Hips-and-back

Strengthen the back and hips!

If one wants to be physically powerful one must improve, sharpen, and strengthen the hips and back. For the first twenty years of my lifting career most people would ask “how much do you bench” to find out how strong you are. Many continue to ask this question. The new generation of fitness trainers do not have anyone doing bench presses. Both extremes are misguided.

I am a powerlifter. When everyday people hear this they assume I train powerlifters alone. I train everyone as if they want to become a competitive lifter. This way we are on the right track to improve all possibilities in movement. When seeking a trainer we must all assume the trainer knows the fundamental lifts. These lifts are powerlifting and weightlifting. All people need to understand and practice these lifts. The main benefits of these lifts are that they integrate the hips and back. These structures are foundational to all strength.

Watching the Olympics I see the top athletes in the world. What do they have in common? They all move from the hips and use the entire frame-work to manipulate each movement in life. A boxing coach once told me “80% of a punch comes from the hips”. Weightlifters are told “keep it on your hips”. The athletic stance/position is a partial squat. The squat is a hip movement. Bodybuilders told us the squat is a leg movement. This is a little bit careless. Legs are important. Hips are most important.

Our back structure has a bad reputation. Many sit all day. Many have poor posture. Many think the spinal column should be straight (which is poor posture). We have options when it comes to how we live our lives. Stand up at work. Squat down to rest. Get mobile and squatting is much easier. My point is that the back is subjected to poor positioning, it seems on purpose, most of any given day. If we live, are alive, the back is a standard. Proper powerful movement leads us to live, healthier, extensive lives. Just sustain good posture in every position.

Yoga is about good posture and energy flow in “odd” positions. The releasing of tensions built during everyday life is the focus. Everyday life builds unnecessary tension and energy flow is blocked. Yoga releases this tension and builds strength in the odd positions. This strength “should be” amplified with weightlifting movements. Weightlifting is all about good posture also, with weight, with an ever-changing forceful overtone. Bad posture means a bad or missed lift. Move from your hips and extend your back so as to keep the back in-time with the more powerful hips.

In the not so distant past we were told to keep the back positions constant. Some are still advising people this way. This is good for a beginner. For one who seeks excellence we must use the back to maintain posture more actively. If you are one who has exceptional back strength this is easy. For one who wants to be excellent one needs to learn to actively maintain posture through an active extension of the back. The back is second only to the hips in potential for strength.

Some may argue that the legs are stronger than the back. This is a misunderstanding of the hips part in that strength. The hamstrings are the strongest muscle group we have. They are not as strong, at the knees, as the quadriceps. The ratio is around three to one. If this ratio is out of balance all development at that joint stops to circumvent injuries. The knees are a mobile joint. The hamstrings are stronger at the hips than the quadriceps. The ratio, in favor of hamstrings, at the hips is also around three to one. The hips are a stable joint. Stable joints are stronger than mobile joints. So, do the math 3:1 at a mobile joint or 3:1 at a stable joint? Stable joint is stronger every time. Most people are stronger on latissimus dorsi movements than quadriceps movements. I guarantee that if someone counters this argument, with any movement, that movement is being driven by the hips before the quads.

Stronger looks better too!

Let us put this in perspective for everyday people. The upper body strength depends on the lower body strength for a base. My first coach used to tell us “you can’t shoot a cannon out of a canoe”. If the bases are not strong the movements are not strong.
Bench press strength is important for all athletes. If an athlete cannot stand their ground to apply force this strength is useless. Perhaps, two athletes can bench press 405 lbs. each. One can only squat 405 lbs. and the other squats 600 lbs. Who is easier to push around? Who runs faster, jumps higher, changes direction more quickly? I hope you get the point. The numbers I use are from a powerlifter’s perspective so do not think these numbers are average. Either athlete would be a formidable opponent for the typical athlete. The point is bench press strength must be in-line with all other strength. If we squat, deadlift, clean, snatch, press (standing and bench), and do all standing movements powerfully, we are functionally stronger than the old-time “strength athletes” who just bench pressed.

Ignoring the bench press simply because one does not understand the shoulder rhythm is equally futile. If we do not use the bench to improve pressing strength we see what happens at every Olympics when an athlete dislocates the elbow. We have spoken of mobility in previous installments. Strength with mobility is greater than either extreme alone. Strength and mobility must be in line with one another also, many are seeking mobility for its own sake these days. This is careless. We only need to be a little more mobile than our sport/life requires us to be.

We must develop strength along the entire ROM (range of motion). Watch the children move and get back to that ability. Each growth spurt involves a re-learning of the ROM. Often we ignore the previous ROM simply to save time and energy and never regain the full ROM. I make young athletes and old strive to attain or regain the ROM from youth. This is true strength.

Get stronger!                                                                   docsgym@live.com