Prone Bent Knee Hip Extensions After I put out this one about back pain I got some, "What's the deal with the exercise where you put your face into the ground and lift your leg" Well, here's the deal. I've been using it a lot lately and while I can't "prove" it. That sh@t has been straight magic. PBKHE are Like Gandalf. And not, nice, grandfatherly Gandalf. Like, You Shall Not Pass, Gandalf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlaiBeLrntQ The First Step in the Scientific Method is Observation In the absence of accumulated evidence we need to work in observation and hypothesis. Why isn't personal observation alone good enough? High, high, risk of … [Read more...]
Your Low Back Hurts Because of YOU…
November 29, 2020 by
Low Back Pain Its a real mother. Over 80% of ALL people (Americans) will experience Low Back Pain (LBP) in their lifetime. LBP is the #2 cause of disability and the most common reason for work days lost. There are about a bazillion causes for low back pain. Those reasons range from genetic to catastrophic injury to many people just do consistently stupid things (myself included) that aggravates their back. The worst part is, they rarely even realize what they're doing is the root cause of their pain. Fundamentally, people with low back pain tend to share a few movement strategies, TOO MUCH low back movement. Lack of Gluteal Activation/ Reliance/ … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Band Hip Flexion
October 14, 2019 by
I talk a LOT about hip extension. ie butts. But(t) what about hip flexion? Well, it's SUPER important too. Don't We Get Enough Hip Flexion Already? Yes and No. Yes, we do live in a flexion heavy "culture". But(t) if you really think about it, there isn't a ton of true hip flexion that occurs. It's usually FAKE hip flexion. What's Fake Hip Flexion Look Like? Lumbar Flexion + Anterior Pelvic Tilt and usually combined with excessive knee flexion. It's not uncommon for someone to actually LACK hip flexion and substitute a rounding of the low back (bringing the belt buckle/ pelvis to the chin) instead of hip flexion. the shot on the left is … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Offset RDL
May 16, 2018 by
Sometimes I think, "WOW that would be a GREAT exercise." "I wonder why no one has done them before? I'm so smart." Then I search the YouTube and learn. People already do it. Have done it for years. I'm not that smart and mostly. THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN EXERCISE. Except Tri-phasic training, that was legit new. Its ALL been done before. So when I had a false ephipany and thought, "Offset RDL's would be a GREAT exercise. I'm glad I thought of them." I hadn't. Within 3 days, I saw a video of them on the Instagram. Silver Lining: That's kind of a good thing, finding that other people do actually think these are worthwhile. Why? Because that … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Body Saw
March 28, 2018 by
"Ribs Down" I say that a LOT. Like all day. See I also say, "Chest Up" A Lot. And most folks think chin up is chest up <---if this is you, you're thoracic spine needs some love. And by "love" I mean, EXTENSION. But these are different things. And too much "chest up" usually leads to compensation and the dreaded Lumbar Hyperextension... The Duck Butt An aggressive over-arching of the lower back. Which is another compensation pattern that's associated with a tight thoracic spine.. Wait But Why? How can excessive cervical AND lumbar motion be the result of a stiff thoracic spine? Easy, if the segments in the middle of the spine don't move (do … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Plate Resisted Dead Bug
November 1, 2017 by
"Roll the belt buckle to the chin.." "Push the bottom rib into the abs...." I say those about 50 times a day. Why? It's all about the Open Scissor position. It's no good. But its the default for lots of people. Instead of using the "core" to brace against the forces, this default makes you Instagram famous uses the lumbar spine and pelvis, driving into each other, to buttress forces. In a perfect world we want a neutral scissor position. The neutral scissor is just the "Pillar" or "Cylinder" position, nothing new. Core Control: You don't want excessive lumbar movement, flexion (rounding) or arching (extension). We need to be able to put the … [Read more...]
On Weight Belts and How Not to Blow out Your Back
February 10, 2015 by
Weight Belts, they're Totally Misunderstood. Some research says: Weight Belts Don't Work. <----but this is mostly in occupational settings and has, for reasons I can't understand been extrapolated to the athletic performance arena. Some, most, research says: Yes, They Do. Here's a really nice research review, kinda old, but still pretty good. And that dude at the gym, the guy with the jorts and sweet rat-tail, he's always wearing one. But he's a total tool, The HUGE guy who deadlifts 5 plates for reps, he uses one too. And he's the strongest guy there.... So what's the deal? The deal is: [Tweet "Weight Belts are Used Wrong 99% of the … [Read more...]
10 Random Thoughts on the Deadlift
January 23, 2015 by
#1: No, The Deadlift Doesn't Blow Out Backs: People are generally really scared of this lift and it's because this is, "deadlifts destroy your back" mind virus has permeated the culture for, since forever. It needs to stop. That sh@t YOU did, that blew out your back, it wasn't even a deadlift to begin with. [Tweet "Don't blame an exercise for your sh@tty technique."] #2: When I started this whole creating disciples to one day take over the world Training People Thing, no one Except me Deadlifted. I'm dead serious about this. <-----see what I did there? In college at (The) Towson University the ONLY people I ever saw deadlifting were with me or in the … [Read more...]
