PUSH! The Ground & Be Stronger!
Published: Mon, 04/08/13
Yo beasts, what is happening!
The other day I was teaching one of the dudes at my gym how to deadlift
I told him how to stand properly over the bar, explained the different grips he could use & showed him how to keep his body tight & pull properly so he doesn't round up his back too much & cause lower back pain the next day (which is common among most people who deadlift because they use horrible form)
Well when it was time for him to do his first rep, it was ugly!
He didn't have enough mobility to go all the way down without rounding his shoulders, and he was putting the bar way infront of him causing his lower back to do a lot of the pulling (not a good thing)
I could have panicked & told him: "ew you can't deadlift, lets remove this exercise form your program & pick another one"BUT HELL NO! I was not gonna drop this fundamental exercise from his programming!
One of his main issues was that he couldn't keep his body tight, even tough I told him to do so...his body just wouldn't do it by pure command
So I told him to push the ground!
Sounds silly but if you have never done that try it right now:
Get up and push the ground, push away and feel your core & glutes activating & creating massive tension throughout your body...imagine your about to deadlift, tighten up your lats, pull your shoulders back, keep your chest up and explode up!
If you stayed tight all throughout, you noticed that you felt like a rubberband - your body wanted to slingshot back to the ground when you locked out
That is what we want & that is what made my friend finally feel "tight" during the whole time he was deadlifting...
It's a simple cue but makes all the difference in the world
Give it a go next time you are benching, over head pressing, deadlifting or squatting & am sure you are gonna feel a lot stronger
P.S. I'll share 2 exercises tomorrow that will force you to wake up your lazy muscles, stay tuned!
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