What is Butt Wink?The &;butt wink&; or posterior pelvic tilt – the pelvis pulls the lumbar spine into flexion or rounding of the low back putting you in a vulnerable position. You want to remember to – keep an arch – prevent that spinal rounding. Otherwise you risk damaging ligaments, causing disc irritations or herniations. What Causes Butt Wink?A number of factors combined together can cause the butt wink which leaves your low back and hips vulnerable. This can be hip capsule tightness, hip flexor tightness, knee issues, ankle or even big toe limitations.One limitation is where the head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum. The only way to go deeper is to round the pelvis and the lumbar spine – this is anatomical – this will be different between individuals.Stretching can help partially – think of the hamstring, it crosses both the hip and the knee joint – as you bend your knee flexes, and the overall tension from the hamstrings does not usually prevent you from going into a deeper squat.You can improve your hip flexion mobility over time.You can also improve your squat depth over time.What can we do?Motor control – motor control is imperative – the squat is a complex compound exercise that forces muscles to work in concert. As you improve your proficiency – your squat will improve. The mobility exercises I&;ve posted previously can help – but its best to first figure out what you need to work on. Then focus your work there. Work smart. Check out my future posts for more mobility drills.

posted on September 7, 2016 by | No comments

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Some of you have trouble getting down with your heels on the floor into your deep squat. One of your limitations may be at your ankle. If you lack mobility at the ankle, the limitations of the movement affect the joints above it changing your motion.This weighted ankle mobility drill I use helps me clear some of my ankle restrictions. First I get a heavy weight and place it onto my knee and shift forward while trying to keep my heel flat on the floor. Try and hold this for ~90s or so, and as your ankle begins to loosen up start to methodically shift forward further to add more motion through the joint. Try the deep flat footed squat then this mobility drill and test it again and enjoy your mobility! markham toronto everydamnday

posted on August 11, 2016 by | No comments

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Taking a break from your day of sitting at a desk, your weary day of travels in search of pokemon, or worse, sitting around and farming pokemon and pop a PokeSquat:Keep your feet FLAT – heels on the ground, don&;t let it lift up! align your knees over your feet, lower yourself slowly and rest your arms on your knees. Spend 10 minutes in this position and give your body a break by:1) reducing spinal compression – reduce low back discomfort2) Increasing hip mobility3) Increasing knee mobility4) Increasing ankle mobility5) Helps you go trouble getting into this position? Can&;t hold it long? Practice practice practice – it will improve over time. If this movement seems ridiculously hard – Congrats! You have a mobility issue. Finding a problem is the start. Let&;s get to work.

posted on July 27, 2016 by | No comments

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The Couch Stretch.For all you desk ninjas who spend their entire day sitting at a desk with your hips in flexion, undo the bad posture spending 2 minutes on each side. You&;ll feel a pull from the front of your hips all the way down your thigh to the top of your knee. Get comfortable slowly shifting forward and backward, even side to side to work your problem spots and spend a bit more time with them. To make this stretch harder try squeezing your glutes to try and shift your hip forward.I challenge you to 20 days of the couch stretch. Get a pic taken and tag me in it, spend 2 mins a day on each side and tell me which side is worse for you (one is always worse!) In 20 days – get another picture taken and enjoy your progress! markham toronto

posted on July 26, 2016 by | No comments

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