For the Overextended Part II
A few months ago I wrote a post on warming up for those with a chronically overextended lumbar spine. Since then I’ve gotten a few requests for a sequel post, so... Without further adieu…
For the Overextended Part II: The Lift
In my first post I discussed “prepping” for the lift for those with exaggerated lordosis. I babbled about targeted stretching, mobilizing, and activation exercises used in conjunction with the idea that it would help “tuck” the hips under a bit more and reduce that ridiculous curve in the lower back that ails us.
For many that'll do the trick. After the warm-up they can feel their abs and glutes engage a bit more throughout their lifting session and they feel much more secure about their lower back health.
However, there are those that need more than a 15 minute warm-up to relieve them of their discomfort caused by the overextension. These might be the people with hip flexors that refuse to let go, erectors in constant spasm, and glutes that seem to have tragically passed away from years of desk work.
For these people with symptoms a bit more severe than the rest, some careful consideration should be taken into not only their warm-up but the structure of the lifting program itself. Here are a few exercises I like to use to fight against the overextension apocalypse.
Lower Body
Front Squats
For improved posture I tend to favor front squats over back squats mainly because it really helps to emphasize t-spine extension. Like I mentioned in my previous post, a hyperlordodic posture is often accompanied by significant kyphosis in the upper back. By focusing on keeping the upper back tight and the elbows up and in, front squats basically become a good way to practice good posture under resistance. (Practice makes permanent!)
Split Squats
Remember to do your split squats with all of the knee health rules in mind (keep the knee tracking straight ahead, try to keep a vertical shin), but add this one: squeeze the glute of your rear leg HARD the entire time. If you really flex that rear buttcheek you will feel a good stretch in that hip flexor as you descend to the bottom position.
Pull-Throughs and Glute Bridges
Keep hammering away at your posterior chain strength and emphasize the “tuck under” with your hips. Pull-throughs with a band or cable column is a great way to train the backside while avoiding any compression on your spine. Also throw in some glute bridges into your actual lift! They shouldn’t be reserved for just the warm-up.
Glute bridging variations are endless:
-Double Leg -Single Leg -Double Leg Concentric with Single Leg Eccentric -With a Barbell -With Chains -With a Barbell AND Chains -Back Elevated -Feet Elevated -Back AND Feet Elevated
Get to 'em!
KB Swings
Same idea as above: POSTERIOR CHAIN WORK. Perfect the hinge and develop incredible hip thrusting power. I recommend getting Kelsey or another well-qualified coach to supervise if you haven’t done them before. A correctly performed swing session can do wonders for your posture, but a bad swing sesh can wreak havoc on your lower back!
Upper Body
½ Kneeling Work
Do standing overhead presses and barbell rows make your lower back cranky? Fear not, and enter the ½ kneeling realm of pushing and pulling. Getting into the ½ kneeling position does a great job of positioning overextended spines back to neutral. Replace some of your pressing movements with single arm ½ kneeling landmine, kettlebell, or dumbbell presses. Then make sure to get your pulling in and grab a band or a cable column to do some ½ kneeling rows as well.
Push-Ups and Inverted Rows
Easy enough right? If you take away the movement from the upper extremities, these exercises become a plank or an isometric glute bridge, respectively. What I mean by that is you MUST make sure you keep your abs tight and your hips (NOT lower back) locked in extension as you do your push-ups and rows. When you feel like you’re starting to arch, call it a set or reset your hips.
Benching…?
Bench pressing can help improve my overextended posture?! No, I doubt it. However, I’m throwing it on here for a couple reasons 1) A lot of us are probably going to bench anyway. 2) It may be part of your team’s strength program for high school, college, or beyond.
Many trainees (including myself) prefer to bench with an arch. It helps to get into a position of better leverage and feels a bit smoother on the shoulders. When setting up to bench with a significant arch there is going to be some extension in the lower back, but you should try your best to emphasize the arch coming from the thoracic spine. If you cannot get into an arched back position on the bench without discomfort you still have options. You can simply bench with less of an arch, and by elevating your feet on weight plates you will be able to get a flatter back posture more comfortably. Another option you have is... don't bench. What?!
Floor Press
Take it to the floor! Bring your feet in and keep your back flat against the ground. That should quench your thirst for supine barbell pressing.
Anterior Core Work
Always throw in some work for your abs. Stronger abs will help pull that pelvis up in the front and decrease that anterior tilt. Anti-rotation presses, reverse crunches, roll-outs with a stability ball or an ab-wheel, and stir-the pots are all good options. One of my favorites is a plank. Boring you say? Load it up! Start stacking plates on your back and try to PR every time.
Fin That’s it for now. Can’t guarantee a part III, but you never know!
How to Warm-Up in a Hurry: Lower Body Edition
Ever find yourself in a time crunch where have to "get in, get out" of the gym quickly and efficiently?
Yeah, me too. Probably more than I'd like.
