This week I got a chance to catch up with Thomas Lower of Lower Weightlifting. Our conversations in the past have always influenced my coaching and methodology on weightlifting and this meeting did not disappoint.
While we were talking about squat depth, lumbo-pelvic control, and injuries he rattled off a great quote from World Record holder IIya IIyin:
“Americans catch with ligaments, we catch with muscle”
“We” as in the rest of the world I take it.
Probably a gross simplification from Ilya, but in his defense if you travel around the U.S. visiting Crossfit gyms presenting seminars you are probably right in saying so.
Ah hell — maybe he is just right.
Kidding.
So we know the butt wink happens both in squats & the receiving position. I am not going to rehash that topic, it has been discussed ad nauseum on the web.
I am more curious about the repercussions of the butt wink if left unfixed (but please fix it). Specifically what’s happening to the elastic components of the muscles of the low back.
Muscle Slack?
The term muscle slack is stolen from a Dutch Coach/Biomechanist Frans Bosch. Simply it means the “time before you feel the elastic stretch”. If too much time passes (fractions of a sec. — but time nevertheless) before tension is created in a stretch — there is too much slack in the system. The rubberband never gets pulled back — no free energy.
An example of the elastic stretch happens during the first pull of a Snatch or Clean. As we move the knees back to vertical there should be an elastic stretch of the hamstrings — preloading them with elastic energy which will assist the second pull.
This stretch-reflex lessens the responsibility of the low back to generate force during the second pull. It’s our experience that women in particular struggle with this stretch-reflex of the hamstrings. Which is the cause of many low back problems.
The same problem can happen to the low back from the butt wink or loss of pelvic control. If pushed too far you can lose the ability to generate enough tension to support the back.
This is why we recommend adding squats to 90 degrees in the offseason. I should say its not just squatting to 90 degrees that counts but that fact we accentuate the eccentric and isometric portions of the lift.
“WTF — 90 degrees?”
Save your sticks and stones — and hear me out.
I have always viewed sprinters and weightlifters as sports cars. Speed + Control. A certain precision is needed in both sports. This is expected in specific movements, programing, and performance therapy.
So when I ask an athlete to squat to 90 or work on controlled isometrics I am asking the athlete to exhibit control, while simultaneously accomplishing my underlying objective which is taking up the muscle slack they created by free-wheeling to the bottom of their squat for the last bizzilion months (catching on ligaments = no control).
Of course as the program goes on we will inch our way back down “Ass To Grass” exhibiting control.
Ways to take up Muscle Slack:
- Plyometrics (weighted for experienced athletes < 30% of BW)
- Iso/Eccentric Tempo Squats to 90 degrees
- Iso/Eccentric Hamstring Exercises
This isn’t something new but something I stole from reading Anatoliy Bondarchuk Olympic Manual for Size and Strength as well as dissecting “New School” Russian Weightlifting Programs.
Fix the slack, improve efficiency, and don’t get injured!
Simple.
By: Aaron Davis
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