Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Posterior Chain for Athletes

I've written before about the importance of the posterior chain for athletes. My views haven't changed. It's probably the single biggest and easiest things you can do as a coach/trainer/therapist and see some great results from your athletes that you work with. Everyone can use some extra strength there, it will always benefit. My favorite exercise is the Glute Ham. Some key points I like to teach, drive the toe into the toe plate, maximally recruit that calf/gastroc tie in. Keep the knee slightly past the pad to begin, this will allow the knee to drop and let the hamstring work from origin to insertion. Keep the shoulder in line with the hip. Finish with a strong glute contraction. The video is the most basic version. As you progress you can do different hand positions, hold on to weight and even hook jump stretch bands on to increase the difficulty. You can even do a type of plyometric I learned from strength coach Yoseph Johnson based out of Muskegan, MI. Most runners are quad based and will begin to have an anterior pelvic tilt. This type of exercise will help bridge the gap between therapy and performance. The glute ham is very hard to duplicate, and no, a bodyweight russian lean doesn't qualify. Find one and use it. Your performance will thank you.

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