![]() This athlete is a good sprinter for a while until he blows his hamstring. Or, the bouncy guy who seems to walk on his toes with the incredible calf development, turns his feet out and bounces over the top. Or, they may flatten their arch on their foot and collapse over the top to stumble forward once again. Someone may throw their arm far forward and jut out their jaw to get momentum going in a forward manner, almost a tilt of the body, in an extreme stumble pattern. An athlete’s knee may knock inward, almost buckle, to move the body mass forward. This is very common for people who have wide hips or weak gluteus medius. It is even easier to place the foot centrally, and the hip doesn’t need to swing around. The most common “cheat” is for the hip to rotate outward and swing around the leg that is on the ground. The ankle rocker is, by far, the most efficient manner, but if something has happened at some point that your ankle doesn’t want to bend, your body will compensate or find some other way to move forward. If the ankle is locked, for whatever reason at 90 degrees or less, the body has to find a way for the center of mass to move forward. That movement is the ability of the ankle or body to get the center of mass through the midstance phase and create forward movement. Most people don’t have a problem here because it is a contact response. The heel rocker is the contact phase and begins to move the weight forward. There is heel rocker, ankle rocker, and forefoot rocker. The most efficient way to do so is to go through the “rocker” cycle. So, how can the body move the mass forward in the most efficient way and create momentum forward. While on that leg, the body has to find out a way to move the body’s mass forward. In the gait cycle, a person is on one leg. In fact, I would say it is the most important aspect of the gait. Its purpose is crucial in the gait cycle. In fact, everyone seems to leave the ankle alone (Maybe throw in some calf raises and everything will be OK). However, you will never see a model with a “cankle.” And certainly, you do not see debates over the proper way to train ankle function. It is a very complex joint that has a bunch of muscles that do a bunch of things. On the other end of the chain is the ankle. I have also had athletes that have great glutes but are still not explosive, and this is where it gets interesting. However, no pun intended–I can’t pass on cheap puns–I like to make an ass of myself. Put him face down on a table and see the proportion of his glutes to the rest of his body, and you will see that he has a well-developed gluteal muscle. Some of you will ask about the skinny guy who can run and jump. I have yet to see a great athlete who did not have great gluteal development. I like his work so much that some of the movements in his book are staples of our weight room workouts. The power muscle is the glute max, and his work shows the most efficient way of developing that muscle. Here is a guy who put some research behind the movements and then wrote about it in his variety of books, which I own and recommend people read. The next phase was on to Bret Contreras with the hip extension exercise and research. Now, we have cleans, snatches, and pulls, all with the goal of driving hip extension. When NSCA finally took sides on the issue, they became “institutionalized,” which of course opened up a whole new realm of training techniques, DVDs, certifications, and, why not, kettlebells and the rise of that industry. Yes, that was a debate for a couple of years. ![]() When research surfaced that showed Olympic lifters had a block time similar if not better than sprinters, the war began between coaches who hated the Olympic lifts and those who swore by them. Remember that one, lie on your back and scissor your legs against the counter-balance? It was a great concept. ![]() Throw in the Nautilus machine for hip extension. ATG, parallel, pause, wide stance, narrow stance, high bar, etc., all are trying to drive hip extension, so we have more explosive, powerful athletes. Get into the squat rack and start cranking out the squats. Boyd Epley, Bigger, Faster, Stronger, and a whole bunch more have made a fortune on this concept. Hence, the rise of the weight room in athletics. Some people think the way to develop hip extension is through powerlifting. This is the path that has driven our industry. ![]() The stronger or more powerful your thrust, the faster and farther you will go. It is the thrust that drives your athlete forward or up, or both. Hip extension is the name of the game in athletic development. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |