I know some strength coaches who view them as a valued asset to their programs, providing insight on their athlete’s movement quality as well as highlighting any “weak links” that may exist.
And I know some strength coaches who could make a list of other things more valuable or worth their time:
Deadlifts
Squats
Arguing with a vegan
Running a 5K
A basket of dicks
I, for one, do find value in them. Of course, whether or not I transplant them into someone’s program depends on several factors; namely, their goal(s).
Sorry, but if someone’s goal is hypertrophy I can think of roughly 412 other exercises more prudent to get the job done than the Turkish get-up.
I’m not saying it’s a waste of time to include them in a program designed to get someone jacked – maybe include them as part of an extended warm-up to get the joints primed for larger, compound movements, or, say, if someone has the movement quality of a pregnant pig (they’re a nice addition to GPP days) – however, I’d raise an eyebrow (or two) to any coach who places heavy precedence on including them in such a program.
That said, I find the get-up to be one of those universal movements I use with my athletes and general fitness clients alike. For athletes it’s a great way to control fatigue and reduce axial loading. Not to mention we’re accomplishing a lot with regards to scapular stability, hip mobility, glute activation, as well as working on primitive patterns such as rolling, half kneeling, to standing.
I pepper them into programs for general fitness clients because, well, it’s good for them (and I like to LOL when they call me an a-hole for making them do it).
There are a lot of moving parts to the get-up. Not surprisingly, this makes the learning curve a bit tricky for some with regards to honing technique
Much like how I prefer to layer the KB Swing, I think it’s wise to also break down the get-up to more bite-size portions.
Today I’d like share a tip I learned from StrongFirst Team Leader, Artemis Scantalides, on a subtle “technique trap” many seem to fall prey to.
Maintaining a vertical knee (which helps to keep the glute engaged during the initial roll to press).
The title of this post might be construed as a tad exaggerative in tone.1
For the sake of brevity: anything labeled “life altering” should be reserved for stuff like winning the lottery, beating cancer, or, I don’t know, a really, really, really good steak.
Or having your own lightsaber.
So please forgive the sensationalism. What follows next will, in fact, not alter your life in any way, shape, or form.
Except for increased strength, muscle mass, and overall increased levels of badassery.
The Deets: 1-1/2 Reps
The idea of utilizing 1-1/2 repetitions (reps for short) isn’t anything new. My good friend, Ben Bruno, has been a huge fan of them for years.
Basically you take an exercise and “extend” the set by incorporating a “1/2 rep” in between full-ROM reps.
The idea serves a few purposes/benefits:
Increased Time Under Tension.
Can be used to address a technique flaw/weakness (which should be the main objective of accessory work anyways).
Awesome alternative to use as a finisher at the end of a workout. They also serve as a nice way to increase total work done in any given session.
Improved mental toughness. Or, put in other words: they fucking make you hate life.
Here’s Ben performing some chin-ups (with a 100 lb weight-vest no less) using the 1-1/2 method:
And here he is performing 1-1/2 reps with Front Squats:
I like to use the 1-1/2 method with the bench press, as I feel it helps trainees to:
Better appreciate what it means to keep the lats on, the upper back tight throughout, and to learn to “meet” the bar with the chest.
To help trainees imbue a better sense of time under tension. I.e., it’s a killer way to elicit a chest pump and overall chest hypertrophy. And, at the end of the day, a bigger chest is going to (probably) produce more force.
Some Things To Consider/Pontificate
1) Your bench set-up is going to be crucial.
There’s a sense of poignancy that festers inside me whenever trainees take a haphazard approach with their bench set-up. It’s like a Greek tragedy.
If I had to choose a few big-hitting, big-rock cues that tend to have a universal carryover, they’d include:
Learn to drive the upper back INTO the bench.
Shoulder blades should be “pinned” together and down (retracted and depressed) to provide more stability.
GET A HAND-OFF
Let be bar “settle” before you begin.
Think about wrapping your hand AROUND the bar (I.e., lat activation).
You don’t have to have a super aggressive arch in lower back – there’s a degree of mastery and personal comfort insinuated here – however, an arch (even a slight one) is advantageous.
Pull the bar down to your chest.
Chest meets the bar, rather than bar meets chest.
Leg Drive, leg drive, leg drive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj9RnZJqpOE
2) I prefer to use the 1-1/2 rep method as an accessory exercise to the bench press, rather than as the”main gig.”
It implies a bit more of an “accessory movement” vibe.
I feel it works wonders with helping trainees to learn to keep their chest UP throughout the duration of a set. Many make the mistake of allowing the chest to collapse or “cave in,” which manifests into a domino effect of losing upper back stiffness, scapulae position, elbow position, and a muffled leg drive.
Here’s what it looks like in action:
During the 1/2 rep portion (where I press the barbell half-way up) I have to cue myself to maintain lat activation, upper back stiffness, chest UP (to meet the bar), and to make sure my chest doesn’t deflate at any point during the set.
It’s harder than it looks.
Generally, it’s best to use sub-maximal loads on these – in the 60-75% range. You can strive for “x” number of reps, say 6-8 for 2-4 sets. Or, another way to implement these is with AMRAP sets.
NOTE: AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible
My coach, Greg Robins, has been using this approach in my training.
After my main bench movement of the day I’ll follow that with something like this:
ONE set at 75% of 1RM for AMRAP.
Rest 60-90s
ONE set at 70% of 1RM for AMRAP.
It’s killer, but man, the pump is awesome.
And please, feel free to experiment with these. You can use this method with bench pressing, squats, chin-ups, row variations, single-leg variations, bicep curls, and deadlifts (just be careful).
Pareto’s Principle states that 80% of the effects will result from 20% of the causes.
This “rule” can be applied to everything from farming to business (and everything in between).
80% of the profit comes from 20% of the yield.
80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.
80% of why I never got laid in college came from 20% of watching Lord of the Rings on a Friday night rather than go out drinking.
See! It works for everything.
I’m a “strength” guy through and through.
For most trainees, most of the time, placing a priority and premium on the “big rocks” (I.e., 20%) – multi-joint, compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench press, chin-up/pull-ups, rows, and carries2 – will lead to 80% of the results.
More strength, more fat-loss, glutes that would make Bret Contreras shit an EMG study,”peckier” pecs, I don’t know, a lot of cool things happen when people focus on the basics.
The less fluff the better, if you ask me.
That said, as I’ve gotten older and the more experience I’ve accumulated as a coach (14+ years), the less militant I’ve gotten in my ways.
Don’t get me wrong: I still have my core values and beliefs as a fitness professional (deadlifts solve everything, people who don’t eat meat make me sad), and am set in my ways to some degree. However, I can’t neglect the fact that as a fitness professional I am in the service industry, and at the end of the day, again, to some degree, I am at the mercy of what the client wants.
Moreover, speaking from personal experience, I’ve found that as I’ve inched closer and closer to 40, my body is responding quite well – dare I say, eloquently – to more healthy-doses of isolation/bodybuilder-centric type movements.
I’m still focusing on the “big rocks.” However, if anything, it’s been fun to toss in some isolation work for my shoulders, arms, legs, hair follicles, whateverthefuck.
