How do you physically prepare for retirement? Part 3: (The Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip Complex)

In case you missed it here are Part 1 (Your Neck and Head) and Part 2 (Your Shoulders and Thoracic Vertebrae)

Today’s topic Part 3: (Your Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip Complex) is the third post dealing with the area that can change the most, our posture. What changes in our posture during the decades from reaching adulthood until retirement? 

Posture Changes with Age  http://www.bodycare-clinic.co.uk/questions-from-patients-1/

I believe that all training should begin by improving a client’s posture before working on more complex things like mobility and strength. Bad posture with a lack of mobility and stability can lead to injury.

When I mention posture do you think of your body being held in a rigid and static position? After reading my blog posts about this, I hope your picture of posture will change. While it is important to be able to put your body into a certain position, posture can be thought of as more dynamic than that. 

What causes changes in posture? Whatever position(s) we spend the most time in has a huge effect on posture. An example is sitting down watching TV or working on a computer or tablet. Gravity never rest. Look what it can do to your Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip complex if you let it.

I consider posture the foundation that determines how your body moves. Since my primary focus as a personal trainer is improving the mobility of my clients, we spend a lot of time on posture exercises.

How do I begin having my clients work on this region of their posture?

Since no one region of our spine works alone, the neck exercises from part 1 and the shoulder/thoracic spine exercises from part 2 help with this.

Once the neck/shoulder/thoracic spine exercises are done we move onto the Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip Complex Movements.

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Since the focus in part 3 is on the lower portion of the torso, a lot of older adults can have something called Lower Crossed Syndrome. 

http://www.nickcurrydc.com/

 

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Another posture I run into sometimes is called the Flat Back Posture. 

http://tangobreath.com/tango-cross-training-lumbar-spine-and-posture/

I have had much success having clients stand with their backs against a wall so I can analyze what type of posture they have. This gives me an idea on where to begin teaching them how to improve their posture. The Spinal Straightening/Stabilization Technique below is a great tool for this.

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WHEN WORKING ON ANY EXERCISE INVOLVING YOUR SPINE, NEVER FORCE YOUR BODY INTO A POSITION. The focus should always be on how you are controlling the muscles and joints and the movements they are making. The pace of each movement should be slow. Perform from 5 to 10 reps of each. The goal is to get the muscles turned on as opposed to tiring them out. If you feel fatigue in the muscle when you are done, you have done too many.

What exercises you perform are important. How you perform them is more important.

Before attempting any of the following exercises, be sure to get the approval of your Physician. Especially if you have ever had back or hip pain, or a back or hip injury.  If you aren’t sure how to perform any of these exercises, have someone show you that knows how to teach you.

After evaluating that a new client should and can work on their Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip stability and mobility, I begin teaching each client the following:

The first area I have them work on is something called the neutral spine. Years ago I read an article that taught me how to teach clients how to properly lengthen their spines from a standing position. Even though the author wrote if for power lifters, I feel it works great for anyone concerned about their posture.

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A Very Effective Spinal Straightening/Stabilization Technique

http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/spine-straightening-preparation-yields-better-deadlifts/

“Both before and after deadlift execution and as part of the daily stretching/strengthening routine, the following technique should be considered as part of any normal stretching or posture improving and strengthening routine. This particular movement performed with back against the wall was originally described to me by my German born-grandfather as advised by his osteopath. Needless to say both he and my grandmother practiced this movement daily and had perfect posture right up to age 100, which is why I took notice.

Of course, Pavel tried it and loved it as a matter of his extended spinal therapies (even though a German  not a Russian ? is on record for this movement's origination). Since a lot of people feel that at times their back is up against the wall, I named this movement, the "Up Against the Wall" SSST or Spinal/Straightening/Stabilization Technique.

Step 1  Back up into a wall or door so that the heels, buttocks, low middle back to C7/T12 (most upper back) and back of head (held level) make contact with surface along with the back of the fully supinated hands/arms, elbows triceps and rear lateral delts, in a down position with hands at hip level as if in the beginning of a power curl.

Step 2  Breathe in as you squeeze your contact points of heels, spine and back of head against the wall, as you slowly raise the arms out laterally while sliding the back of the hands/elbows/triceps against the wall to a 90 position at the shoulder and elbow (as if in a "hold up" with a gun to your belly).

Step 3  Exhale, then inhale again, push your body contact points (heels, buttocks, mid upper back, scapulae/rear deltoids, head, elbows, back of wrists, triceps) against the wall and then raise your arms overhead further to the point where you can touch the thumb tips directly distal to your head in an arm extended position (as if extending in a water-dive). Hold this position and inhale and exhale from the diaphragm at least three times and hold the breath each time for a count of five while pressing the body deeper into the wall.

This is not as easy as it looks and you will discover that in fact not only will you feel straighter and taller as a result of performing this "up against the wall" exercise but you will be warmed up for any type of spinal extension to follow."

