercise, Training,   Recommended Reading The Effect of the FIFA 11 + with Added Neck Exercises on Maximal Isometric Neck Strength and Peak Head Impact Magnitude During Heading: A Pilot Study Injury Reduction Programs for Reducing the Incidence of Sport-Related Head and Neck Injuries Including Concussion: A Systematic Review Purposeful Heading in Youth Soccer: Time to Use Our Heads Higher neck strength is associated with lower head acceleration during purposeful heading in soccer: A systematic review The effect of ball characteristics on head acceleration during purposeful heading in male and female Heading incidence in boys’ football over three seasons The incidence and characteristics of purposeful heading in male and female youth football (soccer) within Australia Neck strength and concussion prevalence in football and rugby athletes    To learn more, follow Kerry at: Website:          Kerry Peek Twitter:            @peek_kerry ResearchGate: Kerry Peek   Subscribe to Healthy, Wealthy & Smart: Website:                      https://podcast.healthywealthysmart.com Apple Podcasts:          https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healthy-wealthy-smart/id532717264 Spotify:                        https://open.spotify.com/show/6ELmKwE4mSZXBB8TiQvp73 SoundCloud:               https://soundcloud.com/healthywealthysmart Stitcher:                       https://www.stitcher.com/show/healthy-wealthy-smart iHeart Radio:               https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-healthy-wealthy-smart-27628927   Read The Full Transcript Here:  Hey, Carrie, welcome to the podcast. I'm so happy to have you on.   00:06 Thank you so much for inviting me.   00:09 And just so people get our connection, I was in Monaco for the IOC conference, and I went to one of the platform presentations, and you were discussing your research, and I found it to be fascinating. So you do a lot of work with the neck and head and I just absolutely loved it. I loved