NOTE: Check out Bryan Krahn’s fantastic post, Over 40 Training is a Scam for a nice synopsis of my thoughts on the topic. He said things way better than I ever could.
Cutting to the chase I wanted to share a new (to me) exercise that fits the bill on this discussion.
DB Fly Away
Who Did I Steal It From: the bro-master himself, John Romaniello.
What Does It Do: It increases the likelihood that your pecs will cut diamonds. Truthfully, as much as I think the bench press should be a staple in any well-designed strength training program, for hypertrophy (muscle-growth) purposes it’s kind of a dud.
Yes, you can build a monster chest with the bench press. Relax.
I much prefer dumbbell variations, however, which allow for more humeral adduction (which happens to be one of the prime actions of the pectoral muscles).
Key Coaching Cues: Um, yeah, sorry for the crotch shot in the video above.
This is a hybrid, 2 for 1, exercise…combining both a press and fly.
All you’re going to do here is press the DBs as you would for a normal pressing exercise, but on the way down you’ll perform a “fly” motion moving the DBs away from the midline of the body.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Zak Gabor, a MA-based physical therapist and strength coach. His alma mater – Ithaca College – also happens to be my alma mater’s – SUNY Cortland – sworn enemy.
But he’s cool…;o)
Enjoy!
Not only can tapping into your posterior chain get you extremely strong, help improve athleticism and give you the butt of your dreams, it can leave you significantly less injury-prone, especially with low back and knee injuries.
Photo Credit: Dr. John Rusin
I am here to discuss how and why posterior chain strength needs to be a priority in training (that is, of course, if you want to decrease your chance of getting injured.)Training your posterior chain doesn’t guarantee injury prevention but it sets you on the right track for building a strong foundation.
What is the Posterior Chain?
In the strength and conditioning world, the posterior chain consists of the erector spinae, gluteal muscles, hamstrings, and gastroc/soleus complex.
Note from TG: “Posterior Chain” was also the original name of Thor’s hammer.
But it actually wasn’t.
Why is the Posterior Chain So Damn Important?
This is an area that I am extremely passionate about. What can I say, I’m a butt guy, but for good reason.
I truly believe that incorporating posterior chain strengthening into training can save tons of money on healthcare costs for low back and knee injuries, but more importantly, keep you healthy!
As the PT profession is constantly evolving, my goal is to get clients in the door and teach them ways stay healthier, versus having patients in for rehabilitative purposes.
Lets dive into two of the major joints that are especially vulnerable to injury in the lack of adequate posterior chain strength:
Low Back:
Oh yeah, baby.
Over $80 billion spent each year on low back in healthcare… simply unacceptable.
To me, if you know how to strengthen your posterior chain, that means you know how to hip hinge (i.e. load the glutes and hamstrings effectively while keeping lumbar spine neutral).For anyone who knows what a freak I am about preaching this movement pattern, this right here is the primary reason why!
Am I saying that if you can hip hinge you will never get back pain? No.I am saying that understanding the hip hinge pattern will give you a much better chance at preventing low back pain.The simplified reason is two fold:
1) Lifting loads from the ground with a neutral spine= less likely to hurt low back
-Now, now, not trying to be dogmatic, but research don’t lie.
Spines ARE resilient, we need to be able to tolerate both flexion and extension.
Yet, if you are like me, and respect the work of one of the most influential low back researchers (Dr. Stu McGill) then you know that repeated flexion especially under loads; leave the lumbar spine vulnerable to injury.
Therefore, learning how to properly hip hinge and maintain a neutral, stiff, spine throughout the movement can not only prevent injury, but can also get you the butt of your dreams.Enter strengthening the posterior chain.
2) Strengthening posterior chain = less likely to hurt low back
Simply put, a strong butt (Gluteals) will decrease your risk of low back injuries.
There is a ton of research out that indicates how important gluteal strengthening is for low back rehab.Lets simplify this in the pre-hab lens.
Glute Max is one of, if not the most, powerful muscles in the human body.Unfortunately, most individual’s glutes are offline thanks to endless hours of sitting.If we can strengthen the most powerful muscle in the body (which just so happens to neighbor and play intimately with the lumbar spine), wouldn’t it make sense that it would be good protection for the lumbar spine?Just sayin’
Knee:
The knee gets a little bit more technical, but I will try to keep it simple.
The knee as a joint is extremely vulnerable, to say the least.
It is literally two bones sitting on top of each other with little to no bony stability…meaning it gains its stability primarily from soft tissue structures both inert (meniscus, ligaments) and contractile (quads, hammies, and a whole lot more).
Believe it or not, the knee actually has more evidence online than low back for its correlation of posterior chain strength preventing injuries.
A lot of the research is specific to ACL injury prevention, but honestly, mechanics resulting in various knee injuries are often similar to ACL mechanics.
One of the predisposing factors to knee injury is what is known as dynamic valgus (knee collapsing inward) mostly brought on by quad dominance.
The other major way it can be brought on is by lack of posterior-lateral hip control.
Most individuals are quad dominant because of sitting all day, turning off the glutes and hammies, and leaving the quads as primary movers.Here is a photo of one of my favorite examples of a dynamic valgus brought on by quad dominance (i.e. the quads winning the tug of war on the femur and pulling into dynamic valgus:
This is called “RG 3’ing.” Named after NFL Quarterback, Robert Griffin III.
Notice how his knees cave in as he develops power, this is a great example of when even “healthy” people can be predisposed to injury. Don’t RG 3….
How do we combat this? Well, this answer is multi-faceted, but Ill give you a hint… one of the best ways it to strengthen the posterior chain.
It’s really that simple.
There are TONS of ways to strengthen and target the posterior chain.As a matter of fact, just peruse Tony’s awesome website, and you will find tons of exercises… as I did when I was just a newbie in the S&C world.
Here are a few of my favorites:
1) Glute-centric: Bridging, every bridge variation….
Note From TG: This is an older video. So, relax internet trainer who doesn’t even perform this exercise in the first place, but is quick to point out how it’s not perfect technique. Am I bending a little too much from the waist? Yes. Is the music on point? Yes.
Here’s a nice regression:
3) Compound post chain: DEADLIFT, RDL, KB swings
Conclusion
You still need to train your anterior chain too! However, in a world where we’re stuck sitting for hours on end and prone to training our “mirror muscles,” placing more of a premium on the posterior chain is never a bad idea. For many reasons.
Anyone who might be interested in learning more and truly mastering the hip hinge, we will be hosting workshop July 24th at RX strength training in Medford, MA.
Either way, feel free to email me should you have any questions or anything about this you would like to discuss!
Peace, love, and glutes
About the Author
Dr. Zachary Gabor, PT, DPT, CSCS, USAW, is a 2015 graduate from Ithaca College where he earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy.
Prior to that, he earned his Bachelor of Clinical Health Science degree from Ithaca College in 2013. Zak is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), and a Sports Performance Coach through USA Weightlifting (USAW).
Throughout his doctorate program, Zak served as a Teaching Assistant for several physical therapy courses including gross anatomy and musculoskeletal examination and evaluation. He also spent over three years providing personal strength training to clients and athletes.
