There’s absolutely nothing wrong with trying to bulk up and look ripped. But if that’s the case, you could focus on the muscles you can see in the mirror, like your abs, quads, pecs, and biceps, and neglect the ones you can’t. Typically, this implies skipping out on training your primary back movers.
Building strength in the muscles that comprise your posterior chain is crucial for avoiding injury, keeping your posture in check, and reaching your full athletic potential. Read on to learn why a strong posterior chain is important and how to develop one with seven simple exercises.
The Posterior Chain: What Does It Do?
According to Leada Malek, DPT, CSCS, a board-certified sports specialist and physical therapist, the posterior chain includes all of the muscles that run down the back of your body, from your neck to your heels. Among the many important powers that make up the posterior chain are the following:
- Scapular elevators
- Traps
- The Back Shoulders
- Rhomboids
- Lats
- Shoulder girdle muscles
- Triceps
- Spinal erectors
- Glutes
- Abdominal muscles
- Ankle flexors
Malek tells LIVESTRONG that the muscles that line the front of your body—including the inside of your forearms, biceps, pecs, abdominals, hip flexors, and quads—is part of what he calls the “anterior chain.”
The “chain” part originates from how these muscles cooperate to carry out a wide range of tasks throughout the body.
Many of these muscles have various actions over the posterior side [of the body], and everything is connected and has a purpose,” Malek explains. She explains that your hamstrings help you bend your knee and stretch your hip.
The Posterior Chain: What’s the Big Deal?
According to Malek, most people’s anterior chain muscles are more developed than their posterior chain muscles since they are used more frequently in daily tasks such as sitting at a desk, driving a car, walking the dog, and using the stairs. However, she stresses the significance of maintaining equilibrium between the front and rear of the body. Listed below are the reasons why.
1. It Raises Eficiency and Effectiveness in Daily Life
Analisse R. Rios, CPT, CSCS, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, explains that the muscles in your posterior chain are some of the strongest in your body and help propel power-focused moves like the hang clean and back squat.
One’s strength, speed, and agility will all improve with a well-developed posterior chain.
For example, Malek says your glutes and hamstrings are crucial for running and deadlifting. Your athletic or weightlifting prowess will increase proportionally with the strength of these muscles.
However, a solid posterior chain can also guarantee efficient movement in your daily life. Malek says that strong glutes and hamstrings are necessary for good hip control and that strong lats, which help with shoulder extension, can boost the effectiveness of pulling actions.
“These muscles need to be strong for daily life,” Malek explains. “You have to work on those [posterior chain] muscles to increase your ability to maintain movement over time.”
2. It helps lessen the likelihood of harm occurring.
The experts agree that one of the best ways to avoid injuries is to maintain a healthy balance between your anterior and posterior chain strength. Malek suggests that runners with stronger quadriceps than hamstrings may be more prone to hamstring injuries.
“If you have limited ability to control your knee extension from the posterior chain muscles [due to weakness], the hamstring muscle will be overloaded, so you run the risk of a strain,” adds Malek.
“any time you see a knee or hip injury, it’s probably a weak posterior chain issue happening,” Ros adds, explaining that this is because the muscles on the back of the body are vital to supporting lower-body joints.
3. It encourages correct posture
Maintaining good posture when sitting or standing requires a strong posterior chain. Bench presses are great for the chest, but if you only do them and ignore the lats, rhomboids, and other upper-back muscles, your posture might suffer.
“As the pecs get stronger, they pull everything forward, and their lats aren’t strong enough to pull your shoulder blades back, so you slouch over a little bit,” Ros adds. Good posture necessitates harmony between the two. Therefore, strike a balance between the two.
Strengthening Your Back and Core Muscles
Experts recommend scheduling two full-body exercises per week, with at least 48 hours of recuperation time in between, to ensure you engage all of your posterior chain muscles. Rios, who works with both college and professional athletes, likes to combine “pushing” movements (like bench presses and triceps dips) with “pulling” exercises (like deadlifts and good mornings) into a single program.
She alternates between lower-body pushing movements (like glute bridges and quad extensions) and upper-body pulling activities (like pull-ups and biceps curls) for her second workout. It would be best if you aimed to perform three to four sets of three to five repetitions of each exercise on your schedule.
In every session, Ros advises including certain exercises that target the back (or “posterior chain”). Because many of the actions in the posterior chain need the entire body to provide force, she recommends beginning with a “power block” to set the tone. The hang clean and med ball slams are staples of my warm-up routines because they force you to engage your posterior chain and force the bar up as quickly as possible.
