Talking Shop: John Pallof

Written on July 18, 2007 at 9:34 am, by Eric Cressey

Eric Cressey:

Randomly throw some idea out there that will really make our readers say “Oh, crap, that really makes sense!”

John Pallof:

1. A muscle that often gets overlooked with shoulder impingement type problems – like the plain looking girl at the dance – the serratus anterior. It’s very important for a few reasons: helps rotate and protract the scapula/acromion up and out of the way of the humeral head, and is also important for force coupling with the rhomboids/lower and middle trapezius.

2. Many “hamstrings pulls” – especially chronic ones – are actually symptoms of a mild nerve irritation – neural tension dysfunction. Just like a brake cable on a bike, your nerves need to glide through the tissue they travel through. If they get hung up, they will become symptomatic to varying degrees. Picture a brake cable on a bicycle – the metal cable glides through the plastic casing. Your nerves need to be able to glide through the structures and tissues they travel through – as much as 7 to 10 mm in some areas!

3. A topic of contention – the elephant in the room – the psoas. While there are many theories out there, I believe the psoas acts along with the TVA/multifidus/internal oblique as a local/segmental stabilizer of the spine. Think about the origins on the anterior surface of the transverse processes of the lumbar spine. Why the hell would it attach so intricately if all it did was flex the hip? The psoas atrophies in a fashion similar to the multifidus with back pain. The multifidus and the psoas form a force couple/agonist-antagonist relationship, giving stability of one vertebrae on the other.