Zak is passionate about teaching and educating, both of which are very important cornerstones to any patient’s plan of care. In addition, Zak’s clinical experience is rooted in sports-based orthopedic rehabilitation and physical therapy, with an emphasis on strength training and sports performance.
A firm believer in continuing education to better serve the patients, clients and athletes he works with, Zak is dedicated to constantly learning. His future post-gradation coursework will include: manual therapy courses, dry needling certifications, and sports certification specialist designation.
I hated P.E. class. I was a skinny, weird and uncoordinated kid.
I was the one who got picked on in the changing rooms about my lack of size, and we’re just not talking about muscles.
Whenever P.E. class was on my schedule, I dreaded it.I’d rather go to the dentist to get a tooth pulled or talk about my confused teenage feelings.
Our masochistic P.E teacher liked to put us through a series of fitness tests every few months to determine our grades. As far as I was concerned, showing up was an A.
One of the many tests was an isometric chin up hold for time. You were to hold the top position of a chin up for as long as possible.On this particular testing day, as soon as my name was called, the knives came out.
“You won’t last 10 seconds, McLean. You’re as weak as piss.”(That’s Australian for not strong and bad tasting beer.)
As I stepped up to the bar, I had a little extra incentive and was determined to prove my doubter wrong.I willed myself to a 40-second hold which was not bad for a weakling. I even got the nods of approval from the high school meatheads.
Ever since then I could always do a chin up.
In the gym, chin ups/pull ups are still great test of your relative body strength.You’ll never hear someone ask “How much to you row, dude?” However, you will hear in gyms around the world “How much do you bench?”
Not everyone can do a chin up (although it should be a goal), but everyone needs to build upper back strength because in today’s society we’re constantly looking down at our smart phones, tablets and computers.
Furthermore, we sit too much and move too little.
Over time this can wreak havoc on upper back strength, posture and spine. For instance, every inch our ears are forward from our shoulders (forward head posture) you increase the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds. (Kapandji, Physiology of Joints, Vol. 3).
And while there’s no scientific correlation, forward head posture also increases one affinity for douchiness.
Upper back strength also plays a huge role in the big lifts such as squats, deadlifts and even the bench press, which is big deal for hardcore gym goers and for the everyday desk jockey who wants to look better naked.
That’s reason enough to include some old school and new age rows into your routine. Your back and biceps will thank you, and the chest will just have to wait its turn.
Old School Rows
1) Barbell Bent Over Row
This is the godfather of rows. Not only does this strengthen your upper back, shoulders, biceps and grip, it’s the perfect accessory exercise for improving your deadlift. Bent over row mimics the hip hinge, and holding this for time with help improve your lower/upper back endurance. More importantly, it will improve your ability to keep a neutral spine while pulling heavy.
The classic cues of shoulders down, chest up, grow tall or shoulders away from the ears work here. If you feel this movement in your lower back or upper traps, you’re missing something and should check your form.
Note From TG: Check out THIS baller post by Harold Gibbons dissecting a ingenious drill – the hamstring bridge hold – to help people learn to “feel” the hamstrings during a bent over row.
Programming – I’ve found doing this for strength (low reps 3-5 and more sets 5-6) will help improve your ability to pull from the floor and to keep a neutral spine under heavy loads.
If you’ve never done sets of 20 reps before, you don’t know what you’re missing.
2) Single Arm Dumbbell Rows
There’s a multitude of variations to choose from. From the classic single arm bench supported variety to this excellent variation from Eric Bach of Bach Performance.
Or this one from Tony himself:
Dumbbell rows in general are perfect for ironing out strength imbalances that often exist between sides and you’ll get some additional core work in the form of lateral stability.
Let’s face it, you cannot get enough core work.
Keeping the spine in neutral and not rowing with the upper traps is the key here. Please don’t go extremely heavy and short arm the weight because you’re not fooling anybody. It’s almost as bad as knee bend squats or poorly performed pushups.
Note From TG: Another point to consider is pinning or “glueing” the shoulder blade(s) in place. The scapulae should move around the ribcage, not stay in place. Read THIS for more information.
Programming – I prefer programming these for higher reps (8-15 range) and lower sets (2-4). Pairing these in a super set with any press variation or including these in a metabolic circuit works well.
Running the rack to murder the upper back is fantastic, if you’re a fan of pain.
New Age Rows
1) TRX Rows
Dan John sums up why we need to do TRX rows:
“TRX single arm and double arm rows target an area of the body that often gets missed or ignored. The whole upper back/rear shoulder area is probably the most underdeveloped area of people I’ve worked with.”
The beauty of the TRX is you can adjust the intensity simply by adjusting the foot position closer or further away from the anchor point. This makes this exercise accessible to almost everybody.
Here’s how to set up for a single arm row, one of my personal favorites.
Keeping your shoulders down and chest up and not shrugging your upper traps to pull yourself towards the handles is the key here, too.
Also, try the Hinge Row (which “nudges” a bit more upward rotation in the shoulders)
Or, if you’re really feeling fancy pants you can try this variation, which, technically, isn’t a TRX row, but uses the TRX so whateves:
Programming – TRX rows are a great change of pace from weighted rows and I’d recommend training these for higher reps (12-20) and fewer sets (2-4). The TRX makes exercise transition simple, so including rows in a superset or a circuit works like a charm.
If you’re looking to burn out the back and pump up the biceps, TRX mechanical drop sets are perfect.
2) Single Arm Landmine Row
Single arm landmine exercises such as the row will help reduce joint stress while maximizing shoulder tension and stabilization. In my experience you can use more weight than the traditional dumbbell/cable row set up without any undue stress.
The set-up and cues are similar to a barbell bent over row. A good hip hinge and a neutral spine are essential.
The landmine allows you to row from a variety of positions and grips which is great for hitting the upper back from different angles.
Programming – Holding the end of the barbell instead of the dumbbell will provide a greater grip challenge.
Use the same programming guidelines as for the dumbbell rows. Or if you’re hating life, include them in a landmine complex, like this one courtesy of Ben Bruno.
Wrapping Up
Just because you cannot see the upper back, shouldn’t mean the chest gets all the love. Keeping the upper back strong is necessity for good posture and healthy shoulders.Upper strength will help improve your deadlift, squat and bench numbers.
If that’s not reason enough, rows work the biceps. They’re always in need of extra attention.
Author’s Bio
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Dallas, Texas.
No, Shane doesn’t wear a cowboy hat or boots. After being told that his posture blows by Eric Cressey, he has made it his mission to rid the world of desk jockeys and have fun while doing so.
After all exercise is fun and never a “work” out.
You can follow Shane on Twitter HERE, and Facebook HERE.
With apologies to any 90s hip-hop and R&B fans, today’s exercise has nothing to do with Aaliyah’s hit “Rock the Boat.”
OMG – such a classic song.
I listen to this song – as well as other songs from all her albums (Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, One in a Million, Aaliyah) – and can’t help but wonder “what might have been?” if she hadn’t died so tragically back in 2001 in an airplane crash.3
Alrighty then, lets move away from the somber tone shall we?
I’ve got a quick-n-dirty exercise for you to try this week.
Rock the Boat
Who Did I Steal it From: Surprisingly, not Ben Bruno (the landmine Jedi that he is).
