The 4 Exercises Your Low Back Is Better Without!

[TT Eric]

http://themovementfix.com/the-4-exercises-your-low-back-is-better-without/

Pretty interesting approach, the guy says that the lumbar spine muscles are best suited to stop motion, not create it.

I'm guessing, according to his logic, we should also avoid things like hyper-extension and such.

Thoughts ?

Eric

[scottlove]

Now you tell me! I went a little overboard 2 weeks ago with my hypers. The next day, when I drove to work, I could barely get out of the car, my back had seized right up on me. Took almost 2 weeks to clear itself up but I felt, (and looked), like I was 80 years old. My pencilneck buddies, at work, thought it was quite amusing.

[TT Eric]

^I did not count because it happened too often but this happened to me somewhere between 100-200 times, I spent about 2 full year of my life lying in a bed cause I wasn't able to walk due to low back spasms. It really sucks.

Scott do you kept you back straight up and down or you rounded your back somewhere ?

Personally I use to round the back in the lower position and raise to be a straight line, guess I was wrong...

Eric

[scottlove]

I do round my back in the forward motion.....probably not next time. I've had broken bones and strains and sprains, but nothing is as debilitating as back problems.

[cog]

^^^
You shouldn't be rounding your back unless you are targeting the erectors.For hypers the pad should be contacting your upper thigh but not hindering hip flexion.Contreras has some good articles on this.Going up slowly and stopping just short of full rom is safer,as he advocates,I do them often with no problem,weighted and unweighted.

@Eric

Done slowly on a 45 degree bench,stopping motion is exactly what it feels like.I rather disagree with him stating only 1% know how to keep from going into flexion-relaxation mode.Look at all the people that start a dead from a slightly rounded back,they know how far they can go before going into a serious disadvantage,and straighten up as soon as they can.

[Praetorian]

Exercises done correctly will strengthen the muscle group involved. Some exercises were not meant for high reps ie olympic lifts yet cross fitters (author) do them anyways and then blame the exercises...complete nonsense. Ever watch an MMA athlete on his back in the Octagon...he would never think of flexing his abs and rounding this back to get up...jeez!

P

[TT Eric]

Exercises done correctly will strengthen the muscle group involved. Some exercises were not meant for high reps ie olympic lifts yet cross fitters (author) do them anyways and then blame the exercises...complete nonsense. Ever watch an MMA athlete on his back in the Octagon...he would never think of flexing his abs and rounding this back to get up...jeez!

P

Prae, as you said there is some exercises not worth the risk like skull crushers... what do you think of those exercises that you round the back, especially hanging leg raise and hypers ?

Also, it goes against the article, but crunches done the right way (not using the psoas) is often recommend by chiropractor to alleviate back pain, I do not do them often, but it seems to help, what's opinion on that ?

Thanks

Eric

[Praetorian]

I believe if you are aware of the issue involved and are not using additional weight then you can control them and avoid injury. Hanging leg raise, crunches n bench, hypers I have all done for over 20 years with no issue(so have have thousands of athletes). The key being understanding the biomechanics involved (which most dont) and doing the exercise correctly. Skull crushed are not a dangerous exercise but inherently put a lot of pressure on the elbow joint so they lead to chronic injuries not acute. So if you understand this you can still utilize the exercise by following a few rules...never do them first...do them at the end of the workout, use an inline as opposed to flat, avoid going heavy and opt for more reps strict and controlled, use an EZ bar for correct wrist position.

P

[Hosehead]

I permanently ****ed my right elbow from straight bar skull crushers. I was using 185lbs for 8 reps at one point and now I can't do the empty bar.Trained through the acute stuff until it got chronic. Now my tris are dog shit. Stupid.

[cog]

I permanently ****ed my right elbow from straight bar skull crushers. I was using 185lbs for 8 reps at one point and now I can't do the empty bar.Trained through the acute stuff until it got chronic. Now my tris are dog shit. Stupid.

Cable with rope grips,incline bench would be my perfect setup for those.Knees on the seat pad.

[TT Eric]

For me, to avoid pain, I do the skull crushers flat, but I use an EZ bar and my elbows aren't pointing the ceiling, they are near 45 degree further back, it release a lot of tension and I can do them freely without a problem, I do negative very slowly also.