Those of us enlightened folk know that a proper warm-up - consisting of self-myofascial release, dynamic flexibility and mobility work, along with a few acute corrective drills, to name a few - goes a long way toward ensuring a higher-performing body and stronger lifts.
But if you're crunched for time, how do you prepare?
Do you spend thirty minutes on foam rolling, glute bridging and spiderman-ing (yeah, I made that last one up), only to leave a mere five minutes for strength training?
Or, do you just hop under the bar and start squatting it like there's no tomorrow?
Do you skip the weight room altogether?
None of the above is ideal, so I thought I'd lay out what I personally do before a lower-body-focused session when pressed for time. In fact, after performing the warm-up I'm about to share, I've had some of the best training sessions of my life.
Enter the most economical warm-up you've ever seen:
1. Pushup to Yoga Stretch Complex
Note: I usually go 10 pushups --> 5 Downward Dog --> 2 Spiderman to Glute Mob/side
2. Walking Knee Hug to Warrior Lunge Stretch (x5/side)
3. Side Plank Series (x :10 each)
(Note: For those who aren't ready for a single-leg+feet-elevated side plank, just do a normal side plank)
4. Goblet Squat (x8)
5. Kettlebell Swing (2x10-20)
6. Pick Up Something Heavy
----
For those of you who care about the "what" and "why" of the warm-up, here are just a few of the benefits you receive from each exercise.
As you'll see below, it's possible to hit a TON of good things in a matter of minutes when we pick some choice warm-up drills.
Pushup to Yoga Stretch Complex
- Core stability, scapular stabilization, and blood flow to the upper body (during the pushups) - Scapular upward rotation, some ankle dorsiflexion, and a slight stretch for the hamstrings (during the "downward dog") - Adductor length and hip flexion ROM for the front leg, hip flexor length for rear leg, T-spine extension+rotation, and some pec length (during the spiderman w/overhead reach) - A nice stretch into hip flexion+external rotation (during the glute mob at the end)
Walking Knee Hug to Warrior Lunge Stretch
- Hip flexion with neutral spine (during the knee hug) - Hip flexor length, core stability, and shoulder flexion ROM (during the warrior lunge) - Separation of the left and right hip - Ankle proprioception and hip+glute stability of the ground leg (during the knee hug)
Side Plank Series
- This will wake up the core musculature, not to mention frying the abductors and adductors when you transition from double-leg to single-leg support
Goblet Squat
- If you aren't aware of the myriad benefits this bad boy provides, I encourage you to step out from under the rock you've been living under.
KB Swing
- Glute, glute, and glute. - Gets the heart rate going - Some excellent "waking up" of the posterior chain. I always feel incredibly charged up and ready to go after doing some swings. - Not to mention receiving a bit of hamstring length and priming the hip hinge pattern in general.
There you have it, all in about five minutes time required. There are of course many other drills one could employ to get the juices flowing and correct postural flaws, but those are my current favorites.
Warming Up: A Lesson from the Commercial Gym
As I was writing my Monday post on how to do a pre-lifting warm-up series, it got me thinking of something that happened to me that deserves sharing on SAPTstrength. First, let me preface the story by saying that, like many of you, I've seen a LOT of shenanigans in commercial gyms. I'm used to observing people bicep curling in the squat rack, trainers taking overweight clients through circuits on BOSU balls, bros doing "chest/shoulders/triceps" on the same day, boys deadlifting with rounded backs, and (loaded) leg press platforms slamming down on an athlete because his trainer didn't show him how to properly place his feet (not kidding).
Essentially, a myriad circus acts that make me want to pour nuclear waste down my throat in order to end my misery.
The majority of you readers have already taken the Red Pill and are now "enlightened" in the realm of strength (or, as Morpheus would put it, you've stayed in Wonderland to see how deep the rabbit-hole goes), and most of the aforementioned ridiculousness has been derided on the internet before, so I'm not standing here to continue ranting about this stuff.
However, something recently happened to me that I felt deserved some attention. A little something related to that whole, warm-up "thing." I realize the concept I'm about to address may be old news to you, but for those of you who hearing this for the first time: Listen up.
So, I'm in the gym the other day (the only one in there actually...this particular commercial facility is quite small), minding my own business and doing some foam rolling. As usual, I stick my headphones in my ears, put my horse blinders on, and keep to myself. As I continue through the foam roll series, a young man, probably in his late-twenties, walks in the door, and heads straight over to the bench press.
No big deal. I've seen this a thousand times, and I'm done with making fun of people heading straight to the bench on a Monday without warming up because they're "ignorant," "non-functional" (whatever that means anymore), or whatever views I once held as an elitist snob upon first entering the fitness industry. **If they're in the gym, getting after it, then who cares, right?
As he circles the bench like a famished lion eying fresh meat, he is bobbing up and down a bit, saying something about how excited he is to test his bench max since he hasn't pressed in a while.
All is well and good, until I perform one more pass over my IT band, and look over to see this man has loaded 295lbs on the barbell! Without doing a single warm-up rep.
I have to blink twice to make sure I'm not imagining anything.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the world's best bench pressers can do some warm-up reps with the bar only, and then do more warm-up reps with 135lbs, then this man (who I am POSITIVE is not a world-class bencher) can do some freaking warm-up reps, am I right?! I mean, it's one thing to avoid "correcting" someone outside SAPT because their training methodology is different than mine, but it's another to watch someone puncture their esophagus without doing anything to help.
I make my way over to him, and the conversation goes like this (I'm not fabricating this at all, mind you):
Me: Hey there, umm, I couldn't help but notice, but did you just load the bar to 295lbs right after walking in here?
Guy: Yeah man! I'm stoked to test my max today. It's been a while.
Me: Sure...yeah I bet. Well, have you thought about warming up at all? It should help you in your max attempt. (I figured that lecturing him on the inner workings of the central nervous system wasn't going to go over too well).
Guy: Nah. I don't want to waste all my muscle on any sets before the max. Gotta have it all for the max, you know!!
Me: Well, yes, but...
Guy (interrupting me, eyes widening and and finger pointing and waving at me): You know what?! You're just like that other trainer guy I saw in here! He tried to tell me the same thing a while back. Well y'all are wrong, ya know.
Me: Yeah, maybe we are.....Well, how about I at least stand here to give you a handoff?
Guy: No way man!! In the ring, it's just you to fight for and defend yourself, you know? No one is gonna step in there to help you when you're down. When I'm at home, I bench in my basement all the time without a spotter to teach me to fend for myself.
(As I come to find out, he is a competitive boxer).
Me: Okay, well, call it the strength coach in me, but there is no one else in here and you have put on the bar what I am pretty sure may give you some trouble. Why don't we compromise and you at least do a couple reps with 225lbs first, and work up from there? Just trust me on this one.
Guy (slightly miffed): Whatever, sure. That's fine. *Takes the weight down to 225lbs and griiiinnnds outs 4 reps. Then proceeds to put 275lbs on the bar*
(I give the guy a handoff for the 275lbs attempt, and he doesn't come close to making the lift. Gets stapled.)
Guy (getting up off the bench, looking flustered): Man, I used to bench 350lbs for reps all the time, I don't know what happened.
Me: Yeah, you probably did used to do that....bad day, I guess?
*End of Story
My point in all this is....
Do Your Warm-Ups, For the Love!!!!!!
With the wealth of information out there, I'm consistently shocked to find gym members loading up the bar, only to get stapled by a weight they could have lifted like a champ if they warmed up correctly. Using the example above, this is how the guy should have warmed up (assuming his body actually was prepared to lift 295lbs). It doesn't have to look exactly like I'm about to lay out below, but I hope you get the idea:
Bar x 5-10. Whatever, just groove technique. (not kidding here...many of the world's best lifters start with just the bar) 135x5 185x3 225x2 255x1 275x1 295xEpic Win
Note that a lot of autoregulation goes into play here. For example, say he went for the 275x1 lift but it went up slowwww. It would probably be best to call it a day and come back when he was feeling more fresh. Conversely, say that 275x1 flew up super fast....maybe he could even have gone for a 300lb attempt if he felt "on."
Some days you're going to have it, and other days you won't. Sorry, but that is life. The good news is, a proper warm-up will help you determine what kind of day it is.
**Still fun to talk about sometimes, though.
SAPT Exercise of the Week: Sample Warm-Up Series
Here's a quick warm-up that won't take more than 5-10 minutes to complete, but will hit practically every joint in the body and prep you to effectively smash some weight around. These are a few of my favorite moves that I've found to personally be some of the best "bang for your buck" drills.
Note: When you perform the prone plank portion, try doing it "RKC style" as demonstrated in the video below. It really does make a big difference in terms of how much benefit you receive from the seemingly simple exercise.
While, yes, warming up can be an annoyance for some people, I find three reasons that simply won't allow me to skip it before my own training sessions:
1) It gives me a "feel" for how my body and nervous system and faring during a particular day. As I run through the various movement patterns, I have a chance to sense what areas may be sore/testy, and also if I'm feeling "on" or not. This can then help me further autoregulate my training session and decide how hard I'll push it based off what my body is telling me.
This takes some experience and practice, yes. But the rewards can't be overstated.
2) Warming up is going to help you run faster, move more weight, and reduce the likelihood of injury during your training session. 'Nuff said there.
3) It gives me a chance to "bridge the gap" between the workday and my training session. During the warmup I have a chance to clear my mind and leave any troubles/worries at the front door, so to speak. Then, by the time I've moved on to the main lifts for the day, I have all my focus in check.
While some of the drills in the video above may be old news to many of you, I'm still shocked to find how many people tend to spin their wheels when it comes to preparing for their training session. Hopefully some of you can glean a few things from the video and add them into your own repertoire.