Last week, before heading to NY, I stopped by Mike Reinold’s place, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance (in Waltham, MA), to film a few podcasts and to get a quick lift. Strength coach Rob Sutton showed me this bad boy, and I really liked it.
Outside of that, it’s an excellent drill that trains the abdominals (core) in a more “functional” manner. I.e., anti-extension, not to mention there’s a high degree of resisting rotation (loop stress) as you, you know, “rock the boat” moving the barbell from side-to-side.
Key Coaching Cues: This is a self-limiting exercise in that the ROM used by each individual is going to be determined by his or her’s ability level. The idea, however, is to “lock” things down and place a premium on lumbo-pelvic-hip control (no excessive lumbar flexion or extension).
Foot width will vary (closer together = harder).
Shoot for 5-8 repetitions per side. But you could also make this a timed event, say, 15-20s, working up to 30-40s.
I am not a perfect coach. While I feel I’m above average in my abilities, I’ll be the first to admit I have many “gaps” in my knowledge-base.
Some things I’m good at: coaching the barbell lifts, assessment, hand-to-hand combat vs. zombies.
Some things, not so much: Olympic lifting, speed and jump training.
I’ve written about my thoughts on Olympic lifting in the past, and it’s been within recent months that I’ve decided to take a more proactive approach to addressing my gap in speed & jump training.
I’ve been devouring resources from Lee Taft and Adam Feit on the topic.
To that end, today’s EPIC post, written by strength coach Eric Bach, continues said gap narrowing.
FTY: his new resource, The Power Primer 2.0, just went on sale this week at 50% off the regular price. It jumps (<– HA, get it?) into jump training; and why, even if you’re not an athlete, is something you should be incorporating into your training program(s) to become a lean, mean, machine.
Enjoy. It’s a VERY thorough and informative post.
Jump Your Way to Power Development
Here’s a new twist that answers an old question: how can you bridge the gap between performance-oriented training and physique training?
Can you really look great and improve athletic performance, no matter who you are?
Put more bluntly, can you really have it all?
And does it matter where you train?
The surprising answer has more than a little to do with jumping, of all things.
WTF?
But let me back up to set the stage.
A few months ago, I moved from a sports performance facility to an independent facility. I work with fewer athletes and more people who just want to look great naked and stay healthy.
Note from TG: Hey! Just like me!
Most trainers try to move in the opposite direction. They train general population clients, but really want to train athletes.
It’s been quite a transition. But I noticed something interesting. None of my clients – old or new, in-person or online, athlete or ordinary Joe — JUST have physique goals or JUST have performance goals. Everyone wants the total package.
And why not?
Everyone wants to be confident struttin’ down the beach to jump into a Volleyball game, whether they are 26 year-old ex-athletes or 50-year-old executives.
Here’s the secret: explosive intent is everything. This blog post will explain how you can jump your way to success.
For every high-performance gym with turf and bumper plates, there are 30 “regular” gyms packed with machines and dudes reading the newspaper on a preacher curl.
Being jacked, tan, and strong is nice. But it’s best to top off your physique with real-world athleticism.
Jumps improve performance for recreational athletes.
Jumps build stronger, more powerful legs.
Jumping requires explosive hip and knee extension. It’s the same movement needed to accelerate in sprinting, crush a heavy squat, and to a lesser degree, get you from your Lazy Boy to grab leftover pizza.
Key Point: Jumps Increase Your Athleticism
You need to generate strength quickly to generate force that propels your body (or an object) through space.
That’s where jumps come in. Incorporating jumps into your training bridges the gap between the strength you have and the speed you need.
Get Powerful with a Minimal Learning Curve
Just load up and jump, right?
It’s not quite that simple, of course. But it’s a lot simpler than learning how to clean and snatch.
Jumps work the same athleticism-developing movement pattern as most Olympic lifts, squats, and deadlifts: explosive hip extension, sans the technicalities and steep learning curve.
Compared to mastering the Olympic movements, jumps provide the best bang for your buck to add an explosive component to your training in any gym environment.
Boost your Deadlift and Squat Numbers
Let’s get all rigorous and sciencey and stick to the irrefutable facts, backed up by the finest peer-reviewed literature. We know with certainty that:
Tony likes Star Wars and deadlifts (P.S: Imagine if they did deadlifts in Star Wars?)
Donald Trump’s mullet is the same color as mustard.
Strength serves as the foundation that allows you to improve every other quality in the gym.
Digging into my third point, maximum strength is vital. But lifters would benefit from an occasional change.
They should add explosive training to further improve their strength gains. Even the strongest lifters will derive huge benefits to adding jumps to their training.
The reason is improved nervous system efficiency. In both the deadlift and the squat, extending the hips and knees with power is key to performance. The same holds true for crushing jumps.
Adding jumps to your training grooves the same hip and knee extension movement with lighter weights and more explosiveness.
This is huge for two reasons: Intramuscular and intermuscular coordination.
Don’t let these complicated terms intimidate you. I’ll break it down:
Intramuscular Coordination is the ability of individual muscle fibers (say your quads in a jump) to fire and generate force together.
Intermuscular Coordination is firing of muscle groups to work together in a movement pattern, such as your quads, hamstrings, and glutes contracting and relaxing during the jump.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
Training with explosive movements improves your muscles ability to work individually and concurrently with other muscles, producing stronger and more explosive movements.
This is important for a few reasons:
Lighter, more explosive exercises are less stressful than always lifting heavy ass weights.
Lifting heavy weights is still important to build strength, but for most lifters less Central System and joint stress is a good thing.
Replacing a heavy strength session with explosive, sub-maximal exercises opens the door for multiple training improvements.
Because stress is lower, you’re capable of practicing a movement pattern more often for faster improvements in technique.
By and large, less stress allows you to train with more volume. This sets the table for progressive overload and muscle growth.
Keep doing heavy strength work. But consider making it less frequent. Use explosive jumps or sub-maximal speed squats as an alternative.
Jump to Prevent Injuries
We all know someone who’s played flag football or pick-up basketball, only to land awkwardly and shred a knee.
Sometimes, these are the guys that look like they’re in the best shape.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always matter how strong and athletic you are. If your mechanics stink, your injury risk will skyrocket.
If you’re not performing an exercise right or landing correctly, you’re grooving a technique that’s dangerous and inefficient, whether it’s a squat or a jump.
When you get out the gym and onto the field, fatigue can set in and form can go out the window, leading to injury
In the interest of not winding up thigh deep in a leg brace, it’s best to groove optimal mechanics every time you jump. Here are some guidelines:
1) Your feet should be flat, rather than in an anterior weight displacement on the toes. If you’re landing on your toes, you’re not getting full hip extension and limiting power. And you’re placing more stress on the knee joint due to greater shear stress.
2) Knees should be neutral, rather than in valgus or varus (knees diving in or diving out, respectively).
3) Abs braced: any rounding of the back and trunk shows a power leak that will cascade down the kinetic chain and place stress on the hips, knees, ankles, and feet. Keep the abs engaged so you can absorb force and transfer power.
4) Eyes ahead, chest up: Stand up, keep your head down, and walk ten stops. Starting to trip over your toes yet?
