Monday, October 11, 2010

Quick Tip- Are you truly training your back??



Hi Everyone,
As I watch people training around the gym one of the exercises that I most frequently see done wrong is the row and every variation of the row. What I usually see is a very ugly bicep exercise that never truly touches the muscles of your back.

So, next time you train your back follow these basic form principles:
1. "Sit up tall". Keep your chest up and pull your shoulder blades(scapula) back. You must retract or pull back your shoulder blades to properly work the muscles of the back (lats, and rhomboids). All to often I watch people "hunching" forward, rounding their shoulders and then pull the weight to their chest without actually moving their shoulder blades. All this is doing is working your biceps while promoting poor posture.
2. Don't "hike" your shoulders. It is important to keep your shoulder blades down and back while performing the row. It is very common for people to be very dominant in their upper traps, which will make them hike their shoulders up towards their ears as they row. The result of this form error is usually a tight and sore neck from over working your upper traps.
3. Don't sway. Another common form error I witness is people gaining excess momentum from swaying their entire upper torso while they perform the row. This is usually the result of the weight being to heavy. This motion will indeed work the upper back effectively as long as the previously mentioned principles are met, however, you are also working the lower back under a very heavy load which can also lead to unnecessary soreness and possible injury.

Next time you train your back be sure that you follow these basic form principles and you will "Truly be training your back!"


Living life with No regrets...... No excuses.....
Scott

No comments:

Post a Comment

"Life Is Motion"

"Life Is Motion"
Turkish Get Up