Butt Back

What your coach really means when they say “get your butt back!”

Way too often I see athletes hinge their low backs into a stripper pose to prepare themselves to pick up a deadlift or set up for a squat.  The truth is, in addition to looking like a pooping duck, you’re doing nothing good to your spine in this position either.

We are going to put an end to this right now.  What your coach ACTUALLY means is;

-Send your butt back while loading your weight through your heels and activating your posterior chain

-Hinge at the hip and femur (hip flexion)  NOT from the low back (lumbar extension)

Not only can overextending your low back under load put a great deal of stress on your facet joints and discs, it can decrease your performance and make hitting those PRs that much tougher.  We should think of the lumbar spine as 1 joint, meaning no local flexion or extension within it. According to Gray Cook, the lumbar spine is a joint of stability and the hip is a joint of mobility.  This means in order to maintain the best positioning and generating the most amount of power we need to brace the lumbar spine.

Check out this video to see how you can fix your pooping duck problem with something as simple as a PVC pipe.
-Dr. M

To Access .Back Pain Exercises you can do on your own, View Now.