3 things for increasing training output

I am fortunate i get to work with many bodybuilders and powerlifters. Regardless of the training and competition status, pro, a mature, just starting here are 3 things that i find in clinic that will have an immediate impact on your training. 1. Lumbar/Spinal Contol: Regardless of the type of movement, closed chain, open chain, or isolation increased lumbar and trunk stability will give you more range of motion and contractibility of the working muscles. Proximal stability yields disatal mobility. You can practice these through the following exercises.

• Single or double kneeling paloff press
• Side or prone plan with row
• Half kneeling press or pull

These can be used as warm up or “activation” exercises to engage and connect multiple body parts before bigger compound movements. They also help teach you the importance of stabilization while training. 2. Gluteal recruitment and control “strength”: I often find patients lacking the ability to control their glutes in non-competition planes of motion. For powerlifting and bodybuilding this often equates to the transverse and Sagital planes. There is an increased use of the glutes in the frontal plane for hip extension which often leads the glute med and the external hip rotators lacking recruitment capabilities and leads to poor strength. This allows the femur to migragte in the hip. Most often this presents itself as hip impingement in the bottom of the squat. These three exercises work that directly.

• Side lying glute clamshells
• Windmill rotations
• body weight squats with level chagne

3. Hip/Lumbar Disasociation: “ hips dont lie.” Wherever the hips go the back shouldn’t. Being incapable of controlling the dissasociation between these two means the lumbar becomes more mobile then stable, and then hips become less mobile. The countering of these two leads to muscular and movement compensations, decreased tissue capacity, and increased possibility of injury. These are my top three for working this limitation.

• Standing Hip CARS (controlled articular rotations)
• Kneeling kettlebell rotations
• Banded Hip Rotation Dissasociation

I will write a full detailed article on the mechanisms of each of these as well as provide videos in the future.