ME Lower – 9.21.10

Hi, Charlie. I recognize that your time is highly in demand, and as such, you only have so much time to fire off blog posts, but perhaps you could start a series where you periodically highlight some of the less commonly encountered elements that you include in your programs, basically the things that are now common to you but may be quite new to the fortunate, albeit it relatively inexperienced, folks who were directed toward your excellent website.

It would be great to hear your thoughts behind some of these , as well as the why behind their use, so that we might see why they are a good fit for you at any given time, but also when they may be indicated for our own use or with those we train.

On a semi-related note, the lat stretch in the cage/lateral line mentions got me wondering if there are any resources you recommend for someone who wants to learn more about how to most effectively implement stretching into a program for areas and times when it is warranted. This seems to be one area fraught with myth and misinformation, often leading to two extremes- one of being ultimately dumbed down too much and the other being arcane and ultimately ineffectiverelative to some of the claims being made.

Christine – Please pick something out of the program, and I can try to explain.

My stretching isn’t really stretching. It’s getting into a terminal position of integrity, then using another bodypart to move through another ROM to challenge the mobility elsewhere.
The resources for this would be reading more about Train 4 The Game’s work with Gary Gray’s methods, Aaron Mattes’ Active Isolated Stretching, and PNF contract- or holdVrelax principles.

Charlie,

Hope you don’t mind me throwing this on on a blog post, but I figured it might be less of a hassle than me clogging up your inbox with an e-mail.

You’ve mentioned before how squatting under load with heel lifts is something that lacks integrity. On the flip side to this, I have seen suggestions by some coaches to perform RDL’s or Good Mornings with dense foam wedges under the forefoot area, so while the feet would still be entirely in contact with a surface, this would make the shift toward the heels more pronounced and increase the stretch on the gastrocs and hamstrings. (if I recall correctly, I first encountered this sort of suggestion in Pavel’s “Beyond Bodybuilding, in which he suggested elevating the forefeet on books)

In your eyes, is this practice acceptable at times, or is it something that, at best, wouldn;t be of much (if any) real-world value over and above regular RDL’s or Good Mornings, and, at worst, might be a less-than-ideal practice on some level?

Hank – This approach is fine, particularly for a corrective strategy. I would be cautious in loading up the bar thinking this is a good stretch where you think you need it. You may be cranking on tone and making things worse.

Toes up is much different than heels up.
I don’t think either are a good position for big strength or power training. I want the full short foot to use the floor. The lift(s) can teach a proper weight shift when necessary.