How to fix the pull through

One of my favorite exercises to hammer home a hip hinge and really work the glutes is a pull through. Yeah, the pull through looks a little sexual, but the benefits outweigh whatever awkwardness you feel performing it (and frankly, most glute exercises are pretty sexual in nature so just roll with it). 

I love using these with beginners who aren’t yet comfortable with a deadlift, with folks who really need help in the lockout position of their deadlifts, and with others who have lifted forever who want (or need) some extra work on their booties. 

The biggest reason I love this exercise? It gives you IMMEDIATE feedback if you aren’t doing it correctly, in that it will 100% pull you over backwards if you don’t keep your core engaged.

Here’s where I see the movement go wrong: 

They dump forward to “reach back” towards the wall. 

They turn it into a mini squat. 

They “finish” like this. (For the record this is everything I DON’T mean when I tell someone to get their hips through.)

Or, another thing I see often is that they DON’T finish, in which case their hips are still slightly flexed at the top. 

Here’s how to fix it: 

Reach your butt back towards the wall behind you while keeping your chest up and ribs down. Talk about a lot going on. Sometimes it helps to hold a clipboard/piece of paper behind them for them to reach towards with their glutes. In this position, it’s all about feeling the hamstrings. They shouldn’t feel it elsewhere. 

To come up, squeeze the glutes. I like to think of working on a horizontal plane here…hips forward and back on the same level. That usually takes the squat out of the hip hinge. 

Here’s the top position. I’m squeezing my glutes and tucking my tail under me. Notice I still keep my ribs down–that’s big in keeping my core firing and controlling the movement so I don’t fall backwards. 

I find this usually works best as an exercise close to the end of a workout in sets of 10-12.  

How to fix your planking 

The plank: a simple, humble exercise that everybody, from the beginner exerciser to the seasoned vet in the gym does. 

It’s also an exercise I frequently see botched. So let’s talk about what a plank is for and how to fix it to get the most out of it. 

At its core (see what I did there?) a plank is an exercise in anti-extension. No matter what variation of it you elect to do, the entire goal of this movement is to prevent your back from going into extension by bracing your core. 

And that’s where I see it go wrong. Most people think it’s about how long you can stay in a prone position, but it’s about the quality of the movement–not the duration of time. 

Take a look at this: 

Don’t do this, please.

This is a good example of what not to do. You’ll notice my low back arching and though you can’t really see it because of my shirt, I’m also hanging off my shoulders (there’s a space between my shoulder blades). 

I am literally in hyper extension which is the exact opposite of what I want to do in an anti-extension exercises. 

It’s also an extremely passive way of waiting out some random allotted time limit that I should be aiming for in a plank. 

I’m not getting a thing out of this besides a sore low back and cranky shoulders. 

So let’s fix it. 

Yassssss

• Squeeze your butt cheeks together like you’re pinching a penny. Or quarter. Or hundred dollar bill. Whatever motivates you to not unsqueeze those cheeks. 
• “Tuck your tail under” is another cue I use to get people to posteriorly til their pelvis and get it in the optimal position. Or, you could imagine you want to show yourself your belt buckle. 
• Push the ground away from you. Notice I’m not hanging off my shoulders any more and there’s more space between me and the floor. 
• BREATHE. I don’t ever bother timing myself for a plank, preferring to count full exhales instead. The exhale forces your core to contract more, reinforcing good rib and pelvic positioning. I tell people to pretend they’re blowing out candles. It works, and it works well. 

Try a few sets of ten full exhales the next time you go to plank. You can thank me later. 

Two things I learned from working with golfers

This past winter, I was fortunate enough to attend the TPI level 1 certification, as I worked with a number of golfers, both professionally and recreationally.

I learned a lot while I worked with this group, and not just because I never learned to play anything more than some very poor mini golf. Whether you work directly with golfers, another rotational population (like baseball), or not, these two tips ring true for any client.

A quick note: the points I discuss here are things many clients I worked with misunderstood from the TPI teachings and are actually contradictory to what TPI talks about with their philosophies. 

More corrective exercises are not the answer. Pick the most important, and move along with your lift.

I had more than a few clients who wanted to do nothing more than add corrective exercises to their routines, sticking to bands, tiny weights, and stretching. 

But it was the one who bought into a strength training program that saw the biggest difference in his game, his physique, and his quality of movement.

While I included a handful of correctives in his workouts to address glaring movement issues (predominantly in his shoulder stability and hip mobility), my main concern was hammering home glute strength, core strength, and power development. He stuck to a planned out program, working on very fundamental movements (he learned to deadlift, plank, and throw a medball correctly, for instance), and managed to both hit the ball further and do more activities pain free for the first time in a long time.

Correctives are great for addressing a movement issue here or there. In all honesty, I hate calling them correctives–they’re exercises, whether mobility or stability based–in large part because people think that’s all they need to do to move and feel better. While they’re a component of getting the body to move well, getting the body strong is just as important to maintaining health and performance. A strong body can withstand wear and tear better, and I don’t know many people (not a single one, actually) who feels WORSE for getting stronger. Yes, address mobility and stability issues, but don’t neglect the strength part.

More rotation is not always the key.

Most golfers I saw were obstinately focused on rotation, rotation, rotation. They wanted more thoracic separation, more rotational core exercises, more, more, more.

And we wonder why we see so much back pain in golf.

While rotation is a huge part of the sport, and a lack of it can hinder the ability to stay in the path of the swing, there is such a thing as too much rotation. The core is designed to provide you stability, resisting and transferring movement from the lower extremities to the upper extremities. We see it in golf, we see it in baseball, we see it in lacrosse. It’s your hips and thoracic spine/shoulders that need mobility; your core should be able to resist movement.

Therefore, including ANTI rotational exercises, along with anti-extension exercises (take a peek at any rotational athlete–with very, very few exceptions I am willing to bet they are hyperextended) is a key element to ironing out faulty mechanics, transferring power more efficiently, and preventing back pain.

If you don’t believe me, you can read more about it here in this article by the man/myth/legend Dr. Stuart McGill, who has literally written the book (or three) on back health.

 

 

 

 

Dumbbell squatting? Try this. 

A friend of mine shot me the following question today about squatting: 

“When doing squats with dumbbells where should I hold the weights? They feel in the way if I hold them down to my sides.”

Two options, amiga: 

Goblet style: great for turning on the anterior core, and often much more comfortable on the shoulder joint as you increase weight. 

Front racked: honestly I rarely use this version, unless it’s in a circuit where I need two weights and want to cut back on time between exercises, or I’ll use it with kettlebells, but in a pinch (on the road?), it’s a good version.

There’s three important key points I also want to make, to get the most out of a squat. 

First, keep your ribs down and your tail tucked under you. If you wonder what I’m talking about, stand up and forcefully blow all of the air out of your lungs until there’s nothing left. Feel that? How your ribs go down and your hips almost tilt up to you like you’re tucking your tail? Feel your abs? Mimic that before you drop low into your squat. (Or, do it and then take a breath without losing that position.) This makes sure your core is turned on and keeps you out of hyper extension, without putting you in flexion. 

Second, pretend you’re standing on a towel that’s all bunched up, and imagine spreading the towel apart with your feet without actually moving your feet on the ground. You should feel your lower body get tension here. Maintain that tension through the entire squat. 

Third: keep your chest up. If you had a logo on your shirt, someone standing in front of you should be able to read it. 

Happy squatting!