Cultivating Your Original Strength: Part 2

Categories: Uncategorized Sep 08, 2013

A guest post by Josh Halbert:

In the first article we touched on the difference between reflexive stability and feed forward tension strategies. We went over the role of each and the interplay they have when it comes to normal life and performance.  In this article I want to give examples of how I have my athletes use both strategies to enhance training and movement.

Below are examples of a "circuit".  These circuits will consist of 3 types of components.

A primary strength or power movement. These will be the focus of the circuit.

An Original Strength pattern to work on tying the "X" of the body together, that also resets tension from the primary movement. The human body is made up of countless X patterns. The center of the X is our core. It becomes the transmission for transferring and resisting forces. It's the connection from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and bottom to top. Like a knot, the tighter our X is interwoven the more resilient we are. So we need to train it.

Some examples will have a third drill that is a feed forward strategy to rehearse high tension and excite the nervous system for the primary move. In some cases the primary movement is the high tension strategy. These are just general guidelines to keep in mind. I've discovered many of these combinations through play and intuition.

Example A

1. Hollow position static holds 10 seconds

2. Tactical pull up

3. Egg roll x 10

Here we have a high tension postural hold in the hollow position. Here, the athletes are rehearsing the posture I want in a tactical pull up. Immediately after, we go to the primary movement, the pull up. We then clear the residual tension and stimulate the vestibular system with a gentle rolling pattern, like the egg roll.

This is an incredibly effective combination that has been working with my youth athletes. Their pull ups actually get easier and tighter with each additional set. Conventional wisdom would have you think that as the sets and fatigue accumulate the freshness of the movement deteriorates. However, I repeat this circuit as many as 5 times and often find the last set is the cleanest.

I implemented this circuit 2 months ago and I've had over 15 youth athletes hit their first ever pull up. I don't like to use the word magical but this is as close as you can get, in my opinion.

Example B

1. Rotational med ball throw or rotational row

2. Lower or upper body roll

3. Kettlebell dead lift/swing

The first primary movement is a rotational power drill. We want fast explosive rotation through the hips and seamless energy transfer through the trunk, expressed through the upper extremities. These movements can be very demanding on the central nervous system. Therefore, the reps are low and ample recovery must be allowed between sets.

Following rotational power, the athletes immediately go to an upper or lower body roll. This again resets residual tension and recovers the nervous system. It also produces gentle rotation of the upper and lower body; doing this ties together the "X" pattern, connecting opposite hip to shoulder. Lastly the athlete will do kettlebell dead lifts or swings with a medium/heavy weight. There is a brace at the top of every rep to help mimic the hip extension I want during the rotational drill. This also helps them practice the hip hinge and driving power through the hips in which many youth athletes need reinforcement.

My facility has Keiser air power machines. These machines can measure power through wattage. This gives us a quantitative way to see if the athlete is producing more power and getting better. Just like the first combination the athletes get better and produce more wattage with every additional set.

Example C

1. Turkish Get Ups

2. Suitcase or Farmers carry

3. Crawling pattern

This circuit is about total body integration and is something I program at the beginning of the session after the warm up. In all 3 of these drills we are asking the shoulders to be stable in a loaded position with different angles. The get up requires you to move your body around a weight over head. The suitcase or farmers carry force you to maintain great posture through holding a weight while walking  and provides a distraction to the hips and lower trunk. Crawling is a basic reset that has you support your body weight through a contra lateral locomotive pattern. All of these patterns require you to maintain a stable posture while you move through your hips and shoulders independently. They provide a medley of both reflexive stability and feed forward strategies.

Example D

1. Squat pattern (body weight, barbell, kettlebell , Olympic cleans, snatched etc)

2. Hip rocks with head nods

3. Egg roll or side roll

The primary movement here is a squat pattern. It could be for corrective purposes, heavy for strength, or explosive in the form of an Olympic squat clean depending on the load and the intent of the pattern. After, we use hip rocks with head nods in which we are rehearsing the squat pattern through our hips, gaining mobility. The head nods allow us to floss out any tension through fascial stretching. They also provide stimulation to the vestibular system allowing more growth for reflexive stability. In addition to this we can use foot locks. We teach foot locks at the Original Strength seminars. They are used to help loosen up "tight" feet. They can clean up a lot of ankle mobility restrictions we see in squatting movements.

Lastly, we sometimes add an egg roll or side roll because squat patterns tend to be spinal extension dominant - particularly back squats and cleans. The roll provides a nice gentle stretch through flexion.

So there we have it. We've indicated the difference between reflexive stability and feed forward tension, when they're appropriate and some guidelines to program them harmoniously. Knowing when to properly apply each is the only way one can reach their full strength and movement potential.

A note on the below ,I had the athletes rush through the circuit for the sake of brevity in the video. Normally the pace is a little slower to get through the entire circuit.

Circuit A:

https://youtu.be/COgAPtt_JRE

Circuit B:

https://youtu.be/trH6QnM745k

If you have any other combinations that you found works well, feel free to leave a comment below or connect on Facebook. Until next time,

Stay resilient.

 



Josh Halbert SFG,  SFB, FMS

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