08 Mar 2023
I have had neck pains for a while, and have addressed already some remediation aspects:
- great ergonomic chair Herman Miller x Logitech Embody Chair
- correcting my position whenever I catch myself in the wrong posture
- using a standing desk Standing desk: Leetdesk
- doing some neck training / tension exercises (pushing with my hands in all 4 directions, head lifting on the ground, etc..), albeit probably not enough.
Why not train my neck like the F1 drivers to help alleviate my neck pains?
I like gear, so did a bit of research and this is the one used by some F1 drivers (eg. Lando Norris, Daniel Riccardo):
13 Sep 2026 revisited properly. The GS Harness is one option among several, and the form factors differ more than the marketing suggests. Full map, with prices and what can actually be bought in Germany.
The 5 form factors
| Type | How it loads | Price band | Trains rotation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotational collar | 360 degree collar on a band, friction brake | 395 to 769 EUR | Yes |
| Cord and pulley harness | Head strap pulled by a cord on a pulley | ~180 GBP | Partly |
| Plate-loaded harness | Dead weight hung off the head | 16 to 120 EUR | No |
| Band harness | Head strap pulled by an elastic band | 90 to 160 EUR | Only with an add-on |
| 4-way machine | Padded lever, gym equipment | Gym membership | No |
The dividing line that matters: most devices only load flexion and extension, nodding forwards and backwards. Rotation and lateral movement are where desk-related neck problems actually live, and only some of these reach them.
Gatherer Systems GS Harness
The one I found in 2023, and still the specialist answer. Hand-crafted leather strap with internal padding, an external high-tension cord and a stainless steel pulley rated to 350 kg. Ships with 5, 10 and 15 kg shock cords.
180 GBP, roughly 4 weeks delivery. The user list is the pitch: F1 (Verstappen, Norris, Vandoorne, Grosjean), NFL, the England, Welsh and Scottish rugby unions, Premier League clubs.
Germany: order direct and pay import duty, VAT and handling on arrival, which their own terms spell out. Or buy through Wiitraining, an EU retailer carrying the brand, which avoids the customs step.
Iron Neck, the 360 degree collar
The only category that trains rotation under load, which is what a harness structurally cannot do. A padded collar sits on the head, a band pulls it sideways, and a friction brake adds resistance as you turn against it.
Germany is the easy part here. Kraftathlet is an authorised dealer with an EU warehouse, EUR pricing, 7 to 10 business days and no customs duties for Germany and Austria.
| Product | EUR |
|---|---|
| Iron Neck 3.0 | 395 |
| Iron Neck 3.0 Pro | 569 |
| Rehab Bundle, 3.0 Pro plus light bands | 689 |
| Strength Bundle, 3.0 Pro plus Alpha+ harness and bands | 769 |
| Alpha Harness Plus | 179 |
| Alpha Harness | 98 |
| Harness Kit Heavy | 63.70 |
| Harness Kit Medium | 50.70 |
| Basic Harness | 48 |
| Resistance bands, 5 to 50 lb | 28 |
Iron Neck UK & Europe is the other route, priced in GBP from a UK warehouse. Shipping to Europe runs 35 to 48 GBP and VAT plus duty is payable on top, so Kraftathlet wins on total cost from Germany.
Neck Flex, the harness family
3 harness variants plus a rotation add-on, all priced in USD and shipped from the US.
| Kit | USD |
|---|---|
| HALO Series, resistance band | 99.95 |
| MMB Pro Series, plate-loaded | 119.95 |
| Ballistic Kevlar Series, heavy-duty | 134.95 |
| Revolver rotation attachment | 49.95 |
| HALO Bundle, harness plus Revolver | 139.90 |
| MMB Pro Bundle | 159.90 |
| Ballistic Bundle | 174.90 |
The Revolver is the interesting piece: it bolts rotation onto a harness for 49.95 USD, which is the cheapest way to get rotational work without an Iron Neck. Germany: no EU store, so import charges apply. The Ballistic kit appears on Amazon.co.uk, which is the least painful European route.
The 20 EUR option
A padded head harness with a chain and carabiners does flexion and extension perfectly well, and you already own the weights or can hang a plate off it.
Gorilla Sports Germany sells one at 19.99 EUR, domestic shipping, no customs. Amazon.de carries equivalents from roughly 16 to 25 EUR. This is 80% of the benefit of a 180 GBP harness for a tenth of the price, and the honest comparison point for everything else on this page.
The gym machine
A 4-way neck machine loads flexion, extension and both lateral directions from a seated position with a padded lever. Hammer Strength makes the common plate-loaded one, and Sorinex and Rogers Athletic make rack-mounted versions.
These are commercial machines, not home equipment, and they are rare outside American college weight rooms. Worth checking whether any gym nearby has one before spending anything, because it is the zero-capex route.
What I would actually do
I do not play contact sport. My neck problem is a desk problem, so the question is not how much load I can hang off my head, it is whether I train the directions that actually hurt.
That points 2 ways:
- Cheap first. The 19.99 EUR Gorilla Sports harness plus the isometrics I already do covers flexion and extension for the price of lunch. If that fixes it, nothing else is needed.
- If it does not, buy rotation. The Iron Neck 3.0 at 395 EUR from Kraftathlet is the only thing here that loads the neck through rotation, and Germany is the easy market for it: EUR prices, EU warehouse, no customs. The GS Harness is beautifully made and endorsed by people whose necks take 5 G in corners, but at 180 GBP plus import it does not solve the rotation problem either.
What I would not do is start at the top. The 769 EUR bundle is a lot of equipment for a problem that a chair, a standing desk and 10 minutes a day might already be fixing.
One caveat worth writing down: this is training, not treatment. Existing neck pain with any radiating symptoms is a physio question first, and loading a neck that has something structurally wrong with it is a way to make it worse.