Wherever your head goes, your body will follow. Keep your head neutral and eyes ahead, otherwise the rest of your mechanics will go out the window.
Activate More Muscle Fibers For Growth
You can’t build muscle fibers that aren’t activated. That means step one to building muscle is activating a greater number of muscle fibers.
That happens in two ways:
First, Lift heavy weights. By being a dedicated reader to this blog I’d assume you already are. Just sayin’…
Second, lift lighter weights (or your bodyweight) faster, which…this case means jumping. TADA!
Now, you could argue that except for beginners, neither lifting explosively nor heavier weights directly builds muscle. What they do-do (Yay, a poop joke) is increase neural drive to your muscles, activate dormant fibers, and crank up the efficiency of your central nervous system.
Take it a step further. If you only lift heavy and moderate intensity weights, adding in lighter more explosive exercises improves muscle unit recruitment. You’ll be throwing a figurative lightening bolt to your nervous system.
This is where it gets cool! You’ve activated more muscle fibers and your strength should increase.
By being stronger, you’ll be able to lift more weight for more reps with more muscle fibers. This gets you progressive overload: the driving force for all progress in the gym.
Getting more explosive provides another tool to turn on muscle fibers. This allows you to more aggressively train the muscle building mechanisms needed to get jacked, tan, swole, and sexy.
This is all fine and dandy, so what the hell are we supposed to do…Jump Volume Training?
Not quite. We can’t jump to conclusions. First, lets cover different types of jumps and why each variety is important.
Static Versus Countermovement Jumps
Static jumps and countermovement jumps look similar, but there are distinct differences in how they train your body.
On static jumps you start loaded, just like the bottom of a squat before jumping. In this position you negate the storage of elastic energy, making the static squat jump a great way to build static strength and explosiveness. Further, because there’s no countermovement, these jumps are less complex and generally safer for most lifters.
Static Jump:
Countermovement jumps differ because you start tall, using a downward arm swing while dropping into a squat. Then, from the bottom of your squat you rapidly extend and jump.
This countermovement makes the jump more complex, adding a full eccentric motion (dropping into a squat) before rapidly transitioning to your concentric (going up).
Note: I’m using dumbbells in this case, hence no countermovement with the arms, but there is still a countermovement in the lower body.
Countermovement:
I’d recommend starting with static jumps for at least 4-6 weeks to groove proper take off and landing technique. Then, as dictated by technique, incorporate countermovement jumps for more complexity.
Single Versus Multiple Jumps
As you guessed, single jumps are done as individual jumps within a set, with a re-set between each rep.
Most of the time, these are a better option to groove technique and train explosive power.
Multiple Jumps are a set of jumps performed in rapid succession. In this case, a set of 3 jumps would be 3 squat jumps performed with a consistent range of motion without spending too long in transition.
This transition time, known as the amortization phase, should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise, energy stored during the eccentric of each jump dissipates.
Bring in multiple jump sets gradually, grooving proper landing and takeoff mechanics before going all-out with multiple jumps.
Types of Jumps
If you haven’t squatted in years it would be a bad idea to load the bar with near-maximum weights and giver’ hell, right?
Right?
Well, the same thing applies to jumps.
Jumps are stressful, especially if you haven’t done explosive training or played sports in years. So ease into jumps, starting with jumping rope, building up to box jumps, squat jumps, and then broad jumps (if appropriate.) You’ll groove technique while conditioning the tissues in your lower body for the impact of jumps.
Jumping Rope:
Jumping rope is an exceptional tool to build foot speed, athleticism, and coordination with little space or equipment. Start by adding three to five minutes before and after your training. A huge benefit of jumping rope is it’s a rate limiting activity. The exercise ends when your technique breaks down, making it damn near impossible to jack yourself up.
Box Jumps
Box jumps, when done for power rather than a conditioning exercise, are a great tool to building explosiveness. Box jumps are an ideal candidate if you’re working on technique because they allow you to groove takeoff and landing technique while reducing joint stress on impact.
On each jump make sure you’re emphasizing hip extension—not testing hip mobility. Pause at the top of each rep to reinforce landing technique. Use another box to step down onto. Jumping off backwards defeats the purpose of focusing on technique and decreasing joint stress.
Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are an explosive lower body exercise with a short learning curve, making them perfect for most non-athletes. Start jump squats as static, single jumps before moving on to weighted or multi-rep jump sets.
Broad Jumps
Broad jumps are awesome for developing explosive hip extension in a more hip dominant manor than squat jumps. This may lead to more carryover on hip dominant exercises like deadlifts…along with activities that require horizontal power development, like sprinting.
But with a horizontal trajectory comes a caveat: increased shear stress on the knee, making broad jumps tougher on the joints.
To minimize joint stress, perform broad jumps for lower reps and focus on jumping up and out to reduce shear stress on your knees.
Adding Jumps into your Routine
Squat jumps are an explosive exercise ideally programmed after a dynamic warm-up and before lifting.
To increase your hops and potentiate your body pick one type of jumps once or twice per week.
Focus on technique and explosive intent, not high volume. Try 2-4 sets of 3-6 reps on lower-body training days.
1) Workout A: Lower Body, Squat Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Static Squat Jump 3×5 Rest 60 seconds
1b. Plank 3×45-60 seconds rest 60 seconds
2. Front Squat 4×6, 6,4,4 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Dumbbell Walking Lunge 3×8/each rest 60
3b. Half kneeling pallof Press 3×8 each rest 60
4. Dumbbell RDL 3×12 rest 90 seconds
2) Workout B: Upper Body
3) Workout C: Lower Body, Hinge Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Broad Jump 3×3, rest 90 seconds
1b. Single arm farmers walk 3×30 steps, rest 60-90 seconds
2. Deadlift 4×4, 4,2,2 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Barbell Single Leg RDL 3×5/side rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
3b. RKC Plank 3×20 seconds, rest 60 seconds
4. Goblet Bulgarian Split Squat 3×8 each, rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
Height isn’t the most important factor, form is.After all, there’s no point in building power on top of a faulty foundation. Keep your focus on full hip extension and sound landing mechanics.
Then, once you’ve nailed your technique, progress to dumbbell and/or multi-response jumps.
A progression of exercises would be:
Bodyweight single response –> bodyweight multi-response –> dumbbell/vest single response –> dumbbell/vest multi-response.
Next Steps: Power Up Your Training Today
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Help me, help you. You deserve a plan that gets you the best results.
Based off last week’s article on Building the Squat From the Bottom and today’s apropos titled post, you may think I’m obsessed with bottoms.
Kim Kardashian and J-Lo jokes aside, you’re 100% correct.
When I was coaching at Cressey Sports Performance and working with numerous overhead athletes, utilizing bottoms-up exercises was a daily occurrence…many times serving as a starting point for guys traveling to Massachusetts to train after a tenuously long baseball season or maybe recovering from an injury.
1) Better Shoulder Health and Rotator Cuff Activation
With regards to shoulder health and rotator cuff activation, there aren’t many things more effective than holding a kettlebell upside down. Because grip becomes more of a “thing” here, a phenomenon called irradiation comes into play. Simply put: grip strength helps the shoulder to “pack” itself, providing more stability to the area.
