Female athlete stretching her hamstringCategoriesAssessment coaching Corrective Exercise

The Difference Between Good and Bad Stiffness

Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m talking about muscles here…;o)

Female athlete stretching her hamstring

The Difference Between Good & Bad Stiffness

Having “tight” or “stiff” muscles is often viewed as a bad thing. Not losing a match of Squid Game bad, but bad nonetheless.

When someone presents with a (true) muscular length limitation there are increased risks of injury involved – strains, tears, explosive diarrhea1 – not to mention an increased likelihood of faulty movement patterns up and down the kinetic chain.

But injury isn’t always omnipresent.

Take any NBA basketball player through the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) – specifically the Active Straight Leg screen – and you’re bound to open up a can of epic fail.

NOTE: I personally don’t use the FMS currently when assessing/screening new clients. I took both modules several years ago and gained a lot of insight and knowledge. But in the years since I have gradually weened away from the FMS for myriad reasons. I know a lot of fitness professionals who still utilize it though and feel it’s a relevant talking point in the context of this post.

Many would be lucky to score a “2” (which is an average score), and many would showcase a right/left asymmetry, which, as we all know, means a baby seal dies.2

As a result, we’re quick to go into corrective exercise overdrive and implement every strategy under the sun that’ll increase hamstring length.

Ironically, it’s “tight hamstrings” that allow many NBA players the ability to do what they do so well. Namely, jump through the roof.

In this case stiffness is a good thing. We don’t have to fix it.

Of Note: the ASLR screen isn’t necessarily a hamstring length screen to begin with. Sure, offhand, it can be a way to ascertain hamstring length…but what we’re really looking at is the ability to both flex and extend the hip.

Stiff hamstrings can affect the ability to do so. However, more importantly, the ASLR is about teaching people to get into better positions – improving stiffness in other areas – to “trick” the CNS into turning off the emergency breaks.

Get people into more optimal positions (nudge them into better alignment), and what presented as “tight” or stiff is no longer the case.

Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

 

Here we engage the anterior core – increase stiffness – to promote more posterior pelvic tilt (decrease “bad” stiffness in lumbar spine) in order to improve ROM, in addition to getting movement from the right areas (in this case the hips).

Likewise we can throw the hip flexors underneath the bus. I think we all know someone who’s been stretching their “tight” hip flexors since 1997.

Newsflash: If you’re someone who’s been mindlessly stretching your hip flexors for that long, with no improvement, what the hell?

I’d garner a guess the reason they feel tight/stiff is due to protective tension (and not actual tightness).

The stretch you’re doing – what I like to call the BS Hip Flexor Stretch – is doing nothing more than increasing “bad” stiffness in the:

  • Lumbar spine.
  • Anterior hip capsule.
  • My eyes.

It exacerbates and feeds what’s causing the issues in the first place.

Instead, perform a REAL Hip Flexor Stretch by increasing (good) stiffness in the appropriate areas – the anterior core and glutes – and actually get at the crux of the issue.

 

Another prime example would be the lats.

Stiff lats can be a bad and a good thing.

When Shit Hits the Fan (I.e., Bad)

In mine and Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint, we spend a large portion of time speaking about the lats and how, in the overhead athlete population (as well as in the general population), they’re often stiff/short and overactive.

As a result: Overactive/stiff lats will drive more shoulder depression, downward rotation, adduction, as well as lumbar extension in general.

Anyone familiar with PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) and their thought process and methodologies will recognize this “Scissor Posture,” where the pelvis is pointing in one direction (tilted forward in Anterior Pelvic Tilt) and the diaphragm pointing in another direction (due to an excessive rib flair and lumbar extension).

This is not only an unstable position to be in, but also keeps the nervous system “on” at all times, driving more sympathetic activity.

What’s more, with regards to shoulder health, overactive lats will make it much less likely someone will be able to elevate their arms overhead, as well as “accessing” their lower traps (which share a similar fiber orientation as the lats @ 135 degrees), which, in concert with the upper trap and serratus, aid scapular upward rotation, posterior tilt, and protraction.

Taking the time to coach someone to turn off (or down-regulate) their lats in order to flex, externally rotate, and abduct their shoulder works wonders.

Bench T-Spine Mobilization

 

Wall Lat Stretch w/ T-Spine Extension & Lift Off

When Lats Can Increase Your Overall Level of Badassery (I.e., Good Stiffness)

And now it’s time to turn those fuckers on!

