I am a big fan of Stewart McGill, and wish to share some thoughts from his book “Ultimate back fitness and performance.” Most trainers, coaches and clinicians push their athletes, clients and patients too fast towards large movement exercises before the incorrect movement patterns and faulty stabilization is corrected. What I find so refreshing in Dr McGill’s approach is that he slows things down and breaks things down to the basics first. Sitting, standing, walking, lifting, pushing, squatting, hinging, lunging – these are all basic patterns that with a trained eye will reveal subtle yet crucial imbalances that can spell continued pain and worse if skipped over for “bigger and better” things such as heavy weights, running, etc. Appropriate corrections to found irregular patterns need to be addressed and the faults removed before optimal training can proceed.
One example is simply looking at how someone is standing. In a standing posture, feel the lumbar muscles with one hand If they are active and hard. Slouched shoulders and a forward chin lead to overworked back extensors. Retracting the chin and bringing the shoulders back and down both help. So does bringing the weight more onto the heels. Try this and feel the back muscles. Do they become softer?
Another example is walking. Look for slouching, short steps, locked knees, bent elbows or feet rotating outwards. Correct these things and you will have greater ease and decreased tension in your lower back.
learning to bend from the hip and not the back is a very important lesson. One technique is to move from the “shortstop” posture (straight back, hands on bent knees) to a standing position. Slide the hands up and down the thighs as you go back and forth. This entrains the back as you learn to move correctly.
Attention should be put on locking the ribcage to the pelvis and maintaining torso stiffness in movement. this does not mean a lack of flexibility, but rather it emphasizes that some parts of the back need flexibility while others need stability. Surprisingly, the Thoracic spine needs more flexibility and the low back more stability. I often find the opposite pattern in my patients. One way to learn torso locking is to lean on your elbows against a wall in a “plank” and then to pivot on the balls of your feet pulling one elbow off the wall, all the while bracing your abdomen.
The next steps involve activating the lateral stabilizers (Gluteus Medius). To find it, lay on your side with knees bent. Place your thumb on your front hip point (ASIS) and wrap your fingers. they will be on the Glut Medius. Now open your knees like a clam shell to feel the muscle activate. To actually train it, straighten your legs and lift one leg.
And finally for this discussion, it is imperative that your Gluteus Max are firing. Many people have Gluteal Amnesia and aren’t firing this muscle group sufficiently. They are often Hamstring dominant (they both draw the leg back into extension). One way to test this is to lay on your back with feet on the floor and bent knees. Squeeze your cheeks to engage the Gluts and then lift your hips up. Feel your Hamstrings. If they’re tightening, then you are probably Hamstring dominant and Gluteal deficient. Try to relax the Hams. Have someone stand on your toes so you can push your feet away. This will help engage the Quads as well. next, lift one leg and do the same.
This is just the jumping off point, but if you follow these pointers, you’ll be safely be ready for squats and more before you know it.