One Weird Trick – Installment 12 – Avoiding “The Claw” in the Side Plank

Things to Familiarize With Yourself Before Continuing:

1. Shoulder Kinematics

Shoulder Motion

2. Familiarity with “The Claw”

How can you save yourself from the throes of “The Claw?”
Humor and jokes aside, one item I’ve noticed over and over in both athletic and general population individuals is a lack of lateral stability, which can present itself proximally, and show up distally or further away from the problem area. Two lines that demonstrate these concepts fairly well are the lateral and spiral lines  from Anatomy Trains.

Lateral and Spiral Lines

Pictured above, you can identify that the obliques are connected to the pelvis and shoulder girdle in a linear fashion (in the lateral line) and a contralateral or diagonal fashion (in the spiral line).

Abdominal Obliquables

These internal and external obliques connect much of the axial skeleton (read: proximal structures) that if these muscles are downregulated and not utilized in an efficient manner, you’d be left to only utilize your synergistic muscle groups that also stabilize, flex, and rotate when asked to move in these respective manners – such as the latissimus dorsi, erector spinae, and quadratus lumborum.

You can still extrapolate quite a bit of practical information from someone’s inability to perform a single leg movement if you have your anatomy down pat, without leaning on commercial models that “tell you what to do.” This is one thing that I hope that gets across to many trainers and coaches out there.

These single leg movements can be lunging in place, holding one leg in the air, or performing a movement that allows you to balance and push off of one leg.

Miguel_Aragoncillo-162

What does the inability to maintain a unilateral stance tell you?

  1. Do they not understand how to do the movement?
  2. Did you not give enough instruction/coaching?
  3. Are they too weak (from a physiological competency POV) to perform the movement?
  4. Are they too strong in another pattern to perform the one you asked?
  5. Are there other structural things that are in the way for the brain to get from Point A (Brain) to Point D (actin-myosin cross bridges found in the muscles to perform the respective movement)?

I find that with good coaching, a lot of these questions get answered. However, for a minimum effective dosage of coaching, this might require “dosing” an exercise over a certain amount of time, in order to come out with a positive set of adaptations – towards improving lateral stability, in this case.

Sometimes identifying small details can lead to larger, big picture items.

Iceberg

The Side Plank as an Entry Point

It is frightening how much I refer to the side plank when identifying lateral stability issues. It seems to be the entry point that I most identify with when thinking of lateral stability and unilateral instability.

Interestingly, when I’m thinking of unilateral instability I can identify some structures on a proximal level (read: axial skeleton) that are, for a lack of better term, “out of wack.” When it comes to structures that step outside towards the appendicular skeleton, what items may be “out of wack” when it comes to function?

If arm positioning is troublesome…

  • Is stabilizing in horizontal abduction an issue?
  • Maintaining elbow flexion may recruit the biceps as an anterior shoulder
  • Lack of ability to pronate and supinate through the forearm may identify structural issues that can lead towards a different avenue towards a solution (soft tissue work in the forearm such as the pronator teres, for example).

The main point I want to get across here is…

Lack of lateral stability -> lack of frontal plane control -> Inability to control horizontal abduction in upper extremity -> Pronation and supination about the forearm are compromised -> “The Claw” rears its ugly head in the side plank!

Side Plank - One Weird Trick

What do you do if “the Claw” shows up in your side plank?

Do…

  • Provide better cushioning if necessary for the forearm.
  • Provide better positioning/coaching for the upper arm (humerus) to stabilize within the glenoid socket.
  • Provide soft tissue work to restore pronation and supination values if possible.
  • Identify any bony structures in the hands that may need improvements in movement as well.

For what it is worth, I find these items to be constant coaching fixes not only in advanced clients and athletes, but also in clients that have had degenerative adaptations in their shoulders and elbows.

Adaptation Continuum

Adaptations can both be bad and good. In this case, I’m simply utilizing the side plank (and many other exercises) as one more avenue for identifying these adaptations, and seeing what other adaptations may be necessary.

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo

One Weird Trick – Installment 11 – Long Term Hip Adaptations

One idea I’d like to identify with is that as strength coaches, and personal trainers, we have the ability to carry out movements that will deliver adaptations in a positive direction.

Adaptation Continuum
The method will determine what kind of adaptations you will deliver to the system. Ask yourself… what is the goal?

In many movements, sometimes we can get people into the “correct positions,” however the intention is not followed through when the movement is executed.

This is even more intrinsic when many people have jobs as trainers, where some individuals need to be entertained, rapport needs to be built, or perhaps you may be working in a group setting where some people may fall through the cracks with respect to movement patterns.