Don’t believe me?
Hold your arm out in front of you making a fist. But don’t do anything, just hold it there.
Now, MAKE A FIST (as if you were going to thunder-punch a T-Rex). Notice how your shoulder kinda tensed up and “packed” itself. That’s irradiation.
Moreover, when we start talking about the rotator cuff muscles and what the anatomy books tells us their function is we get this:
Internal/external rotation of the humerus.
Abduction of the humerus
Humeral depression (counteract pull of delts)
All of this is correct. And, I defy anyone to put this bit of trivia in their Match.com profile and not be beating people off with a stick.
However, the RC’s true “function” is to keep the humeral head centered in the glenoid fossa.6Bottoms-up KB carries are an excellent choice to train the rotator cuff in this fashion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpS41ag5ME
2) De-loading
I am a firm believer in lifting heavy things. The slogan of this site is “Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves” for crying out loud.
That said, it’s important to pump the brakes from time to time and understand (and respect) that lifting “heavy,” all the time, isn’t necessary to build a strong, durable, aesthetically pleasing body.
It’s the backbone, of course. But the “go heavy, or go home” mentality can be just as deleterious and stagnating as going too light.
What I also love about bottoms-up exercises is that they serve as a built-in “de-load” mechanism for many trainees, not to mention a tricky way to place a spotlight on any glaring side-to-side strength/muscular imbalances.
Have someone perform a 1-arm Bottoms-Up Bench Press or Overhead Press and watch as it becomes abundantly clear which arm is stronger than the other.
What’s more, because so many trainees like to “muscle” their exercises7, many of the smaller, stabilizing musculature gets the shaft. And thus, nagging injuries may occur.
Relax: I’m not going all Tracy Anderson and saying something asinine like “it’s important to use lighter weights so we can target our deep, less angry, stabilizing muscles. Also, dipping your left hand into a bucket of unicorn tears detoxes the body of sadness.”
What I am saying, however, is that it’s okay to use an exercise such as this as an accessory movement to help address a gross imbalance or weakness, or to even help build some muscle. The Bottoms-Up KB Overhead Press is actually one of my favorite shoulder exercises to build mass because it forces people to be strict with their technique.
Squeeze glutes, quads, and abs.
Lock rib cage down.
Press
3) Core Stability
I don’t feel I need to spend a lot of time on this one. Performing any unilateral movement (upper or lower body) has obvious core training benefits.
Here, not only are we getting all the benefits described above, but we’re also getting the benefit of challenging our core musculature to prevent any un-wanted motion (in this case: lateral flexion, rotation, extension, etc).
Bottoms-Up Split Squat
Bottoms-Up Bulgarian Split Squat
Bottoms-Up Reverse Lunge
With all these drills the objective is to stabilize the kettlebell so that it stays upright throughout, while at the same time maintaining a good thoraco-pelvic canister (minimizing rib flair and excessive anterior pelvic tilt).
[A good way to visualize this is to think about an invisible line being drawn from your nipple line to your belly button. You want to “connect” your rib cage to your pelvis and LOCK IT DOWN. The invisible line should stay the same throughout the duration of a set and not get longer].
You’ll notice on all the examples above I make a fist with my free hand to help increase bodily tension. This is important to help maintain that canister
4) And Lastly, Because I Said So
How’s that for a legit reason to give these exercises a try?
We all know that squats are a staple movement that span the gauntlet when it comes to helping people get stronger, leaner, and faster.
Blah, blah, blabbidy, blah.
That’s all well and good. But lets be honest.
Squats also help build bodacious bottoms.
There’s a reason why no one has ever written a song titled “Flat Bottomed Girls” or “I Like Average-Sized Butts.”
We like our derrieres fat and big, baby!
Alas, this article isn’t about the human form, appreciating the backside, and how squats help build bottoms.
No, this article is about something else entirely.
How to Build the Squat FROM THE BOTTOM
Dean Somerset and I spent this past weekend up in Kitchener, Ontario (<– that’s in Canada) just outside Toronto co-teaching our Complete Hip and Shoulder Workshop.
Note: you can check out to see if we’re coming to your neck of the woods HERE.
One of the main bullet points Dean and I hit on was squat patterning and how coaches and personal trainers can go about cleaning up their athlete’s or client’s squat technique.
Or, better yet: demonstrate to them some semblance of success.
Just so we’re clear: I think the squat is a basic movement pattern that everyone should be able to perform. I’m not insinuating that everyone should be able to walk into a gym on day #1 and drop it like it’s hot into a clean, deep squat and/or be able to load it to a significant degree.
Not everyone can (or should) squat deep. I’ve written on the topic several times, and for those interested you can go HERE and HERE.
That said, it is a movement pattern that’s important and one that can help offset many postural weaknesses, imbalances, not to mention more colloquial goals like athletic performance and aesthetics.
Assessment
Squat assessment is a crucial component to figuring out what’s the right “fit” or approach for each individual.
I can’t stress this enough: Not everyone is meant to squat to ass-to-grass on day one. Not everyone has the anatomy or hip structure to do it!
But it’s also important to figure WHY someone can’t squat to depth? Is it a mobility issue (which many are quick to gravitate towards) or a stability issue?
Digging deeper on the mobility-stability conundrum, Dean hit on a few important points this past weekend in trying to differentiate what mechanism(s) prevent someone from A) squatting deeper than that think they can squat and B) squatting with a better, more efficient pattern.
It’s a concept I’ve used myself with my own athletes and clients, but Dean did a really great job at peeling back the onion and helping the attendees better understand where they should focus their efforts.
Is it a Structural Issue?
Say someone makes the Tin Man look hyper-mobile when they squat. No matter what they do or how they position themselves, they just can’t seem to squat to an appreciable depth.
Most trainers and coaches would chalk it up to something lame like “tight hip flexors” or lack of hip mobility (which certainly could be the case), and revert to any litany of drills to improve either of the two.
This could very well be the correct anecdote, but I do feel it’s an often simplified and overused approach. I can’t tell you how many coaches have taken this route only to end up barking up the wrong tree.
It’s imperative to dig a little deeper.
Structural issue(s) = bony growth (FAI?), bone spur, and/or geometry of the hip joint itself.
As a trainer or coach you’re not diagnosing anything, and unless you’re Superman8 and have X-ray vision you’re more or less speculating anyways.
Assuming you have the knowledge base and are comfortable doing so, you can ascertain of what each person’s (general) anatomy is telling you by using a hip scour.
Supine (Passive): Have an individual lay on his or her’s back and bring knee into hip flexion. Is it uncomfortable or do they feel any pinching at or near the hip joint? If so, abduct the hip. Does the pinching go away? Do they gain more hip flexion?
This can speak to what their ideal squat-stance width should be.
You can also check hip internal/external rotation. Do they have more or less ROM in either direction? This could speak to more retroversion/anteversion of the acetabulum itself.
In general: those with an anteverted acetabulum (more than enough IR) are going to have crazy amounts of hip flexion. These are people are the ones who can squat ass-to-grass without blinking an eye. Of course, whether or not they can control that ROM is another story.