Malek recommends including a few movements, like hamstring curls if you’re a runner, that specifically target the muscle group relevant to your activity or goals when programming your posterior chain workouts.
Here Are the Top 7 Posterior Chain Workouts
If you’ve ever wondered, “How can I strengthen my back?” you’re at the right place to start improving your posture, lowering your chance of injury, and fixing your weak posterior chain. Here are some of Malek’s go-to dance movements for your perusal and imitation.
1. Romanian Deadlift
- One should stand with their feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing out slightly, and arms dangling in front of their thighs. Keep your hands facing inward as you hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Engage your abs and lats as you draw your shoulders down and back. Don’t wave your arms about. As you exhale, lower the dumbbells to the floor by sending your hips back and bending your knees slightly.
- Keep your hips pushed back until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings or the dumbbells are as near the floor as possible. Maintain an upright posture and a bold look while performing this exercise.
- When you’re ready to stand up again, exhale and thrust your hips forward from your feet while you maintain your chest up the whole time.
2. Raise your calves
- Place your hands on your hips and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing front.
- Strongly press your toes into the floor as you lift your heels off the ground as high as possible while engaging your core and exhaling.
- Return to the beginning posture by lowering your heels to the floor as inhale.
3. Point Row
- Place your feet wider than your hips apart, point your toes forward, and let your arms drop at your sides. Keep your palms facing inward as you lift the dumbbells.
- Use your abs and pull your shoulders back and down. Then, lean forward 45 degrees by bending your knees and hunching your hips. Let your arms dangle loosely at your sides. Maintain a straight back, a relaxed neck, and outstretched palms.
- While exhaling, tighten your lats and reach the back of your hands toward the ceiling to align your elbows with your ribs. Keep your back flat and your elbows tucked close to your sides while you perform this exercise.
- After pausing, lower the dumbbells to the floor and return to the starting position as you inhale.
4. Quadriceps Extension
- Lay flat on your back, arms at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor, hip distance apart. Your toes should be flat on the floor, and your heels should be near enough to your hips to touch them with the tips of your fingers.
- Put your arms down at your sides and chill out. To maintain a neutral spine, imagine that your shoulders are “glued” to the ground.
- Form a right angle with your knees, hips, and chest by squeezing your glutes and core and pressing your heels into the ground. When you lift your hips, avoid rounding your lower back. Maintain a neutral spine posture as much as possible.
- Keep your glutes engaged and stay there for a few seconds.
- Return to the beginning posture by slowly lowering your glutes to the ground.
5. Bird Doggy
- Beginning on the floor in a tabletop posture (wrists under shoulders, knees under hips, and toes touching the ground) is a good place to start.
- Use your abs and pull your shoulders back and down.
- Exhaling, bring your left hand off the floor and up until it’s level with your left shoulder, then bring your left arm out in front of you until it’s parallel to the floor. At the same time as you’re doing this, bring your right foot off the floor and back, aligning it with your right hip. Maintain a neutral spine, tight abs, and a square hip stance.
- Inhale and return to the beginning posture by lowering your left hand and right knee to the floor. Then, switch sides and do it again.
6. Romanian Deadlift with One Leg
- Put your feet shoulder-width apart, point your toes forward, and let your left arm lie loosely by your side. Keep your right palm towards you while you hold a dumbbell in your left hand.
- Engage your abs and lats as you draw your shoulders down and back. Then, put all your weight onto your left leg while resting your right toes on the ground.
- Keeping your right arm straight and left arm out to the side, inhale as you drop the dumbbell to the floor by bending your left knee and sending your hips back. Keep your hips pushed back until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings or the dumbbells are as near the floor as possible. Maintain an upright posture and a bold look while performing this exercise.
- Return to standing by exhaling as you press through your left foot and bring your hips forward.
7. Inverted Flight
- Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, your toes pointing forward, and your arms at your sides as you stand. Place the palms of your hands toward your legs while holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Use your abs and pull your shoulders back and down. Then, lean forward 45 degrees by bending your knees and hunching your hips. Let your arms dangle loosely at your sides. Maintain a straight back, a relaxed neck, and outstretched palms.
- Pull your shoulder blades together and up toward the sky as you exhale, lifting the dumbbells at your sides until they parallel your shoulders. Maintain a flat back and a small bend in your elbows during the whole exercise.
- Inhale, pause, then return your arms to the beginning position as you exhale.
| Homepage | Click Here |
| Fitness | Click Here |