Fourteen years of the Neck Flex, documented
Every dated piece of public evidence about the Neck Flex that we have been able to open and verify, oldest first — from a 2012 trademark record to the last Amazon review before the listings went quiet. Where the original has been deleted, the Internet Archive link is given instead.
The short version
- The Neck Flex has been in documented public use since 2012. The earliest contemporaneous artifact is a September 2012 video linking the company website; behind it sits a USPTO first-use-in-commerce date of 1 January 2012.
- Not fifteen years — fourteen. We looked for 2011 evidence and found none, so we don't claim it.
- Much of the earliest material was deleted by its authors and recovered from the Internet Archive — including a run of posts by Mike “The Machine” Bruce from December 2012, and three of his YouTube videos that now return “video unavailable.”
- Two customers independently date themselves to the same period. A wrestling coach in 2022 describing ten years as a customer, and another in 2024 describing ten years of use — arriving at 2012 from a completely different direction than the archive does.
Why this page exists
Because longevity is easy to assert and hard to prove, and an archive that asserts it without proof is worth nothing.
Most of what follows is not flattering or unflattering — it is just dated. A trademark filing, a patent application, a website snapshot, a blog index from a site that no longer exists. Taken one at a time none of it means much. Taken in order it establishes something a marketing page cannot: that this product has been bought, used, reviewed and argued about continuously for fourteen years.
Two things worth knowing before you read it. Mike Bruce, whose December 2012 posts are the earliest sustained coverage, is a sponsored collaborator — the MMB Pro Series carries his initials, and we say so rather than letting you discover it. And the entries below are only what we could open ourselves; the record is certainly larger than this page.
The record
USPTO: first use in commerce
Trademark NECK FLEX (Serial 88592849, Reg. 6018204), owner Gonza LLC of Leesburg, Virginia, records "FIRST USE: 20120101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120101." This is a date sworn to in 2019 under penalty of perjury, not a document created in 2012 — legally weighty, but a different kind of evidence from everything below it.
Earliest surviving public link to TheNeckFlex.com
A YouTube video by the channel Longs Shanks, still live today with 21,723 views, carries http://www.TheNeckFlex.com in its description. This is the oldest contemporaneous public artifact we have found referencing the product. The company's own 2013 website linked to this video.
Source 21,723 views
Oldest surviving video on the official channel
“Neck Exercise - NECK BLASTER - New Neck Exercise Routine” on the NECK FLEX® channel. Of the channel's 65 uploads this is the oldest; the next jumps to September 2014. The 2013 website pointed at a different YouTube channel that no longer exists and was never archived.
Source 16,308 views
Mike "The Machine" Bruce publishes his first Neck Flex post
“The Neck Flex Head Harness” on mikethemachine.com. Bruce — a strongman known for neck training, later the collaborator the MMB Pro Series is named after — deleted this blog years ago. It survives in the Internet Archive. We confirmed the November 2012 index carries no Neck Flex mention, making this his first.
Bruce: boxing slip drill, and the bear crawl
Two more posts the next day — “The Neck Flex: Iron-Head Slipping drill (boxing)” and “The Neck Flex Bear Crawl”. Both are video posts; the videos themselves have since been deleted from YouTube.
Bruce: “Is it beneficial to Chiropractic care”
The individual post page is archived. Its embed code preserves the ID of a Bruce video that YouTube now reports as unavailable — direct evidence that he was publishing Neck Flex video content in December 2012.
Bruce: “Real Talk” and the wrestler bridge
Two individually archived posts — “The Neck Flex: Real Talk” and “Taking The Wrestler Bridge to another level with The Neck Flex”. Both preserve IDs of now-deleted videos.
Earliest archived capture of theneckflex.com
The first snapshot of the company website in any form. It describes the product: “The NECK FLEX is one of a kind. It is a new generation patent pending head harness that utilizes resistance bands to workout and strengthen all sides of the neck.”
Provisional patent application filed
US provisional 61/873,417, inventors Thomas Harrison Hunt and Zachary Wyatt Elam. It becomes application 14/477,827 a year later and issues as US 11,007,405 — the patent at the centre of the 2021 injunction. A federal filing date.