Conversely, those with a retroverted acetabulum (more ER) may struggle with hip flexion (bone hits bone earlier) and will likely never live up the all the internet trolls’ expectations regarding squat depth.
They’ll likely dominate hip extension ROM, however.9
Supine (Active): You can also have someone test their hip flexion ROM actively (meaning, they’re the ones doing the work). The key here, however, is making sure they use their hip flexors to actively “pull” their knees towards their chest.
Can they do it? Any restrictions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3TI-GJNl9w
Prone/Quadruped: Another “screen” to add is in the quadruped position where, again, the person is more stable.
Here you’re checking to see at what point do they lose control of lumbar positioning?
Some people, due to their anatomy, and despite 698 coaching cues being tossed their way, will lose positioning before they hit 90 degrees of hip flexion. You can be the most well-intentioned coach in the world, but unless you’re Professor Dumbledore you’re never going to be able to fit a square peg into a round hole.
So, you work with what’s presented to you. This person will need to squat at or above parallel.
I’m fairly certain the Earth will still continue to spin.
However, what you’ll often find is that they’re able to get into what would be equivalent to a “deep squat” position. Further, if you have them dip down and extend their arms above their head it’s akin to the same position as an overhead squat.
If they’re able to assume this position, it’s a safe bet (although not entirely exclusive) they it’s not a structural issue that’s preventing them from assuming a deep(er) and “clean” squat pattern.
All of it’s information – which may or may not stick – but it’s information nonetheless. And it’ll all help guide you as a coach to figure out what’s most suitable approach for your athletes and clients.
When assessing someone’s active squat pattern they may present as a walking ball of fail and demonstrate a whole host of compensation patterns. This is where some fitness professionals are quick to jump on the “it’s a mobility issue” bandwagon.
Taking the time to perform a more thorough screen (like the ones suggested above), though, is an excellent way to glean whether or not that is indeed accurate.
Squat From the Bottom
Lets assume you figured out it’s NOT a structural issue. You assess/screen someone in the supine/prone/quadruped positions and find they’re able to exhibit a passable squat pattern.
Yet, when they stand up and attempt to squat they resemble a stack of crashing Jenga pieces.
One of the best strategies I’ve found to help address this is to teach/re-groove the squat pattern FROM THE BOTTOM. Basically, start in the end position.
It helps to build context and confidence. In addition, it engrains the CNS to inform the brain “dude/dudette, relax, we got this!”
Assisted Squat Patterning
If I’m working with someone in person, I’ll hold my hands out in front of me (palms up), ask them to place their hands on top of mine (palms down), assume a squat stance, and “groove” their squat pattern (sit back with the hips, push the knees out), and “pull” themselves down into the bottom position of the squat.
I’ll then have them let go, hold that position for a good 3-5 second count, and then stand back up. We start them where we want them to finish. As a result this BOTTOMS-UP approach helps groove technique, but more importantly helps improve people’s confidence at sitting in the hole.
Some other variations you can use:
Squat Walk Down
Suspension Trainer Assist
Have someone grab the side of a squat or power rack (or use a suspension trainer – TRX, Jungle Gym) and use as much assistance as they need in order to get into the bottom position.
Note: Make sure they maintain a good back position.
Once they get into a position they feel they can control and “own,” have him or her let go and hold that position for a 3-5s count.
Then, stand up.
Have them repeat for several repetitions.
You’ll often find that after a few reps things start to click.
Boom
When it comes to squatting, not everyone should be held to the same standard.
Perform the screens mentioned above. Do your job.
Figure out what the best “fit” is for each person – depth, stance width, foot placement, etc.
Use pattern assistance if necessary. Start from the bottom. Build success into people’s training.
Either approach you use – whether it’s partner assisted or with external assistance (rack, TRX) – the main advantage is that it forces anterior core engagement, which in turn helps improve stability, which in turn improves motor control, which in turn makes people into rock stars.
Except without the fame, money, and glory. And amphetamines.
Note from TG:If there was ever a blog title conceived specifically for this website, this is the one. Jason Bourne, an F-16 fighter jet, and a lumberjack punching a grizzly bear in the face while eating a bag of beef jerky could have steel cage match and it wouldn’t be as manly as this title.
Fair warning: parts are a bit “heavy” with technical terms and verbiage, but there are still plenty of insights and suggestions (and videos!) that are applicable to everyone reading, because……
Everyone NEEDS to Deadlift
There are a few absolutes in this world. Some of those absolutes are:
Gravity
The Earth is round
Humans need oxygen to survive.
The Human Body needs food and water to survive.
Another absolute I could add to that list is that…Everyone NEEDS to Deadlift!
Now, that I’ve got your attention, finish reading this article before you decide to send your hate e-mail or hate mail if you are still living in the dark ages.
Let me clarify my point: Everyone needs to do some form of hip hinging in order to maintain good back and lower extremity health.
The movement of hip hinging is a vital component of everyday life.
Whether you want to lift up your kids without blowing out your back or you are trying to deadlift your car for reps, being able to hip hinge properly is an integral component to reducing injury risk as well as attaining a high level of performance.
What is “Hip Hinging?”
Hip Hinging is the ability of a person to maintain a neutral aligned spine while predominately loading the hips and having the primary movement come from the hips in an anterior to posterior direction.
For the visual learners, this is what it looks like:
As you can see from the video, we ideally want a neutral spine position and the majority of the movement comes from the hips moving in an anterior to posterior direction. The knees remain in a soft knee position. This means that the knees are not in a terminally extended (straight) position nor are they overly flexed (bent).
What movements use hip hinging?
The hip hinging move is used for a multitude of movements. It can be used in the:
Deadlift
Good Mornings
Variations of the Glute Ham Raise
Certain Athletic Endeavors
For activities throughout your day, it could include:
Properly picking up your kids.
Lifting a heavy box from the floor to a different location.
Picking a pencil up off the floor.
The list is endless. Being able to properly move through this movement pattern, whether it be for performance or daily life, is a NECESSITY!
How do I know if I can hip hinge?
Well, check out this video below for a quick and easy test to tell if you are hip hinging properly:
Place a broom, golf club, dowel, etc. on your back as shown in the video. Place one hand on the top portion at your head and the other hand at your sacrum (tail bone). Make sure to keep the three contact points between your head, thoracic spine (mid back), and sacrum.
Next, while maintaining “soft knees”, attempt to push your butt back like you are trying to tap the wall with it.
As you are doing this, you are going to need to counteract falling backwards by leaning your upper body/trunk anteriorly (forward). Time and time again, I will see people attempt to do this movement with just pushing their hips backwards and then in turn, fall backwards or lose their balance.
Your hips should always be more superior than your knees. If your hips are in line with your knees in the transverse plane, then you are squatting, not hip hinging.I can equate it going to an upscale club or lounge.
You walk up to the club and there is a line. It is up to the “bouncer” aka the strength coach/physical therapist in this example, to let you past the velvet rope and into Club Hip Hinging.
Once your in the club, there is a VIP section.
In this example, that VIP section is the Deadlifting VIP. If you aren’t on “the list,” then you aren’t making it into the “VIP” section.
For the physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, performance coaches, etc. who want to know if someone can perform hip hinging and/or deadlift variations, then screen your clients and patients.
Screening/Assessment
***Disclaimer*** If you are NOT a physical therapist, you need ask your client if you may put your hands on them to screen them. Also, if someone has pain with any of these screens/assessments, structure your programming appropriately and refer out to a PT, sports chiropractor, etc.
Tell them you want to screen them so you can adjust their programming so it is customized for them.
99.9% of people won’t have a problem with this, but you need to look out for yourself and make sure your clients are fine with this.
First piece of information I would like to know is, what does their hip flexion motion look like.
Place your client on the ground and passively/gently move their hip through their available range of motion (ROM).
Then, we want to check and see if they have the passive straight leg raise (PSLR) mobility. Gently raise their leg until you feel some resistance.
Per the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA), we would like to see 80 degrees of the PSLR. If the client doesn’t have 80 degrees, all is not lost. We have to modify their training regimen. We will get to that later in this post.
Next, if the client has 80 degrees of PSLR, we want to see if they can stabilize in that ROM. Ask them to actively raise their leg, keeping the knee straight up in the air without letting the opposite leg come up off the ground/table. We like to see 70 degrees of active straight leg raise (ASLR).
If they have 70 degrees of ASLR, then we can progress further in our assessment/screening. If they do NOT have 70 degrees, have the client place their hands on the ground. Then press into the ground with their hands and try again.
If their ASLR improves, then they have either a:
Core Stability Issue
Anterior Pelvic Tilt
What the pressing down into the ground/table does is activates the anterior core musculature and in turn, places the trunk in a more neutral position.
Since the hamstrings attach on the pelvis, if the pelvis is in an anterior pelvic tilt, this can cause the SLR to appear limited because it is starting in a stretched position.
If pressing down into the ground/table does NOT improve anything, then try these ASLR correctives:
Active-Straight Leg Correctives (via FunctionalMovement.com)
If there is an improvement in the ASLR, now, have the client stand up and tell them to bend over and touch their toes.
If the client can bend over and touch their toes with ease and without trying to blow a gasket or bouncing up and down, then this is another assessment check point that can tell us that they may potentially be able to deadlift/hip hinge.
The toe touch test comes from the SFMA.
What does the toe touch tells us?
We want to see if the client has the ability to posteriorly shift their hips when performing the toe touch. This tells us that the client can get into their posterior chain to load their hips. When watching someone perform the toe touch, find their greater trochanter (hip bone on the side of their hip region) and watch to see if that area moves backwards during the toe touch
In the first video below, you can see the person can shift their hips backwards.
In this next video, if the person doesn’t perform an adequate posterior weight shift, then they wont be able to touch their toes.
If your patient or client doesn’t have the ability to touch their toes, then try these correctives as recommended by FunctionalMovement.com.
This series of correctives is called the Toe Touch Progression.
First, place a 1/2 foam roller or a 10 lb plate underneath your client or patient’s toes as shown in the picture below.
Then, while maintaining the feet on the plates and the knees straight, instruct the person to bend over and gently try to touch their toes.
Perform 10 repetitions then switch to the heels elevated as shown below and perform 10 more repetitions.
You can also place a foam roller or a small ball between the person’s knees and instruct then to squeeze it during the toe touch. When you instruct the person to squeeze the ball, it up-regulates inner core musculature and places the core/trunk in a better position to perform the toe touch.
Next, have the client perform the toe touch again. If they can know touch their toes or it has improved as compared to before, then we know that this simple corrective has taught their brain/body to learn how to perform a posterior weight shift needed to perform hip hinging and/or deadlifting.
Now, their toe touch may have improved, but in a few hours or when they wake up tomorrow morning, it may be back to the way it was before the toe touch progression corrective.
With the body and the brain when we see a quick improvement such as this one with the toe touch, we are tapping into the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the brain.
It is “teaching” the brain/CNS a new way to move.
As Erson Religioso has mentioned on his website, Modern Manual Therapy, the brain/CNS is easily tricked, but it is difficult to convince. What that means is that with the toe touch, we have opened a window to the CNS that has allowed for a chance or an improvement to the system, we want to do whatever we can to “keep that window open” through various correctives and behavior modification in our daily lives.
If the client’s toe touch hasn’t improved, then there may be something else from a mobility, stability, or motor control standpoint that a licensed healthcare practitioner may need to dig a little deeper to discover why the toe touch hasn’t improved. Refer them to someone in your network, but we will go into more detail now on other ways to train this client even though their toe touch isn’t sufficient enough to deadlift from the floor.
Well, there are many options that you can provide your client to receive a great training effect. The next few examples all work to help load the posterior chain musculature as well as helping to improve core/trunk stability.
Most of these exercises should be felt in the gluteal and hamstring musculature.
Cable Pull-Throughs
Key Points:
Sit back into hips.
Maintain a neutral spine; no rounding or extending of the lumbar spine/TL junction.
Make sure to extend through the hips at the end of the movement, NOT through lumbar hyper-extension.
Hip Thruster/Single Leg Hip Thruster
Key Points:
Start with upper back resting against a bench and hips/knees flexed.
Maintain a “neutral spine” or “ribs down” position.
Extend your hips upwards and squeeze butt at the top.
Finish with your knees, hips, shoulders, and ears in a straight line.
Barbell Supine Bridge
Key Points:
Place an airex pad or exercise mat over hips/under bar to provide some padding.
Maintain a neutral spine, “ribs down” position and drive hips to the sky.
Make sure not to try and lift too high by extending through the lumbar spine.
Elevated Kettlebell Deadlift
Key Points:
Stand directly over the kettlebell (KB).
Push your hips back like you are trying to touch your butt to the wall behind you.
Maintain a neutral spine position.
Grasp the KB, drive your heels through the floor, and lift up through your hips/legs.
Squeeze butt at the top. Make sure to extend your hips and not your low back. Imaginary line should be between your ears, shoulders. hips, knees, and ankles.
Once the client or patient demonstrates proper form with an elevated KB deadlift, eventually lower the elevation height to make the exercise more difficult and eventually perform off the floor as long as proper form is maintained.
Trap Bar Deadlift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-sA3PG1kGY
Key Points:
Step into the trap bar/hex bar.
Push hips back like you are trying to touch your butt to the wall behind you.
Grasp handles and maintain a ribs down, neutral spine.
Imagine their are oranges in your armpits. Try to squeeze them.
Drive through the heels and extend your hips. Shoulders, hips and knees should be in a line at the top of the movement.
If the client/patient can’t demonstrate proper form with the Trap Bar DL from the floor, then you can place blocks or some other implement underneath the weights to elevate it so they can demonstrate proper form.
Rack Pulls
Key Points:
Step up to bar. Push hips backwards and grasp bar.
Same points as mentioned above.
Can use pronated grip (palms facing you) OR mixed grip (one palm facing you, one facing away from you).
Once someone can demonstrate proper form with these movements, then you can start by progressing towards the floor.
If someone’s goal is to deadlift from the floor and they can do it with proper form and pain-free, then we’re on our way to hitting that goal.
If someone’s goal is to be able to pick-up their kids or move and feel better, then the exercise variations mentioned above are great ways to help with that.
posterior chain strength preventing injuries.
change.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
