Why You Should Train Your Posterior Chain

The posterior chain (back side) is arguably the most important part of your body is often the most neglected. If you’re not training your posterior chain then you’re missing out on some serious gains. Last week, I tried good mornings for the first time in my life and it was a wake up call for me. I only did 85 pounds using a barbell but after that first set my hamstrings were on fire!

Benefits of Building Your Posterior Chain

Athletic Performance: If you want to be a successful athlete, you’ll need strong posterior chain muscles. To jump or sprint, your glutes and hamstrings are doing a lot of work. To throw a ball or a punch with power, your hips and glutes will be highly engaged.

Weight Room Performance: Your glutes and hamstrings play an integral part in various weight room exercises. The most obvious one is the deadlift. If you don’t feel your glutes and hamstrings while deadlifting a decent amount of weight then something is wrong. In my experience, when my glutes and hamstrings were strong, deadlifts felt easier. The posterior chain is also important for the squat, especially the low bar back squat.

Injury Prevention: Strong glutes and hamstrings will reduce your risk of injury in a number of ways. One way is that the stronger your glutes are, the less work your lower back has to do when lifting an object/weight. Your hamstrings are one of the biggest stabilizer muscles for your ACL. A lot of times people who suffer torn ACLs, have a weakness or deficiency in their hamstrings.

Look Better: Who doesn’t like a nice pair of glutes? If you want to maximize your aesthetic gains, you need to train your posterior chain especially the glutes. In addition to looking nice, I find having strong glutes helps me stay upright and maintain good posture. A strong posture is also visually appealing.

Best Posterior Chain Exercises

Below are the best Posterior chain building exercises that I’ve used. If you want strong glutes and hamstrings, do these exercises.

• Sprints/Hill Sprints
• Barbell Hip Thrust
• Kettlebell Swing
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Extreme Isometric Lunge
• GoodMorning

In the comments below, tell me your favorite posterior chain exercises!

My Favorite sprint workouts- Sprints, Sprints, and more Sprints

More about the benefits of kettlebell swings- Get an Awesome Body With Kettlebell Swings

Why you should start doing the Bulgarian split squat-Squat Replacement

Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU from Pexels

Do This Instead of Foam Rolling!

Movement seems like a forgotten art. When it comes to training our bodies, we’re often focused on sets and reps or body fat percentage. Sitting most of the day has also made us forget what it’s like to be a good mover. Ever since we were babies we’ve been moving. Over the last couple of years I’ve gained interest in movement training through seeing famous people like Ido Portal and Conor McGregor utilizing it. I’ve even heard about movement training from fitness coaches like Tim Anderson and Steve Maxwell.

Movement goes beyond mobility drills. Mobility drills are usually done to prepare for a specific workout. Movement training is done so you can move well all the time. I still do mobility drills but doing movement training reduces the need for mobility drills.

Movement might be the most important aspect of fitness. As a student of strength, I hold strength training in high regard. Strength is a critical part of any fitness program but if you can’t move, that strength will be limited. Imagine trying to squat with tight hips and tight ankles. Imagine trying to overhead press with a stiff upper back. Movement quality is what will help you reach your full strength potential. Even if you’re training for looks, being a good mover will help you in that area as well. People who move well typically have good posture. Good posture is very attractive.

This pandemic has allowed me the extra time to focus on areas of fitness I normally ignored, specifically mobility/movement. Being able to move even goes beyond fitness. When you move well in your daily life, you feel good. I’ll share some of the movements that have helped me the most.

Movements

Cross- Crawls: Cross Crawl movements are a key part of my current training routine. The main benefits I’ve seen from them are improved coordination, core strength, and nervous system efficiency. Below is a short list of the different cross=crawl movements you can add to your workout routine and life overall.

1. Cross Crawl Superman: In this move, you’ll start off lying on your stomach. You’ll raise your hands over the shoulder so that your thumb is pointing to the roof. Your toes will be pointed to the the floor.
2. Leopard Crawl
3. Bird Dog
4. Deadbug
5. Baby Crawl: The name of this move is appropriate because you start off on your hands and knees like a baby. You’ll also tilt your hand up and place your tongue on the roof of your mouth. As you start crawling forward, you’ll move one arm forward while moving the opposite leg simultaneously. You’re basically crawling on your hands and knees. Choose a soft surface so the movement is knee friendly.

Rolls: Doing any type of roll will help you with your ability to move. There are many variations of rolls like forward rolls, lateral rolls, frog rolls. If you can move well on the ground, you can move well while standing.

Balance Work: Being able to stay balanced is a key part of moving well. There’s a simple exercise that I learned from Dr. Tommy John. You’ll stand up on one leg and lift the other leg forward. Keep the non balancing leg straight while it’s raised in the air. Hold this for 5 minutes and switch legs.

Yoga: Doing yoga will greatly help your ability to move. A full yoga practice will integrate some cross-crawl movement and balance work. Yoga also loosens up your muscles which makes it easier to move. If you’re looking for more info on yoga, check out this post I wrote last year.

Resource for different crawling and rolling exercises: https://www.youtube.com/user/OriginalStrengthSys

Demo of cross-crawl Superman : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llT817YDrII

Photo Courtesy of : https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay