Quadruple Extension 4E

Quadruple extension 4 E

In athletics, we rely on quadruple extension (4E). 4E is the active extension of the ankles, knees, hips, and back. All primary, secondary, and support musculatures are involved. 

Training is rooted in athletics. Training is preparation for competition. Athletics were invented as a form of comparison for soldiers without the supreme cost of war. The winner of the ancient Olympics was the best soldier too. He remained alive. Training was formalized much later using the sciences but many ancient athletes trained in an elementary fashion.

Many in the fitness industry today say triple extension; which is accurate but not precise. Triple extension is incomplete. Based on the misinterpretation that the back is solely a stabilizer. The back must be fully active, in its’ limited range of motion (ROM). I am not telling anyone to round their back and rely on extensor strength to recover lost positions; oh no! I am telling everyone to actively extend the back, do not just brace it, in any athletic feat to a large degree. Watch this video for an explanation from superior athletes/coaches for reference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2TgPE7uxNQ (Barbell, 2017). If the back changes position during a lift in powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman, said lifting weights is no good more often than not. There are freaks of strength out there who may round their backs doing a 1000lbs deadlift but they should not be imitated in lifting. They should be copied in training assistance movements. These movements made them freaks of strength. My point is rather simple, train 4E which includes a triple extension.

Lifting weights is integral to training athletes. Even 20 years ago there were coaches in many professional level sports telling athletes lifting weights would slow them down and make them muscle-bound. This is when coaches believed bodybuilding, weightlifting, and powerlifting were synonymous. Jerry Rice and Walter Peyton proved them wrong in the 1980s. These coaches are mainly in high school settings now. Any personal trainer with a hint of education knows this is hogwash these days. Those interested in arguing this point are seeking disagreement as for their recreation or do not care to study sports sciences. That’s fine, let them be. Go to your local weightlifting or powerlifting gym and challenge the top athlete to a 20-100-yard race. Some may be surprised. I would lose to the best lifter in most WL or PL gyms now. I would have given them a race during my competitive years. I had one weightlifter on my team who matched Deon Sanders time in the 40-yard-dash as a teenager. Running is 4E.

We use 4E running, jumping, squatting, sitting, and anything else associated with moving through space. Train these actions and make yourself better. Squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, jerks and any variation of these will be in any elite athletes program. If one’s position falters in any established movement, dissect the movement, uncover the culpable muscle(s), and train it/them until stronger. Once they are stronger in the movement the system is stronger.

Make yourself stronger, for 1-5 repetitions, and practice the speed movement additionally. This is strength and conditioning. More than 5 repetitions will not make us stronger only bigger. The new muscle is not available for recruitment during strength movements for months. It takes years to maximize these recruitment patterns. Focused strength training is well below five repetitions. Adding muscle is for those requiring more useful mass. Sometimes this requires more muscular mass and other times a better recruitment pattern will suffice. This mass is determined by the athletes’ height and leverage. Maximize strength before adding mass.

A former client told me, "you should write a blog". At that time, I didn’t even know what a blog was. Researching the topic, I read an article stating “if you like to rant, write a blog”. My rant is over for today.

-         Doc

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