Don't be this guy...Don't repeat poor movement habits in the gym. Get assessed and trained in good movement habits to avoid injury and stiffness occurring.
the push up - series of regressions
The push up is not just an arm & chest exercise...in fact, hardly even. The push up, done correctly, should utilise the gluts; abs; obliques & deep core muscles for trunk stability. It should be a smooth, controlled movement. The inability to perform a good, strong pushup could be a sign of trunk instability.
There are several ways to regress the push up. Firstly, the fitball push up is a great regression of the knee push up if you lack the pelvic stability to perform knee push ups. It works on strengthening your midline in order to be able to progress.
The next progression is the knee push up and then the full push up coupled with plenty of core work to improve stability and strength.
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overhead squat form
Spot the difference: Left = good...Right = compromised joints
I often see pictures posted of people with loads of weight above their heads but in very compromised positions, both in the press & the Overhead Squat (OHS). A common trend is to hyperextend the upper back and compromise the shoulders. (This only overloads the lower back and hip flexors and stresses out the anterior shoulder muscles).
This can be for various reasons:
Lack of shoulder stability
Lack of thoracic mobility
Lack of pelvic stability
Lack of hip mobility
Lack of knee stability
Lack of ankle mobility
Any one of these things, or a combination, can change the OHS dramatically. Don't sacrifice form for numbers.
Just make sure if this is a movement you do regularly, particularly if it is loaded, that you can tick all the above mentioned criteria prior to load. Or at least be working on your weaknesses and immobilities that are apparent and improving them prior to load.
Nothing wrong with working the dowel rod guys. I don't know about you but I'd rather achieve a perfect or close to perfect dowel rod OHS whilst preventing injury than an ugly weighted one which causes dysfunction in the system.
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deadlift - the do's and don'ts
The deadlift is the one movement that most people struggle with and where a lot of injuries occur, now you can't blame this on the deadlift as it is a fantastic exercise that if done correctly, can actually protect your lower back and strengthen your stability muscles. Herein lies the problem, most people do not deadlift correctly and this is mostly due to them not being taught the correct steps involved in a deadlift. It is not just about bending over and picking up a weight with a straight back. Cueing is everything and teaching a person HOW to move well is imperative, their technique won't change just by telling them to keep a neutral spine or giving them a lighter weight. You have to find a way to communicate what you want them to do so their BRAIN GETS IT! And then making sure they do it correctly often enough in order for the movement pattern to stick. Without changing their motor control system you aren't changing anything.
Before I hand a weight to deadlift to any of my clients I can commonly spend several sessions coaching them through the breakdowns of an efficient deadlift, some require less time, others more.
There are several ways to safely coach an individual through each separate step of the deadlift movement prior to even going near a weight, all of which can be practiced at home, with no special equipment needed. Once they are ready to add weight to the lift I always start with a medium weight kettlebell as it is a much easier piece of equipment to learn with than the barbell.
The most common problems I see with the deadlift, in order of popularity are:
people hinging off their necks
not engaging their lats (resulting in either pulling weight through their shoulder blades or lower back)
not using their breath (therefore putting their lower backs at risk)
not sitting into their hips enough (can be due to dysfunctional gluts or immobile hips)
pulling the weight off the floor as opposed to pushing the ground away from them.
A great deadlift should be:
neutral neck throughout
lats engaged throughout
tibias (shins) vertical throughout
barbell touching shins or kettlebell handle in line with ankles and follows that line throughout movement (weight stays as close to you as possible throughout movement)
short and sharp sniff into belly to create Intra-Abdominal Pressure before lifting and lowering
pushing through the heels to activate your posterior chain and initiate the deadlift
a neutral standing position at the top of the lift (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, ears in one straight line), not hyperextending through the back
on the way down: not losing the lats; neutral neck; vertical shins and keeping the bar moving through the same line so it grazes shins on way down.
That is what every deadlift should look like, no exceptions, no excuses. If you are finding you're not achieving some of these steps then I'd urge you to seek help. You may have some mobility issues that need addressing first or maybe it is just a case of changing the way you move.
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vertical force management: are you box jumping your joints into overload?
Far too often I see and hear people carrying out inefficient and heavy landing box jumps. This places a large amount of stress on your joints and can lead to injury. Box jumps or any leaping and landing drill should be done by absorbing the impact through the whole body in a soft and controlled manner.
If there is insufficient mobility available in a certain plane of movement, the body may need to accommodate forces in another plane (i.e. poor ankle range of movement in sagittal plane = knees & ankles fall inward into transverse plane). If your body does not have sufficient stability in a certain plane, it can divert forces to another plane (i.e. insufficient spinal stability in sagittal plane = spine side flexes into coronal plane). You need sufficient control of all involved joints in order to safely perform box jumps.
An example of correct and incorrect landing form with knees and ankles buckling in on the picture on the right. (Picture taken from Stability, sport & Performance Movement by Joanne Elphinston.)
"Your hips, knees & ankles should stay in alignment during take off & landing. A good landing should absorb force through the hips, knees & ankles; the muscles on opposite sides of the joints work in partnership to allow the extensor group to first quickly lengthen and then shorten again to absorb and control joint bending. This does not necessarily come naturally to some athletes. Instead of springs in their joints, the supporting muscles fail to change length in a coordinated fashion and the athlete lands with their joints locked, causing a jarring sensation and reducing their ability to move easily from the landing position." ~ Joanne Elphinston.
Another common trend with box jumps is landing on the box with your heels hanging off the edge, this can add extra strain through the calves and achilles, leading to inflammation and injury. Make sure your whole foot lands on the box to avoid unnecessary injury.
There are 3 key components for vertical force management:
1. Unlocking the hips
Unlocking the hips involves a small movement that fractionally lowers your centre of gravity while maintaining a vertical trunk (the initial phase of a squat), this releases tension in the hip flexors & lower back which makes a spring action available in the hips. This allows for efficient functional motor patterning and the possibility of glute activation. It is extremely important to be able to separate hip movement from spinal movement as it is common to couple hip flexion with back extension (compressing the lumbar spine) or couple hip flexion with spinal flexion tilting the pelvis under (increasing load in the lumbar spine), both of these compromise the spine.
2. Dropping the centre of gravity
The natural squat (air squat) is the most direct method for dropping the centre of gravity. Adequate ankle, knee & hip mobility is required and an ability to control your balance point in the squat. To find your balance point practice sitting in a squat and shifting your weight from heel to ball of foot (whilst still keeping your heels on the ground) until you find a comfortable position where you feel balanced and as if you can move sideways, forwards or upwards if you choose to but still be in balance. Once you have this, practice dropping into your squat and bouncing back out of it with little effort. Once this is mastered, effective shock absorption in box jumps becomes easier. Essentially, this is the motion used at the top of the box to absorb the impact.
3. Shock absorption
If the forces are not absorbed in the hip and knees, they are either forced downwards, causing a pronatory collapse at the foot and ankle (weight on the inside of the foot as foot rolls inward), or they shunt up into the hip or sacroiliac joint. Smooth, co-ordinated hip and knee bending keeps vertical forces flowing down and out. If this motion is blocked at the hip and knee by over-contracting the muscles around them (splinting effect at the legs), the pelvis stops moving downwards and the force from above crashes into the lower back. This can cause a buckling effect in the spine, and over time, lower back pain. Alternatively, the knees can collapse inwards as another compensation strategy for force absorption. This causes stress at the knees and ankles and lead to various injuries.
So in order to stay injury free and not over stress your joints it is imperative to look at your box jump form if this is a movement you do on a semi-frequent basis.
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