Home Posts tagged "Hips"

Healing the Hips

Ask any powerlifter what his most important joint is, and he’ll promptly answer “the hips.” The hips provide strength and stability in all three lifts. If you’re weak at the hips, you’re not going to do much on the platform. The same goes for all other athletes. The posterior chain is crucial for athletic success.

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Deadlift Diagnosis

Hi. My name is Eric and I have a problem. I never expected it and I didn't plan for it. It just happened. And now, I'll never be the same. Hardly a minute passes when I don't think about it, salivate, and get the shivers. My own grandmother cringes in fright when she even hears about "it." Yes, folks, I'm a deadlift-aholic. I don't just want to pull; I want to pull every minute of every day for the rest of my life. I dream about grinding out heavy pulls where the bar seemingly bends in half, and I jump at the opportunity to do speed pulls so quickly that I nearly castrate myself with the bar. This passion has led me to a ranking in the Powerlifting USA Top 100 for my weight class, and the brink of a 1RM of 3.5 times my body weight. Continue Reading...
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Get Your Butt in Gear II

In Part I we covered some pre-training measures you can use to get your glutes fired up and ready to go. Now it's time to get to work on strengthening them. Before we discuss the exercises, let's go over four regulations. If you violate these four groundrules, we'll kick your ass (no pun intended). 1) You'll use a full range of motion (ROM) on all exercises, even if you're the most inflexible person alive. 2) You'll drive/lead with the heel and not prance around like a sissy on your tiptoes. 3) You'll keep the torso erect (chest high and scapulae retracted) to ensure a full ROM. 4) You'll check your ego at the door and decrease the weight if necessary to perform the exercises correctly! Every rule doesn’t apply to every exercise, but more often than not, these little cues will help you to increase your gluteal function and strength. Now, let's move on to the exercises! Continue Reading...
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Get Your Butt in Gear

We need an appropriate balance between strength and mobility in our hips. This is true if we want to squat or deadlift more weight, jump higher or sprint faster. A world-renowned philosopher by the name of Coolio may have said it best: "You can't have da' hop if ya don't have da' hip!" It’s no surprise that athletes in sports like Olympic lifting, powerlifting and sprinting have amazing overall development in both flexibility and strength of the hip musculature. We see tons of injuries to the hamstrings and lower back, but rarely encounter any sort of injury to the glutes. The fact of the matter is that most athletes are tight in the hamstrings, lower back and hip flexors. This collection of problems is related to a lack of strength and motor control in the gluteal muscles. When the hip flexors (antagonists to the gluteus maximus) are overactive, the gluteus maximus becomes weak via a mechanism known as reciprocal inhibition. Furthermore, when our "butt" muscles aren’t up to the task, the hamstrings and erector spinae muscles are forced to work overtime to compensate. This is known as synergistic dominance. This unfortunate cycle often results in injury, or at the very least, sub-optimal levels of performance. Continue Reading...
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Feel Better for 10 Bucks

Ten bucks doesn't buy much nowadays. You could pick up a day pass at some commercial gym, or pull off the co-pay on a visit to the chiropractor. If you're lucky, you might even be able to swing a mediocre Russian mail order bride. Or, you could just go the safe route with your $10, take our advice, and receive a lifetime of relief from the annoying tightness so many athletes and weekend warriors feel from incessantly beating on their bodies. Don't worry, this isn't an infomercial. We just want you to pick up a foam roller for self-myofascial release and deep tissue massage. Continue Reading...
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Construction by Adduction

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: for five months last year, I spent roughly 5-6 hours a week in a room with two-dozen cadavers. No, it's wasn't some sick hobby, and I didn't live in a funeral home. Rather, I was fortunate enough to experience the marvel known as ATC 333: Gross Anatomy. Although I didn't walk away from this class with any good pickup lines, cute girls' phone numbers, or a newfound love of eau-de-formaldehyde, I did manage to emerge with a broader knowledge of human anatomy and, in turn, an expanded training perspective. In particular, I realized that the hip adductors are the Rodney Dangerfields of the thigh; they get no respect. Unless one is completely shredded or...uh…dissected, it's impossible to truly appreciate the contribution of these muscles of less notoriety and prominence to strength and physique development. Continue Reading...
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