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> And the hip hinging is sprinkled throughout sports. Weightlifters use it when they do what's called a deadlift. Now, I'm by no means an expert, but I can con
by ekidd 9y ago
> And the hip hinging is sprinkled throughout sports. Weightlifters use it when they do what's called a deadlift.
Now, I'm by no means an expert, but I can confirm this. Powerlifters generally try to perform deadlifts with a "neutral" spine. This doesn't exactly mean "straight"—you can consult a good coach for details—but it's pretty close. Here's a pretty typical demonstration which is good enough to visualize it, though other coaches may differ in the details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AObAU-EcYE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AObAU-EcYE
As I understand it, the idea is to distribute the weight evenly around the spinal disc, and to avoid putting too much pressure on the front edge of the disc by curving the spine forward.
A similar effect can be achieved by keeping the back closer to upright and lifting with the legs, as seen in several squat variations.
Of course, the other things that may help are having enough muscle and not carrying too much abdominal weight. Anecdotally, weak spinal stabilizer muscles seem to contribute to some people's back pain.
- jimbishopp 9y agoI watched this Alan Thrall video a few years ago and it helped me understand the difference between a squat and a deadlift. The deadlift is the same (for most) as the low bar squat and the table bend mentioned in the article. No more back problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQuCi2h_kNI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQuCi2h_kNI
- mancerayder 9y agoYeah, although neutral to flexion is fine for a lower back for a squat or a deadlift. In fact, with a heavy weight, good luck NOT flexing your lower back on a deadlift or at the bottom of a squat. The 'upright' squat you described is an Olympic lift variation - called highbar squat. I was going to send a link over but I hesitate to toss a random article or video (some of which are crap). But it's probably easy to watch an Olympic lift video from the olympics, as that's the cream of the crop. A squat positioning with more of a hip hingeing is more of a Powerlifting squat. I can definitely recommend Rippetoe's explanations here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVC_AnZYYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVC_AnZYYM even though I myself do high-bar. As you can see (especially as explained in the video), the bar positioning plays a role in how upright your back is as you squat (since you mentioned that aspect). It's because of the center of gravity and the straight-path of the bar. It's obvious if you see an illustration of the bar path and these positions. However, a 'neutral' back, I don't know, I'd call it more of a flexed back (which may be neutral under load). A neutral back might be more of a gymnastics-specific thing. Regardless, core strength (meaning lower back, abs and obliques, among other things) is VERY important here.
- bhandziuk 9y agoNeutral is not implying unflexed or unengaged. It's just the position. You'd better be tight as hell through your whole squat/DL though.