First independent video review
“The Secret to Building a 25″ Neck Part 2” by fatlosspro (Jason “Shark” McGuckian). The description reads: “To do this, Shark uses a special neck harness called the Neck Flex.” The earliest third-party review we have found.
Source 41,796 views
Nick Nilsson reviews it
“The Neck Flex - Training Equipment Review” by Nick Nilsson, the Mad Scientist of Muscle. The description opens: “The Neck Flex is a very powerful and versatile piece of neck training equipment.”
Source 16,461 views
Named in a Royal Danish Air Force trial protocol
The published protocol for a randomised trial of neck training in 69 Danish Air Force aircrew names the equipment in its methods: “The Original Neck Flex® Head Harness, Gonzo Companies, USA.” Two further papers follow in 2017 and 2020. Not a concussion study, not an endorsement by the Royal Danish Air Force, and no equipment-comparison trial exists for any brand.
Bruce: “the #1 neck harness on the market”
In a Q&A with PG Coaching, Mike Bruce says: “I believe the neck flex is the #1 neck harness on the market.” Bruce is a sponsored collaborator, which we state plainly rather than leaving you to find out.
The first forum debate we can find
A Sherdog thread titled “Anyone have experience with the neck flex? Is it legit or gimmick?” Replies run positive to sceptical — Noodles03: “The neck flex looks legit, but I think it's a bit overpriced.”
ratethisgear reviews it
“Neck Flex review by ratethisgear”.
Source 16,482 views
Dr. Allan Bacon gear review
A written gear review of the Neck Flex Pro: “I highly recommend checking this out if you participate in boxing, MMA, jiu jitsu, football, or other full contact sports.”
Bloomberg Law covers the patent complaint
“'Neck Flex' Maker Claims Rival Copied Patented Workout Gear”, by Laurel Calkins and Christopher Yasiejko.
A preliminary injunction is granted
Judge Alan Albright grants a preliminary injunction in the Western District of Texas. Covered by Bloomberg Law (“Fitness Co. Hit With Injunction in Neck Exercise Patent Suit”), Law360, and IPWatchdog, which reports that “all four factors of the preliminary injunction test favored Gonza's position.” Public docket facts only.
The Amazon record begins
J. Mach reviews the Ballistic Kevlar kit: “I have used other harnesses and this is both different and works better. It's a very comfortable fit and the materials used appear more durable.” Over the next three years the four Amazon listings collect 234 ratings.
A ten-year customer speaks up
Jamie Given, a wrestling coach, reviewing the Ballistic: “I have been a customer of Neck Flex for over 10 years because I coach wrestling… The kits from Neck Flex from over 10 years ago are still going strong, including the bands.” Written in 2022, pointing back to 2012 — and matching the documented record independently.
A second decade-long user
Kindle Customer, reviewing the Ballistic: “I've been training neck for 10 years now, and I always get the new neckflexs product.”
F1: The Movie
The Neck Flex appears in the training sequences of Apple's F1: The Movie. The Washington Business Journal reports in July 2025 that the placement was unpaid and that sales rose roughly 50% over typical summer levels after the June release.
The most recent Amazon review
jose a., reviewing the MMB Pro in Mexico: “lo uso pero creo que llevará un buen tiempo para ver resultados en el cuello.” Three stars. The last review before the listings went inactive.
What we looked for and did not find
Nothing from 2011 or earlier. Specifically: mikethemachinebruce.com turns out to be a later site, archived only from 2020, and is not the old blog. machinemikebruce.com and gonzocompanies.com have no usable captures. The original YouTube channel the 2013 website pointed to — youtube.com/user/supplierlist — now 404s and was never archived, which is why the official channel's own history appears to start in September 2012 and then jump to 2014.
neckflex.com (without the “the”) has captures going back to 2004, but belongs to an unrelated registrant and is not evidence of this product.
If you have anything from before 2012 — a forum post, an order confirmation, a photograph with a date on it — we would like to see it, and it will go on this page with your name on it if you want it there.
Fourteen years, still made in the same place
The Neck Flex line today. Designed and engineered in the United States.
Sold direct at theneckflex.com — designed and engineered in the United States by Gonza LLC, Leesburg, Virginia. Bundles available.
Related: The Amazon archive · Methodology · Press room · Research archive