In other words, if you have a group of 10 people, and you get all 10 into the correct positions before pressing the “START” button on your stopwatch, what will happen to all 10 when executing a specific exercise? Do you have a side conversation with one of them until the end of the round? Keep a watchful eye? Will the movements need immediate and intensive coaching? Who knows…? :)

Another exercise that I find that is easy to get into the correct position, but not followed through on an execution level is any exercise that aims to use the “Wide Stance” position in cable exercises. Whether these are “Wide Stance Anti-Rotation Cable Chops,” or “Wide Stance Anti-Rotation Pallof Presses,” at times there needs to be a “self-check” in place to make sure the appropriate level of hip abduction is performed.

 

 

Why You Should Try This Drill

By performing these exercises with slightly more tension (by placing the band around the ankles or knees even, you can improve the neuromuscular tension that is identified in an otherwise not “actively tense” movement pattern), you’ll be able to:

  1. Improve activation of your hip abductors on the short term.
  2. Performed correctly over time, you can theoretically improve flexibility (pliability) of the adductors, as well.
  3. Long Term Adaptations towards improving hip abduction degrees of motion towards a sporting endeavor
  4. Agonist / Antagonist relationship of the hip abductors (glute minimus, glute medius, glute max) are facilitated, and the hip adductors are down regulated instead.

From a practical application point of view, if you can…

  1. Improve hip/pelvic stability by causing reactive neuromuscular tension by utilizing a band, you can further up regulate activation of the abdominals that control the pelvis through cueing (if necessary).
  2. Deliver subconscious activation of the glutes and hip abductors, you will free up further coaching of the execution of the exercise, versus just spouting 1000 cues on everything.

By layering the concept of “tension” in the most appropriate spots for the given exercise, without losing position, and improving execution of the exercise, you can win on all fronts! This essentially makes your job easier as a coach or trainer.

Give this a shot with any hockey or baseball athlete that may be looking to improve stride length, or powerlifter looking to improve tension and width of sumo deadlifting position to create a long term adaptation in the positive direction!

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo

Foundational Coaching: Installment 1 – The Bird Dog

In this series I will be going over some basic exercise technique, along with introducing different cues to help the following individuals become a little more successful throughout their exercise routine.

The first in this series has one of my online coaching clients demonstrating a bird dog. Now, I’m not sure why it’s called a bird dog, but it doesn’t resemble a bird, nor a dog, that much I know.

Anyway, this client needs some guidance in dissociating the lumbar extension from hip extension, along with developing tension in the abdominals while lifting off one leg and arm at a time.

If you lose position, or sesnsation of the abdominals (external obliques, internal obliques, transverse abdominis, and rectus abdomnis, to a degree) then your ability to move, ambulate, and produce force in an authentic manner may suffer.

The integration of dissociating the hips and upper body from a stable midsection can be introduced in this progression schema:

  1. Core Engaged Dead Bug
  2. Dead Bug with Wall Press
  3. Dead Bug
  4. Band Resisted Bird Dog
  5. Bird Dog

(Try these progressions on for size as you go through your warm-ups!)

Now you may think that adding a band in the beginning of not only the dead bug but also the bird dog will make it initially harder. This is incorrect, as the band feeds a pattern that will help introduce a more correct motor pattern.

Photo Credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Froot-Loops-Cereal-Bowl.jpg
This is a different type of feedback loop.

By magnifying the specific error that may occur as a lack of abdominal facilitation, the movement pattern will become better acquainted at the level of the brain.

What Do I See?

Long story short, I see this:

  • Forward head posture.
  • Lumbar extension stabilizing pattern
  • Lack of authentic shoulder flexion (since lumbar extension is his strategy of choice)
  • Unstable pelvis and thoracic ribcage position

What Will Be My Plan of Attack?

  • Reintroduce better co-activation strategies of his abdominals and mid-section.
    • Think of bringing your hands down to your knees (without physically moving your hands to your knees – aka in an isometric fashion).
  • Possibly regress back to Wall Press Dead Bug.

Asking Better Questions

One thing to think about is how these movement strategies in this simple bird dog exercise may pop up in other exercises that ask the body to do similar items.

From a technique point of view:

  • If performing unilateral hip flexion and extension, what is the primary movement strategy of the abdominals in a step up or lunging pattern?
  • If performing a push up, what is the primary stabilization strategy along the mid-section?
  • What will happen when the weight gets heavy as movement patterns require more stabilization from the abdominals?

From a fitness quality point of view:

  • What will happen if hip flexion and extension are introduced over a longer endurance point of view, such as in hiking, or cycling?
  • Can the individual become physiologically and neurologically fatigued over time due to incorrect biomechanical positioning?

These are just a few of the thoughts that enter my head when identifying a singular movement pattern such as the bird dog. One thing to note is that perhaps this bird dog video may have been performed with no prior instruction, or even quality movement appraisal. If it is novel, then these questions may not be applicable altogether!

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo