How To Pack Your Poster Chain To Get More Pain And Pain
- Benefits of a Strong Background Series
- How To Strengthen Your Back Chain
Standing tall with your head held high can not only make you feel confident but also can help prevent back and neck pain. But unfortunately, over a long period of time (i.e. at your desk work), the abdominal, glute, and neck muscles stretch and weaken, while the upper and lower back and chest muscles become stiff, which can lead to round shoulders and a feeling of tightness.1
The good news is, packing your back chain properly can prevent and combat these effects. So, what exactly is the back chain, and how do you “pack” it to get a better shape and a stronger spine? To find out, we spoke to Amy Schultz, PT, DPT, CSCS, the Fit Body App strength and conditioning trainer, and Drs. Joscelyn Shumate Bourne, a clinical specialist with a board certificate in sports and orthopedic surgery.
What Is a Posterior Chain?
Posterior refers to the back of the body. Thus, the posterior chain is a group of muscles behind the body — back, glutes, hamstrings, calves, "explains Shultz." The whole body is connected - hence the word 'chain'. "
These muscle groups consist of several muscles. Says Bourne: “With your upper body, we directed the trapezius muscles in the middle and lower extremities, the rotating cuff muscles. Finally, in the lower body, we can direct your gluteal muscles, hamstring muscles, and calf muscles. "
Explosive energy comes mainly from these back muscles, but most people do not pay attention to training it effectively. As we see the muscles in front of the body more — the abs, the quads, the chest — we tend to focus more on them. While this is a natural training trend, be aware that it can cause injury if it leads to muscle imbalance — especially when combined with improper posture and excessive time spent sitting.
Benefits of a Strong Background Series
A strong posterior core comes with a ton of benefits for your body, health, and well-being. With more strength and stability in the back body, you will be better able to perform daily activities, and you are less likely to have back or neck pain. Shultz and Shumate highlight the following benefits of having a strong back chain:
You Are About To Lose Weight And Feel Strong: Strong back muscles allow for heavy weight movement.
Helps Support Basic Muscles: The spine and surrounding muscles support your spine.
Deters Lower Back Pain: Keeping your glutes and hamstrings strong helps protect your back from a variety of loads, whether that be to deadly PR, lifting your baby out of bed, or picking things up.
Wards Off The Knee And Ankle Pain: Strong glutes and hamstrings mean lower back support (knees and ankles).
Improves Standing: Lower the front head, rounded shoulders, flexible hip position that we take longer each day.
Improves Your Shoulder Health: Reduce the discomfort felt in front of your shoulders. Round shoulders create a small space for delicate structures like your rotator cuff straps on their attachment sites.
Boosts Balance: The hip muscles help to create a stable base during one-leg support activities, whether that makes your last rep pistol squats or stand on your toes one leg to reach the very top of the kitchen cabinet.
Increase Explosion: The muscles of the Gluteus maximus are strong muscles and are undoubtedly one of the largest muscles in the human body. This muscle pushes the hips in extension, making the energy needed to jump up, run faster, and complete the cutting movement.
Reduce the Risk of Injury: The lower extremity strong lower extremities are linked to a reduction in knee and ankle injuries. Participating in activities that require sprinting and cutting movements, anterior knee or ankle injury, and even female genital mutilation can put you at increased risk of injury to your knees and ankle joints. Not only does having strong glutes, hamstrings, and calves improve mobility, but it can also improve performance.
Improves Metabolism: Muscle weight can greatly affect your resting rate, which is the number of calories needed for muscle mass. Since the back chain rests on some of the largest muscles in the human body, it is a good place to help trigger an increase in metabolism.
How To Strengthen Your Back Chain
The best way to strengthen your back chain is to do a variety of exercises combined. "These are tests that use a lot of members and include deadlift variations, pure variations, grabbing variations, and bridge variations," Shultz said. You can do this one or two leg movements, with one leg movement that adds an extra challenge to your core muscles. Adding isolation exercises using a single muscle group or joint can deal with minor muscle weakness and imbalance. These include calf lifting, hamstring curls, and leg extensions.
Step-ups
- Stand with dumbbells or kettlebells facing the bench. Keep your spine strong.
- Lift your right leg into the bench, push your heels and bring your body to a standing position.
- Slow down slightly by controlling back to the starting position and changing legs.
- Repeat.
Hip Thrust / Bridge
Sit on a bench with your legs in front of you and your knees bent, a barbell to your hips.
Raise your hips to the ceiling by moving the bar upwards and keeping the tension in the glutes.
Pause for a moment to feel the reach of your glute before lowering yourself to the starting position.
Deadlifts
Stand a few inches away, facing the sharp metal on the floor.
Your feet are about shoulder width apart, tighten your hips with a straight back and hold the bar at about shoulder width apart.