The Iron Jungle 5: Trunk Flexion
Welcome back to the Iron Jungle, savages! The heat is rising in The Jungle with spring in full-blown blossom and USA Climbing Lead season Divisionals right around the corner! It’s a radical blessing to watch the athletes we work with see all their hard work come to fruition. Stay up-to-date on how our athletes are competing by following us on Instagram @ElitePerformanceClimbing. Late spring also means there’s about to be some travel for a lot of you. Whether it's to divisionals or summer vacay, by car or plane, you’ll be spending a serious amount of time sitting in a state of Trunk Flexion. That within itself isn't a bad thing, however, as we learned in last month’s issue, spending too much time in any position is a recipe for overuse and joint dysfunction.
You’ve probably traveled for more than a few hours and noticed when you got out of the seat of your vehicle, your low-back and legs might have felt tight and like they needed a lengthening. That’s usually because your trunk flexors have been overworked trying to keep your spine upright in the seated position while you're en route. This overuse causes the muscles that flex your trunk to no longer be able to communicate with the brain. Your brain responds by using muscle tightness as a brace to protect your joints, in this case your spine and pelvis, from violating the uncompensated range of motion and becoming catastrophically injured. This tightness restricts joint motion to protect you, but at the cost of the major bummer wave of joint dysfunction. If you want to address joint dysfunction, you have to go to the root of the problem, which is NOT muscle tightness! Muscle tightness is just a symptom of a bigger problem, diminishing your performance - your muscles not talking with your brain!
The first thing we need to do is assess if trunk flexion is actually our problem.
To assess your trunk flexion:
Start by sitting upright on the floor with your legs straight in front of you as shown.
If you are unable to start in this position, elevate your hips by sitting on a yoga block or similar object
Place your hands across your chest with your elbows pointing forward to 12 o'clock (between your feet).
Now SLOWLY and slightly, rotate your upper body to the left in a pain-free range of motion to 11 o'clock and rest here.
With your sternum still facing 11 o'clock, SLOWLY crunch forward to 12 o'clock as shown, keeping your 11 o’clock rotation bias.
Slowly return to the starting position.
SLOWLY and slightly rotate your upper body to the right in a pain-free range of motion to 1 o'clock and rest here.
With your sternum still facing 1 o'clock, SLOWLY crunch forward to 12 o'clock, keeping your 1 o’clock rotation bias.
Slowly return to the starting position.
Did anything feel weird? Where?
If you found an asymmetry between right and left trunk flexion, it's time to reactivate those trunk flexors that have stopped talking to your brain and are causing your tightness and asymmetry. Do your bad side first, followed by your good side, until you regain symmetry.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: When performing these isometric exercises, it's essential to use EXTREMELY LIGHT pressure, which EPC athletes know affectionately as “Mouse Fart” pressure. I know it’s a bit crude, but have you ever heard an actual mouse fart? NO! Why? Because rodent flatulence is so light. That's how light you need to be pushing. If you push too hard, you’ll bring the compensators to the party instead of the primary movers we desire to reactivate - this would be a waste of time. )
Trunk Flexion Reactivation Isometrics
Sit flat on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you, pointing to 12 o'clock
Anchor a sling/webbing/daisy chain/belt ear height, directly behind you, so that if your chest is the center of the clock, your chest is facing 12 and your sling is anchored at ear height at 6 o’clock behind you.
For Right Trunk Flexion, drape the sling over your right shoulder, holding it with your left hand against your right collarbone.
For Right Trunk Flexion, rotate your spine so that your sternum is facing 11 o’clock, but your legs are still facing 12.
Keeping an upright and erect spine at all costs, push forward toward 12 o’clock while keeping the center of your sternum facing 11.
Push forward to 12 o’clock with “Mouse Fart Pressure” for 6 seconds, then relax
Repeat 6 times with a deep belly breath between each rep.
Reverse instructions for Left Trunk Flexion
Do you have chronic muscle tightness and asymmetry in other parts of your body? If you found this article helpful, our mobile app is pretty rad, easy to use, and available on iPhone and Android. It has a 34-point assessment process designed to find and eliminate the root cause of your joint dysfunction and asymmetry.
Want to learn more or sign up? Just hit this link!