Your lats are a MAJOR player when it comes to performance in the weight room and lifting heavy things.

It also behooves you to turn them on in order to improve your technique in the “big 3.”

With the deadlift in particular there are some significant advantages:

 

Another trick I like to use to help people learn to use their lats during a deadlift is to attach a band to the bar and a stationary object.

 

Trainees will learn very quickly what it means to “pull the bar towards you” and to keep the lats engaged throughout the duration of a set.

You can also peruse a few more options in this IG post from a few weeks ago:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

In this light, stiffness isn’t such a bad thing.

So, you see…

…it’s not always end of days or something that requires going into DEFCON 1 corrective exercise purgatory mode. Whether or not stiffness/tightness is bad or good depends on the context.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

Many people are familiar with the active straight leg raise. For those who aren’t, it’s exactly as it sounds.

You know how when you look at someone’s last name, it’s spelled weird, and in your head you’re all like “nope, not even going to try to pronounce that,” and then the person looks at you and says, “it sounds exactly how it looks.”

Come on, use your big words, try it. S.M.I.T.H. 

That’s the active straight leg raise. Try not to overthink it. You’re actively raising your leg. It’s science.

Conventional wisdom will tell you that the active straight leg raise is a great way to test for hamstring length and to see whether or not someone is stiff or short in that area.

And you’d be correct.

Conventional wisdom will also tell you that sticking your finger in an electrical socket “just to see what happens,” is pretty dumb. And you’d be right in that context too. People still do it, though.

The active straight leg raise IS NOT (technically) a test for hamstring length.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

 

While I understand why most people would opt to graze on that side of the fence, it’s overlooking the big picture. That, and as the saying goes…“the grass is always greener on the other side.”

The active straight leg raise is really a way to test one’s ability to control their pelvis. Can they flex one hip (the leg raise) while maintaining hip extension on the non-moving side? And can they do so without any major compensations and/or asymmetrical measurements (I.e., one leg is far better than the other)?

The active straight leg raise is actually one of the “Big 7” of the Functional Movement Screen, and it’s the first one that will be attacked if someone either scores a “1” or an asymmetrical “2/3 – right vs. left” on it.

Long story (20 course hours) short: if you can clean up someone’s ASLR, chances are you’ll be able to clean up many of the prominent movement patterns up the functional chain.

Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

 

What Does It Do: this is an excellent drill to help “groove” the active straight leg raise and to teach people to extend/flex their hip while simultaneously dissociating hip movement from lumbar movement.

Moreover, adding in the band for additional core engagement helps “stiffen” things up and get the anterior core to fire to better place the body in alignment. This is especially helpful for those who live in a more extended (anterior pelvic tilt) posture.

Key Coaching Cues: lie supine with your feet together and toes pointing up while grabbing a band placed over your head. It’s important to NOT pull the band too far towards the floor. The idea here is to maintain tension and to keep everything “engaged” throughout the set; if you pull the band too far you lose this advantage.

From there it’s all about pacing: pull, leg up, leg down, reset, pull, leg up, leg down, etc. Get the motion through your hips and learn to dissociate from the lumbar spine.

Go SLOW!

This isn’t a race and it’s crucial to do this drill correctly in order to reap the benefits.

This would be an excellent drill to include as part of an extended warm-up prior to training, or as a “filler” exercise within the training session itself.

Reps of 6-8 PER SIDE would suffice.

Now I’m just going to sit back and wait to see how long it takes for someone from CrossFit to put this into some kind of METCON finisher where the active leg is dragging a Prowler or something.

Just kidding.

But I’m not.

CategoriesUncategorized

Q & A: Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting – Part I

NOTE (from August, 2014):  I wrote this article back in March 2012. When I was an idiot. I still hope you read what I have to say below, because most of what I say still applies.

However, I’ve changed my thought process significantly since I originally posted this article. For a more up-to-date, um, update…check out the following article I wrote on T-Nation titled How Deep Should I Squat?

I.e., the hamstrings have little to do with the tuck under or “butt wink.”

Q:  Hey Tony,

Just read this old article over at T Nation – Squat Like You Mean It:  Tips for a Deeper Squat.

I’ve been trying to improve my mobility for a deeper squat and eventually got there ( I can sit in a squat position all the way down with heels still on the floor) but my problem lays in lumbar flexion at the bottom.

