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🏋How Bar Placement Affects Your Squat . It's all about ✅ pros and ❌cons. There is no right or wrong place for the barbell when you squat. Just as there is no 'ideal' human body. Where you hold the barbell in a squat will load joints differently. Are you weightlifting for competition 🏋️♀️, or do you just want to squat with limited pain after an injury? These questions dictate where you hold the bar. . 🔴High Bar - this has you place the barbell above the 'spine' of the scapula. It uses part of the traps to cushion the bar. You can see the torso angle from hips to bar is more vertical. This will give less leverage to the hips (yellow line) so it can be a better lifters with: 🔺Low back pain 🔺Hip pinching . ✳️Low Bar - this has you slightly retract your shoulder blades to provide a shelf for the barbell around the spine of the scapula. Notice the torso angle is a lot less. The knees have a lot less leverage (blue line). And the bar won't put as much weight near the neck. This can be better for lifters with 🔺Neck Pain 🔺Knee Pain 🔺Poor Ankle Mobility . As my colleague described yesterday at our lifting workshop, the better leverage through your hips with low-bar technique allows you to lift heavier (as the hip as more powerful surrounding muscles). But for certain body types high-bar technique may feel better👍 
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🔷SHOULDER BLADE Breakdown . Ok so the title is misleading, the scapula doesn't function as an 'anchor' ⚓️. But its crucial to healthy glenohumeral joint motion, especially in throwing ⚾️⚡️ activities. It needs to have a balance of mobility and control due to its over SEVENTEEN muscle attachments. . It's such an important hub for the upper-extremity, because imbalances ⚖️can affect joints farther away. For example imbalance of neck muscles attaching to the scapula can affect farther down to shoulder and elbow 😵 . The main movements of the scapula are: 🔹Retraction 🔹Depression 🔹Upward Rotation 🔸Protraction 🔸Elevation 🔸Downward Rotation. Because of sedentary lifestyle, the last 3 functions are usually in overdrive ⚡️. This has big consequences for the rotator cuff. In overhead motions the scapula should be able to upwardly rotate ⤴️and clear space for the supraspinatus muscle. For a lot of people it doesn't, hence commons activities can irritate the rotator cuff long term: 🔻Overhead Bar Press 🔻Throwing 🔻Swimming .  ✊How Grip Width Changes Your Bench Press . Earlier this week I was getting some bench press tips because of some ongoing wrist pain I have (yes I get pain too 😅). I thought some of these tips were good to pass along ➡️ . Like my posts about squats, there's no right ✅ or wrong ❌width for your bench press. But it depends on your goals, and it depends on past history of pain ♨️. So what changes when you bench with wide grip vs narrow grip? . 🔷Wide Grip: Anterior Deltoids, Serratus Anterior, Coracobrachialis are all very active. More activity of the the clavicular (upper) fibers of Pec Major are found. If you have a past history of wrist pain💥this grip may be more comfortable, as it prevents excess Ulnar deviation of the wrist ⤵️ . 🔶Close Grip: Pectoralis Major is more active in its Sternocostal (middle) and Lower fibers. Triceps activity is higher, especially if the elbows flare out from the body. If you have past injuries to the AC Joint (shoulder separations) this grip will be more comfortable. This is because the lever ⚖️of the barbell is closer to the body, applying less shearing force to the AC joint. . Ref1: Strength and Conditioning Research Ref2: Journal of Strength and Conditioning  🌬Understand the Diaphragm . Wherever we talk of our 'Core' we automatically think six-pack abs and obliques. But maybe the most important of all 'core' muscles we don't even think of 🤔. . Your Diaphragm is very important! This is the 🏆primary muscle of respiration. You're breathing roughly 12-20x per minute, therefore almost 25,000x per day. I don't care how much of a gym rat someone is, you never biceps curl that much for one muscle . It's a muscle-tendon partition that separates your thoracic and abdominal cavity. It almost hangs here in an umbrella 🌂 shape, attaching from the bottom of the thoracic cage to the upper lumbar vertebra. It's so important because dysfunction (due to many reasons) can cause: 🔹Postural Problems (overuse of neck muscles) 🔹Low Back Pain (increased shearing forces when weight-lifting) 🔹Metabolic Problems (chronic decease in oxygen supply). . A lot of people simply cannot control their diaphragm properly. They think that they can't breath if they're activating their abs and obliques. So try this: 🔸Lie Supine with Hands on Stomach 🔸Tense Up Your Abs like You're posing for a Beach Picture 💪 🔸Slowly Inhale Through the Nose, allowing your hands to rise on your stomach 🔸Slowly Breath out with pursed lips, through the mouth, while still tending the abs 🔸Do 15x . Congrats! you're starting to independently control the Diaphragm and your core Stability muscles. By mastering this you can still lift objects without holding your breath looking like the Hulk 👺  |
Milner Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic
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