If I could do only one pulling (rowing) motion what would it be? "100% it would be the TRX row." In my opinion the TRX is the greatest row machine ever built. It's scales easily from beginner to advanced, it's self-limiting, and it's almost foolproof. Plus, and mostly its one of the best tools I've found for training the lost art of scapular retraction. True, you can overdo it. But in my, desk jockey, sitting all day slumped over, world, 9/10 people have a real issue pulling those shoulders down and back, pinching the shoulder blades together in the back. So we NEED to train scap retraction and depression and need to be able to do it with a tool that … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Superman Mobility
October 19, 2016 by
There are some near universal truths when I get a new client: 1: They lack Thoracic Mobility/ scapula control 2: They lack glute activation/ strength 3: They create motion from the lumbar spine, and consequently have overactive spinal errectors (low back muscles) I would guesstimate that I see all three of these in a new client 90% of the time (cause, they are somewhat interrelated) and at least 2 of the three get hit about 95% of the time. And it all goes back to our flexed forward, low amplitude/ low velocity world. If you're always sitting, hunched over a screen, in a box, or in front of a box, you're probably not: Sitting up straight, shoulders in … [Read more...]
Doing it Better: Rows
March 5, 2013 by
Hard truth: We NEED, as in MUST HAVE to function, more rows in our workouts. Too much of these things: Pushing Sitting Desk Work Bad Posture Have left us with Desk Jockey Syndrome. One major component of which is a weak back, especially in the pulling muscles. Muscles like the Lats, Rhomboids, Posterior Delts, and Lower Traps that just are not doing what they are supposed to do, or at least not to the level they are supposed to do it. How do we start to fix this? SCAPULAR RETRACTION and SCAPULAR DEPRESSION.....ie. pulling the shoulder blades back and down. http://youtu.be/BU3eHNtyNCc What exercises are great at … [Read more...]
