The exercise was also popular with another top heavyweight – Mike Tyson would utilise it in his prime.

Anthony Joshua reveals his incredible neck-strengthening exercise ahead of his next fight

The boxer performs a front neck bridge in a bid to ward off impact of concussive blows

Joshua makes the painful-looking exercise appear effortless in the Instagram video

The routine – although it looks painful – is a common practice in combat sports training and is designed to condition the neck and build up strength in the muscles which in turn can reduce the risks of concussions.

Heavyweight supremo Mike Tyson shows off his incredible strength in the same manner

Concussions occur when there is a sudden change in direction in the head but a strong neck can help transfer the force received from a blow to the head to the torso and Joshua, whose neck size is 16 inches, has been focusing on strengthening this area of his body over the past few years.

The British world champion is taking the challenge of Povetkin very seriously and alluded to his punching power – which was most recently displayed in his brutal knockout of David Price back in March on the same night Joshua defeated Joseph Parker to capture the WBO strap – after his brief open workout at York Hall this week.

Joshua has focused on strengthening his neck ahead of the Alexander Povetkin fight

Joshua posted a video on social media of him performing a front neck bridge in training camp

Joshua has regularly been working on neck strengthening exercises for the past few years

Joshua said of Povetkin – who has 24 KOs from his 34 victories: ‘Povetkin has a lot of attributes and a lot of power, he has a few KOs on his record so I will have to keep on landing my punches.

‘He has a lot in his locker and I will need to shut him down early. Defend and counter is the key I think as that kind of shuts opponents down so I have just got to try and beat the fight out of him.’

Joshua had previously admitted to looking past Povetkin but has since forgot about the glitz and glamour of a potential blockbuster clash against Deontay Wilder and has focused on the first job at hand.

Joshua alongside his first coach Sean Murphy (c) and current trainer Rob McCracken

On Thursday he described this training camp as one of his hardest yet and hopes to reap the rewards of his exploits in the gym on Saturday night which he believes to be his biggest test since Wladimir Klitschko.

‘My body has been broken down and built up again this camp like never before,’ said the Watford-born hitman.

‘I just love to fight you know. I love fight week, I can finally taper down a bit, get my strength back.

Joshua has been working hard in the gym ahead of his world title defence against Povetkin

The British champion described this training camp as one the hardest of his career this week

Like Joshua, Povetkin is a renowned big hitter and a fellow former Olympic champion

Joshua alluded to Povetkin’s power after his open workout at York Hall earlier this week

‘There are loads of different stuff I work on, my trainer teaches me a lot of stuff of course. You know within yourself, you try and find out who you really are with different types of training strategies and stuff.

‘When I look at his weight, he is one of the lighter heavyweights, he has a lot of speed and is a quick fighter. His strengths, I have worked with people who have similar strengths as well.

‘I am not one to talk about fights, there was a lot of talk about the heavyweight division. Povetkin is one of my toughest challenges to date.

‘He is a bad-boy fighter, he knows what he is doing but that’s what you want right. He is game, he is lively. He didn’t stop against Klitschko, I have to work on Saturday to win.’

AJ said: ‘My body has been broken down and built up again this camp like never before.’

He will defend his WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF titles against Povetkin at Wembley on Saturday