I have found that better mobility and stability here leads to not only improved posture, but also better working hips.”  Who wouldn’t want improved posture and better working hips? I know that I do.

A wrinkle I came up with is to have my clients stand backed up to a door frame instead of a wall. This gives the arms a lot more range of motion, which allows me to teach them how to move their arms while keeping their spines stable. I might have them hold their arms in the prisoner of war pose or extend them overhead. I might have them move their arms through various positions while holding the torso rigid. To increase their ability to hold this position, I might have them hold it for up to 2 minutes.

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My next goal is to teach the clients how to properly use their Glutes to stabilize the pelvis.

The first exercise I teach them is called the Standing Glute Squeeze. One of the greatest things about Glute sets is they can be performed just about anywhere. Once the clients understands what this should feel like they can also do them while standing, sitting in their chairs or car. Imagine, you can improve your posture while watching TV. 

Glute squeezes can be done almost anywhere.

Stand straight. Squeeze the Glutes together like you are trying to hold a quarter between the cheeks. Work on being able to hold the contraction for up to 30 seconds.

Once the clients has mastered this I might add Glute Bridging exercise to their routine if they are able to get up from the floor.

http://inspiredrd.com/2010/03/glute-bridge.html

The key to any bridging exercise to to make sure you use the Glutes to do the work, not the lower back. there are many variations that can be taught once the basic version is learned.

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Next I teach my clients how to perform a 2 legged hip hinge. The main goal here is to learn how to control your torso while leaning forward from the hips. I make sure the clients focus on how they use their hamstrings and glutes to control the movement.

Since Dan John does such a great job explaining this movement, I will let him show you. He even shows how to teach a single legged version. He calls it the Hinge Assessment Tool. (H.A.T.)

The key points are to focus on the hips and how they move backwards and forwards. You should only move them as far as you can while keeping the spine in neutral. I usually tell my clients to squeeze the shoulder blades together since this helps keep the lumbar spine straight. Done properly the weight shifts from the toes to the heels as the hips move backwards. With enough control the toes can even come off the ground.

Once my client has mastered the hip hinge, I usually teach them how to perform a single leg hip hinge. This increases the challenge since it is harder to balance on one leg.

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After the hip hinge we move onto squatting. While most people consider squats a strength exercise, I consider if useful for a lot more than that. IMO, Squats can also be a posture exercise and a mobility exercise. The key to a great squat is being able to hold the torso in a neutral position while the hips, knees and ankles bend. This is the main reason I want my clients to have control of their torso before learning how to squat. (and before most exercises I teach them) 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-the-squat

Depending on the ability of the client, I might have them begin squatting while holding onto something in front of them like a chair or counter top. See how the chair is being used in the pic below.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/strength-exercises-for-older-people.aspx

Once they gain enough strength and balance while using their hands, I will have them practice their squats from the chair.   I will go into more details about squatting in a future post about building strength and mobility by squatting. 

Imagine trying to squat while holding your hands in the prisoner of war position. Once you can do this, keeping your shoulders up while squatting becomes easier.  

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The next exercise involving the Lumbar/Pelvic/Hip Complex I teach my clients is a split squat. Not all my clients are ready to perform them. Once they have shown me enough control of their torso, I will think about adding this to their routine.

I make sure the chair doesn't have wheels.  http://www.newyou.com.ph/five-minute-office-chair-workouts

I will have most of my clients learn this while holding onto something sturdy like a counter top or chair with the hand closest to the trail leg. 

The goal it to get what is called a 90-90 position at the bottom.  What is meant by this is to get a 90 degree bend at the knee and at the hip. This is repeated facing the opposite direction with the legs in the opposite positions. 

Once they develop enough control we start relying less and less on the hand and more on the legs. Since this is tougher than squats, I might start a client on only 1 or 2 reps per side. Once a client can perform 5 - 6 reps on each side, I will have them begin working on holding the bottom position for longer periods of time. (10 -15 seconds)

http://fitbottomedgirls.com/2013/06/the-3-best-butt-exercises/

Having the hands on the hips is a lot easier than the Prisoner of War version.

Prisoner of War Version: http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/viewimage.cfm?imgid=2123

The key to Stationary Split Squats is keeping the torso as vertical as you can while your hips lower towards the floor. My main goal is to increase the depth that my clients can drop their hips as they gain experience. This will increase the range of motion in their hips. The greater this range, the easier movements are on the lower back.

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The last exercise I teach some of my clients is a lateral squat. 

My Mentor Mike Boyle showing how it is done.

The goal here is to increase the range of motion that the clients hips can move from side to side.

They might have to begin while holding onto something like a chair or counter top in front of them. It is all about increasing how well the client can move those hips in various planes of motion. As always, the client focuses on keeping the torso as stable as they can. I might even add some rotational movements to the hips and torso as the client progresses. 

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I hope you have enjoyed my 3 post on posture while you learned a few things in the process. 

Next week I will go into more details on how I begin to move my clients from posture to dynamic mobility exercises.