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| Back Talk
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| Chances are good that you’re not paying enough attention to training your most important anti-gravity mechanism—the posterior chain. Time for you to check out the rear view.
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Backsides have a serious image problem. Almost exclusively associated with pain, fat storage and bad posture—the back and its accompanying rear view generally gets referred to in less than flattering terms.
Despite its many muscles, the posterior chain is a critical area of the body that is rarely subject to serious training, even among dedicated fitness enthusiasts.
The chest grabs all the attention while the posterior chain languishes—victim to the old maxim—out of sight, out of mind.
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“Overlooking this critical muscular, skeletal and neural chain is a big mistake,” says London-based Dax Moy, one of Britain’s foremost personal trainers (www.daxmoy.co.uk ).
“The posterior chain is your anti-gravity mechanism. Without a fully functioning extensor chain/posterior chain you will lose your lifelong fight against gravity. Just compare the upright, easy posture of a young toddler to the round-shouldered, hunched and flexed postures of many older adults. That’s the effect of gravity at 33.3 pounds per square inch pushing down on you for decades, and there’s only one way to stop that from happening. Build a better extensor chain.”
Viewed in its entirety the posterior chain extends from the muscles of the big toe, to the sub occipital muscles at the base of the neck. These muscles and all the others in between, such as the calf muscles, glutes and hamstrings, are fundamental to strength and function.
They assist explosive movements related to sprinting and jumping.
“But we’re not only talking about function here,” emphasizes Moy. “Aesthetically, a strong extensor chain will give you better posture that will hold your body in proper alignment, make you taller, make you appear slimmer, and reduce your abdominal ‘pooch,’ so there are plenty of great reasons to pay more attention to the posterior chain.”
Every effort to develop the posterior chain is undermined by time spent sitting.
As Moy astutely points out, sitting is flexion, the exact opposite of extension. It results in forward head postures, headaches, neck problems and back pain. Training only the ‘mirror muscles’ makes matters worse. Strengthening areas of the body that are already strong further diminishes the weaker regions and establishes a chronic state of imbalance.
“The answer to this problem,” says Moy, “lies in paying more attention to the extensor chain in the first part of your training, and then only doing the mirror-muscle exercises when that’s complete. Exercises like dead lifts (all varieties), squats, good mornings, snatches, cleans, rows, chins, kettle bell swings, pull throughs and high pulls are critical to developing this area. They will strengthen it quicker and more effectively than any other exercises, and allow for real-life functional integration of strength and flexibility. No machine can give you that.”
Target specific muscles such as the hamstrings and glutes (buttocks), which will help prevent injury. The hamstring is particularly susceptible to tears due to the very kind of imbalance that is so worrisome to Moy. The quadriceps, the large muscle group at the front of the upper leg, overpowers the hamstring, its rear opposite.
Simply put, it’s a case of one muscle outperforming another. Attempting to keep pace, the hamstring is strained, and inevitably breaks down.
Muscles of the posterior chain are typically underdeveloped, and incapable of meeting the demands placed on them. Correcting that imbalance should be the goal of every athlete and fitness enthusiast.
Bringing Up the Rear
The major muscles of the posterior chain are, in descending order, the glutes, hamstrings and calf muscles. Strive to improve the strength of these muscles with exercises that exclude the quadriceps.
Glutes:
Calves:
- Seated raises
- Standing raises
Hamstrings:
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