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Sam
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Lunge
Recently, in coaching a number of athletes on how to reduce/eliminate body and shoulder lunge, I been having difficulty accurately describing the relationship between the legs, hips and body.
In one way, I would describe it as setting your body up out of the bow right away, before the seat begins to slide. As the body comes over, keep moving it over the hips until you feel the hip flexors and hamstrings stretch. Once you feel the stretch, you are free to bring your body into the catch. But as you bring the body into the catch, it is important to hold your upper body in the exact position that your hip flexors and hamstrings put you in. Any more forward lean is lunging. This can be an effective description of body preparation, but as I suspected, and have witnessed lately, it can lead to too much body angle, a weak catch and undue stress on the back.
Another way I have been describing it, a way I have lately preferred, is that allowing the "sitting" pressure on the hips and butt to dictate body angle and recovery. Keeping the body in a stable, yet outstretched position, sitting towards the front of the seat, but making sure that the "sit bones" are firmly planted. Taking the wrists and trying to put them as far away from the shoulders as possible, stretching out the arms and feeling the muscles and veins of your arm elongate. Stretch the arms, but keep the shoulders in a strong, neutral position. The key is that as you swing over and get body angle, never allow any weight or pressure to be transferred from the hips into the back. The back should have a strong, upright posture, with the angle attained from the pivot point of the hips. The majority of the weight should be felt on the "sit bones" of your butt, not in your mid/upper back.
In one way, I would describe it as setting your body up out of the bow right away, before the seat begins to slide. As the body comes over, keep moving it over the hips until you feel the hip flexors and hamstrings stretch. Once you feel the stretch, you are free to bring your body into the catch. But as you bring the body into the catch, it is important to hold your upper body in the exact position that your hip flexors and hamstrings put you in. Any more forward lean is lunging. This can be an effective description of body preparation, but as I suspected, and have witnessed lately, it can lead to too much body angle, a weak catch and undue stress on the back.
Another way I have been describing it, a way I have lately preferred, is that allowing the "sitting" pressure on the hips and butt to dictate body angle and recovery. Keeping the body in a stable, yet outstretched position, sitting towards the front of the seat, but making sure that the "sit bones" are firmly planted. Taking the wrists and trying to put them as far away from the shoulders as possible, stretching out the arms and feeling the muscles and veins of your arm elongate. Stretch the arms, but keep the shoulders in a strong, neutral position. The key is that as you swing over and get body angle, never allow any weight or pressure to be transferred from the hips into the back. The back should have a strong, upright posture, with the angle attained from the pivot point of the hips. The majority of the weight should be felt on the "sit bones" of your butt, not in your mid/upper back.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Why You Say...
Lately I have been studying the rowing stroke, a lot, both in the boat and on the erg. Most of the musings in this blog are an attempt to discover the fastest stroke possible, based on my own observations, research and knowledge. Purely to help me decipher good ideas from bad ones, proper technique from poor, ect. ect. ect...
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