Obviously I’d need an assessment in front of you to pinpoint the issue but is there anything you can recommend for neutral spine. It’s driving me nuts that I cant keep a neutral spine. I’ve been retracting my shoulder blades, squeezing my lats and activating my core but still no cigar. Any common issues you see in this area?

A: Notably, it is completely bat shit crazy to say that everyone should squat to the same depth. Some people picked the right parents, have awesome levers, and are able to squat ass-to-grass with no issues at all.

PS:  I hate you.

Conversely, there are others out there who try to squat deep and, well, bad things happen.  Not everyone is the same, and it’s important – especially as a coach – to understand this.  While admirable, the end goal for every single trainee shouldn’t necessarily be to go ass to grass from the get go –  just because some meat head on a random forum who doesn’t know any better told you so.

Instead, the goal should be to teach proper squat mechanics and groove proper technique in a safe range of motion that won’t be overly deleterious to the spine.

As my good friend, Kevin Neeld, has mentioned prior:

Someone with limited hip flexion that attempts to squat deeper than their anatomy allows inevitably tucks their hips under at the bottom.  Invariably this leads to lumbar flexion under a significant load.

The question then becomes:  how can we remedy this issue?  Can we ease our way to a respectable depth without the ol’ butt tuck?

Of course we can!

Since it is a fairly common occurrence in the general training population, to start, we should discuss  what causes the tucking in the first place? While there are several things that need to be ruled out which are outside the scope of this particular post (nasty adductors – specifically with regards to sports hernia, and femoral acetabular impingement), one of the major points I want to hit on is that a vast majority of people (not everyone) are sitting in posterior tilt all day, and as a result the hamstrings tend to get stiff(er) relative to the anterior core.

It’s no secret that we spend a lot of time sitting.

In an ideal sitting posture, the pelvis is level or has a slight anterior pelvic tilt. With a posterior pelvic tilt, the PSIS are lower than the ASIS.  A posterior pelvic tilt is accompanied by an increased kyphosis. In addition, the ischials travel forward and new pressure points are created at the sacrum and the spine.

For those who are a bit glassy eyed from reading that, try to visualize how you sit in your car, or on the bus, or even at your desk…..right now…..as you read this.

Chances are, it looks very similar to the picture to the right.

Not surprisingly, and as noted above, the hamstrings become short or stiff relative to the anterior core.  Because the anterior core can’t counteract the pull of the hamstrings (and adductor magnus for that matter), the force couple on the pelvis is compromised and squatting may become problematic.

With that, I’m going to stop with the technical talk now because it’s making my brain hurt. Besides I’m sure many of you would rather swallow a live grenade than listen to me go on and on and on about PSIS and ASIS shenanigans.

Of course, the issue could be more far more reaching than just looking into the hamstrings/weak anterior core – but for simplicity sake, we’re going to focus our attention there.  And, just a heads up, in Part II, I’ll discuss training modifications that can be implemented…..so be sure to check back then.

In the meantime…..

Here’s What I’d Do If I Were You

Incorporate more multi-planar hamstring mobilizations.  I MUCH prefer these drills over just telling someone to haphazardly “go stretch.” Moreover, I find that these drills have much more of an effect since they address the hamstrings from multiple angles and not just “what’s easy.”

Note:  this last one will be a doozy for most.  The key point to consider is to make sure that you rotate through the hip and NOT the lumbar spine.

Other Stuff to Consider:

1.  Notice how I don’t flex my lumbar spine when doing these drills? You should do the same.

2.  Another thing that can’t be appreciated because of the camera angle is that the toes of my standing foot are pointing straight a head as I perform all the drills

I like to incorporate all of these as part of an (extended) dynamic warm-up, or they’re something that could easily be performed throughout the day in your office or home – all you need is a counter top or desk and you’re all set.

Bonus points if you bust them out during a business meeting!

And that’s it for today.  Tomorrow (UPDATE:  actually, it’s going to be on Monday.  Had too many things to catch up on in the meantime) I’m going to discuss how you would differentiate between whether it’s a hamstring issue or weak anterior core (Hint:  it’s usually the latter more than the former), as well as discuss some simple training modifications that can be done to help alleviate the “tuck,” and (hopefully) groove a more conducive squatting pattern.