Q: Regarding your latest article, though this is good info, I think rounded back training is useful – especially when it comes to the ground combat sports. Sometimes you find yourself in very odd positions and you need to know your body and how it will function in those cases when you have to exert extreme force in a bad position.

A: I have to respectfully disagree.

By that same line of reasoning, boxers get hit in the head all the time in matches. Getting punched in the face in training to prepare for that isn’t going to help them much long-term, though.

The problem is that you’re comparing an unloaded lumbar flexion event with a lumbar flexion event that includes marked compressive forces – a recipe for disaster (especially if rotation is involved). For more information, check out this previous newsletter.

Eric Cressey