There
is a common theme involved with running skill. The further away you load from the line of action the
increase in joint
torque is associated with
it, which is associated with decelerating (force muscles) playing a bigger part of the support.
Running skill is all about lessoning the joint torques as the myofascial tissue has to deal with more force directed from the increasing ground reaction and momentum forces as the speed increases.
As a performance coach you can utilise skills in lessoning joint torques or increasing them depending on the outcome you want to train. Body building techniques has utilised this concept to benefit the over loading of tissue to break it down to gain hypotrophy gains. By increasing the joint torque, more stress can be achieved to get a specific desired effect.
There is a reason you don’t get a lot of body builders playing sport. However you do see a lot of body building techniques smothering athletic form in today’s professional sportsmen and training routines advertised.
The common lunge is such an exercise that I believe is one exercise that kills movement skill, although it is a premier exercise selection for pretty much every sport out there.
The
common lunge is associated with huge joint torques, hence why it such a good
burning (hard) exercise.
The
common lunge below fuels so many bad habits. Just a few for
example
1.Aggressive heel strike
2.General centre of
mass way behind front foot
3.Back foot learning
excessive push off
4.The hip is in
excessive rotation for
mimicking real life game events
5.Quad dominance
6.Achilles not utilised as it
should be
7.Ankle range of motion
under utilised by heel lift in motion control shoes
8.Time on ground has no
real correlation with the majority of sports movement
The
common lunge is really training massive breaking forces associated in
deceleration.
Only would you want
to lunge like this in very specific circumstances, the main one being
that you
are being pushed to your boundary by a more skilled opponent.
Tennis players are a good example of this, however surely your whole game plan is to stay
away from this through bettering your skill in your own movement patterns
to get to the ball
(or target) in better form to action better skill (shot). By mastering this skill to never allow
your
opponent to get you in that position in the first place would be far
superior, actually it would
produce the worlds greatest players. Or vice versa to beat you opponent that
is exactly
where you want to put them, in a bad position.
For further and more in depth reading on how the hamstring is effected by constantly training
the lunge go to The Number One Role of the Hamstring
Our
advice at the Barefoot Performance Academy is learn how to evolve your single
leg strength by keeping the general centre of mass over the ball of foot.
This
entry level single leg squat sequence allows the back leg to drive backwards to
provide support. Progression would
see the back knee drop to the ground directly next to the support foot. (The
arms are driving in the frontal plane in one and transverse in the other which
is a technique to put more load through the hip).
The
important thing to take from these photos is where theemphasis of the body
weight is in
the front (support) leg.
About the author
Rollo Mahon has an academic background in Sports Therapy. His academic journey has led him through various athlete performance accreditations where he has specialised in the science and biomechanics of barefoot running. His search has been to find the solution to injury free biomechanics and therefore better performance which has been cemented by the science of barefoot running.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI just have one question if i may.
The normal lunge as above. Comparing it to the alternative single leg lunge. Does the hip flexor muscles(especially the Psoas) not benefit more from the lunge, as there is an increase in activation of the hip flexors? The hip flexors are used in most movement patterns. Another question. Looking at the alternative single leg squat as mentioned above, the knee is over the foot. If in that position for a long period of time, and if the individual doesn't have a strong enough quad muscle, the development of patella tendonitis could most likely occur. What is your view on that?
Thank you
Now if you are talking about the back leg in the lunge increasing in activation then yes there could be some benefit if you were isolating that action. The lunge itself is very far from the skill of efficient motion, i would coach this pattern to give a foundation to find more stability in, if things got tricky with normal stance and the centre of mass needed to be lowered. Where efficient motion is concerned, is where stability dances with instability at a unique pivot point. The common lunge is far to far from that pivot point and it is why it is such a big burning exercise that cannot be sustained for to long. Consider - if muscles just let go, gravity moves our body downwards. Lift your arm up to the horizontal plane level with your shoulder and apply this methodology. Let go of your muscles holding it up and it falls back to your side. It falls at quite some speed, 9.8m per second to be exact. Now when you squat or single leg squat what do you thing your psoas (with the majority of other muscles) is doing with this new information. Not a lot apart from moving from mid range to short range. I mention mid range because where the psoas comes into its primary role is in hip extension. Muscles work on a triphasic system (stretch reflex). A muscles lengthens producing elastic energy to recoil producing efficient force. As our body mass travels over our foot it creates hip extension. This is where the psoas links both the quads, adductors, abdominals and upper body in movement.
DeleteYour other question - Quite rightly patella tendonitis does occur if there is not sufficient support from the lower limb if the knee travels over the foot (beyond the toes i think you mean). To produce load in the lower limb the ankle has to be able to create torque. The foot and ankle is a marvel of engineering. You will see tribesmen squatting all day long with their knees forward of the toes in the deep squat position (bum on there heels). It is a skill we have lost and the compensation has been to lock our ankles - the main reason for petall tendonitis. The quad is doing all the work whilst the lower limb isn't activated significantly.
Thanks for your questions i hope this answered them for you.