Sometimes I think to myself how much of a moron I am.
And I don’t say that lightly. I’m 100% serious. I’m a moron. Or, to use a more “Tony’esque” term…..an asshat.
Lets rule out the obvious offenses like that time, as a freshman in my first college start, I threw a 3-2 hanging curveball to the clean-up hitter. I still think that ball has yet to land.
Or that other time I thought it would be hiiiiiilarious to sneak up behind my girlfriend in college – whom I knew hated to be scared – and scare her.
Her immediate reaction was to punch me in the mouth and give me a fat lip. Needless to say I learned that night where she stood on the whole fight or flight spectrum.
But at least I’m not as moronic as the guy on a recent episode of Forensic Files I watched who killed a woman and, upon using her credit card at a convenience store, signed his own name on the receipt.
Or this girl who did this……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y50POlvKRyw
I’ve had my moments, as I’m sure everyone reading can commiserate with, where I demonstrated less than exemplary common sense.
But when I say I’m a moron/asshat/pick chosen adjective here, I’m also referring to my profound inability to think of stuff that many of my esteemed colleagues seem to do with as much ease as breathing.
At least once or twice a week I read something or watch something that makes me have a Homer Simpson moment where I slap myself in the forehead, yell “DOH,” and wonder why it never dawned on me to come up with the same idea or concept.
Ben Bruno gets the most recent tip of the hat.
A Simple Way to Pattern the Hip Hinge
I’ve written on the importance of the hip hinge and some basic drills I like to use to help groove it HERE. The Cliff Notes version goes something like this:
“It’s important because I said so.”
[Drops mic, exits stage left]
Okay, in all seriousness the sooner someone hones their hip hinge the sooner they’ll be putting the leverages and torques they’re placing on the body in a more advantageous or “user friendly” setting. I.e., learning to move through the hips (and greasing hip extension without compensating with lumbar hyperextension) in addition to less stress on the knees and lower back when performing exercises like squats and deadlifts.
Likewise, once the hip hinge is cleaned up it makes the learning curve when introducing new exercises down the road much more expedited.
While out in LA teaching a workshop Ben Bruno stopped by to say hello and was nice enough to take the attendees through a quick 30-minutes session on cool ways to use the landmine. He showed this ingenious way to use it to groove the hip hinge:
The placement and counterbalance of the bar lends itself so that the trainee has no where to go BUT to hip hinge in order to lower the bar. If they don’t they’re going to hit themselves in the boy or girl down there parts.
It’s more or less the most intuitive way I’ve come across to help someone “feel” the hip hinge yet!
Understandably, some people may cry afoul about the hands/arms moving towards the floor, but remember all I’m trying to accomplish is helping someone feel the hip hinge happen in the first place! Once they have that, then I can work on upperback and lat tension when deadlift and squatting.
As an FYI: you don’t necessarily need the landmine apparatus in order to perform this drill. You could just as easily place a barbell up against a wall or kitty corner between two walls and accomplish the same objective.
Give it a try yourself or with your clients struggling to master the hip hinge and let me know how it goes.
