# Postural Concerns in Lifters



## PillarofBalance (Oct 12, 2015)

Yeah ok, a lesson in physiology is pretty uninteresting to most. Is the ability to hold a plank really going to do anything for your squat? If you can squat 500lbs obviously the trunk muscles are pretty strong right?

Well yeah, if you can support heavy loads on your back then yes. Your trunk muscles are probably pretty darn strong. But you may actually have an issue creeping up on you. And when it hits you’ll be sorry you stopped reading after the title.

Low back pain. Or worse, missing a deadlift at lockout!

First let me give you a quick rundown on some of the anatomy involved in this and then I’ll explain the deficiency itself as well as how to correct this.

The two parts of the spine we will discuss are the mid and lower portions. The middle portion of the back is the Thoracic vertebrae. There are 12 vertebrae identified as T1 through T12. This part of the spine is built for mobility. It has a convex curvature at a right lateral view (from the side). The lumbar spine on the other hand has a much more limited range of motion as it is built for stability. There are only 5 vertebrae identified as L1 through L5. The lumbar vertebrae are larger than the thoracic vertebrae and its curvature is concave from a right lateral view.







You also need to understand pelvic tilt. Imagine your pelvis (hips) as a bucket of water. If you have posterior tilt, that water spills down your butt and runs down the back of your legs. With anterior pelvic tilt, it looks like you wet your pants. There are 4 muscle groups that keep the pelvis stable. The erector spinae (muscles along the spinal column) pull up on the back of the pelvis at the top. The hip flexors counter-balance by pulling down on the front of the pelvis from the top. The Rectus Abdominus pulls up from the bottom and front of the pelvis. And finally the Hamstrings pull down from the lower rear portion of the pelvis.






There are two postural deficiencies that I believe are most common in lifters. The first being Lordosis and the other known as sway-back. Lordosis is characterized by an increase in anterior lumbar curvature as well as anterior pelvic tilt. Sway back posture can be identified by a decrease in anterior lumbar curvature, an increase in posterior thoracic curvature and posterior pelvic tilt.

You’ve likely seen these yourself, or maybe are even experiencing this. 

The easiest example or lordosis is a pregnant woman. Their condition causes their center of gravity to shift forward of the hips. This pulls on the lumbar curvature towards the belly. How will this affect your lifts? Hip extension becomes impossible without compensation. In the deadlift, your lift is completed (check your fed rules – this is a generalization) when your knees are locked and hips are extended. Common cues in the deadlift involve driving the hips through the bar or someone just screaming “HIPS HIPS HIPS” as you approach lockout. Two of my training partners show signs of lordosis. Both at the lockout of the deadlift are still leaning forward over the bar. In fact if you were to watch from the side it looks like a weightlifter performing a clean more than a deadlift. Except the bar stops right before they crash their hips into the bar to get under it. The stress placed on their lower back to hold the bar under control at the top is immense and both have had recovery problems with the lower back. 

With flat or sway back posture the person will typically look almost hunched over. There is an increase in thoracic curvature so the chest may look slumped, the front delts may even be turning in towards the midline. You’ll see this in the gym or on the platform causing problems again at lockout. The lifter will begin with a slightly rounded lumbar which is not corrected at any point in the lift. This roundness will stop you from locking out an inch or two shy as you aren’t able to lean back effectively and extend the hips properly. The knees may also look to be in hyperextension. If you are stubborn enough you may at the top be able to get the hips into extension and lock it out, but it will probably cost you a lumbar disk.

Now one caveat… I’m not diagnosing you here. Just because at the lockout of your deadlift your form comes unglued and you look like you have sway back doesn’t mean you actually do. If you suspect this, you should get yourself evaluated by a competent professional. What I am saying is that these postural abnormalities can develop over time due to muscle imbalances of the 4 groups of muscles that stabilize the hips. 

So let’s talk about preventing these things…

Strengthening is actually pretty simple. In Powerlifting many of us spend so much time attacking our posterior chain we develop these issues quickly. The solution some of the time is quite simply to do ab work. I know a lot of athletes that skip out on this. You will pay for it. Either in pounds off your lifts or back pain. 

Good old fashioned crunches are good. Essentially just lay flat and bring your ribs to your hips. You can add some difficulty to this and work the hip flexors as well by holding a slight crunch statically. Then raise both legs with knees bent fully. Once at the top, bring your leg down then back up one at a time. Do not unbend the knee and do not let the foot touch the floor. If you can do 8 to 10 of these and do 4 to 6 sets you are doing quite well for yourself. Don’t cheat them though. Cheating your supplementary exercise only cheats yourself.

One of my favorites I got from some yoga book I skimmed through a while back. It’s called a pointing dog I think? For this you get on hands and knees. Bring one elbow to the opposite knee underneath you. You can allow your lower back to curve, but don’t exaggerate or push beyond where it signals you to stop. Hold for a 3 count and then push the leg back and push the arm out to extension. I usually will set a timer for 5 minutes and just keep going on these. My lower back feels amazingly better after doing these.






Strength comes first as always, but we also need to work on mobility here. Prior to lifting we see all sorts of foam rolling. Backs and IT bands seems to be about it though… Here are some quick tips for getting the important hip stabilizers loose. 

Stretch the psoas first. If you’re a sitter for a good portion of the day chances are your low back issues are mostly due to a tight and shortened psoas. Stretch this out by getting on one knee with one leg extended behind you. Keep your spine in a neutral position and squeeze your butt. You should feel a moderate stretch in the hip and maybe down the center of your quad. Hold this for 2 minutes. Only a moderate stretch! That is an important detail. You aren’t going to accomplish more by pushing as hard as you can into the stretch. Trust me on this one!






Stretching your hamstrings out is quite simple really. Prop one leg up on something higher than your knee but no higher than your hips. Allow your torso to lean slightly forward, emphasis on slightly. Then give your pelvis an anterior tilt. You will feel a stretch on your hamstrings! If you are really jammed up at the top of the hamstring you can sit on a lacrosse ball. Position the ball right where your butt cheek (sorry for the technical jargon) ends and the hamstring begins. Find a point of tension or a tender area and just rest on it for a couple minutes. If your foot starts going numb hop off for a minute then try again. Accumulate two minutes of this though.

To loosen my abdominal area I tend to punish myself. I will actually lay on the handle of a kettlebell and just let my weight smash the handle into the muscles. The lower part of the abs, right around where your belt line is or slightly below that is my spot. If you are very tight or don’t have the pain tolerance for that, just roll around on a medicine ball face down. Don’t put your rib cage on top of that ball.

Getting into your spinal erectors with a foam roller is a bad idea in my opinion. I think foam rolling the low back forces the lumbars beyond their normal and safe range of motion. So to accomplish the same task, make yourself a “peanut.” Again, easy and cheap too! Get two lacrosse balls (or tennis balls depending on pain tolerance and body weight) and tape them together. Use this to roll on the muscles on each side of the spine at the same time. Do not actually roll out your spine with this!






That’s about all you need to know to help maintain a healthy posture, prevent low back pain or in some extreme cases herniated discs or torn hip flexors. All together the above will take you maybe 20 minutes tops. Make this a part of your dynamic warm up. Even if you split it in half and do half on each training day and alternate it, or do it at home every day in full. Getting stronger and doing it without pain is your responsibility. Don’t think that you’re going to just get lucky. This is what it takes to push your body to its limits.

-Strength First


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## StoliFTW (Oct 12, 2015)

Great info. Thx


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## snake (Oct 12, 2015)

I agree about foam rolling the back but never had a solution for it. I'm making a “peanut” tonight baby!


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