Eric

[Hosehead]

Cable with rope grips,incline bench would be my perfect setup for those.Knees on the seat pad.

Pushdowns or overhead extensions ? I can't do any overhead extension for tris anymore because the bursa rubs over my elbow. I can do rope extensions, kick backs and close grips. That's about it.

[cog]

Pushdowns or overhead extensions ? I can't do any overhead extension for tris anymore because the bursa rubs over my elbow. I can do rope extensions, kick backs and close grips. That's about it.

Overheads but I guess you're screwed for those.Have we ever had a thread that goes in depth for tris?

Back to the hypers.I think the 45 degree stations are more productive.I only go as low as my hams allow,I like to be up on the balls of my feet and quads flexed,pad well below the iliac crests,go up slowly,near the top the glutes get more fully engaged and the adductors engage for the last few inches.Going slow you don't have to worry about momentum taking you too far.Neck neutral,no looking up.Never any problems.

[O-Train]

Triceps are fairly simple if you understand the anatomy.

The long head crosses both the elbow and the shoulder joint. With the other two heads only the elbow joint is important but with the long head you need movement of the humerus/upper arm also.

For this reason skull crushers are a great exercise for building the triceps. Like was mentioned previously a cambered bar should be used vs. a straight bar. I also like to use dumbbells. You just have to be mindful of chronic wrist and elbow injuries that can develop. One of the other reasons this is a very effective exercise is because it's a lot harder to cheat. If you go to a typical gym and watch people training triceps you will see most people doing push/press downs with awful technique and too much weight. Dips are a great alternative to skull crushers, both provide good activation of the long head because the upper arm moves away (anterior or posterior) from the frontal/coronal plane of the body. aka not at your side

[cog]

Triceps are fairly simple if you understand the anatomy.

The long head crosses both the elbow and the shoulder joint. With the other two heads only the elbow joint is important but with the long head you need movement of the humerus/upper arm also.

For this reason skull crushers are a great exercise for building the triceps. Like was mentioned previously a cambered bar should be used vs. a straight bar. I also like to use dumbbells. You just have to be mindful of chronic wrist and elbow injuries that can develop. One of the other reasons this is a very effective exercise is because it's a lot harder to cheat. If you go to a typical gym and watch people training triceps you will see most people doing push/press downs with awful technique and too much weight. Dips are a great alternative to skull crushers, both provide good activation of the long head because the upper arm moves away (anterior or posterior) from the frontal/coronal plane of the body. aka not at your side


Ever heard of Kal Szkalak?He used to devote an entire session to just triceps.Dips the same as a rolling tri extension?Still trying to find reference to an article in Iron Man around 1980 he gave he had a custom movement which he explained had to be done very precisely,was never able to get the right feel I believe.Kneeling position with a cable,he would execute a kind of overhead extension as he stretched out.

[Andre Gregoire]

I first glanced the article and I thought he was saying not to Squat, Deadlift, Clean or Snatch....my head almost blew off my body...lol

[cog]

Likely the best back raise station money can buy.

http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=824

[tex]

Ever heard of Kal Szkalak?He used to devote an entire session to just triceps.Dips the same as a rolling tri extension?Still trying to find reference to an article in Iron Man around 1980 he gave he had a custom movement which he explained had to be done very precisely,was never able to get the right feel I believe.Kneeling position with a cable,he would execute a kind of overhead extension as he stretched out. rolling tri ext is a grrrrrrreat exercise.....the stretch you get is insane.....

[O-Train]

Dips the same as a rolling tri extension?

Not the same, just a good alternative for properly developing the long head. Skull crushers and rolling tri extensions being the better choice for this in my opinion. Also, rolling tricep extensions are slightly different than skull crushers. If performing a skull crusher with a bar it should literally crush your skull if you go too deep. Whereas with a rolling tricep extension the bar should go behind the head. I'm just clarifying because some people may not know the difference.

[O-Train]

Not the same, just a good alternative for properly developing the long head.

I realized this is not correct. The long head is more heavily recruited during skull crushers and even more so during rolling tricep extensions because of extension of the shoulder. Whereas a tricep dip puts greater emphasis on the anterior deltoid because of shoulder flexion. My bad.