Hi guys
I am going to do Poliquins PICP 1 + 2 next year as I want to learn as much as I can about structural balance, corrective exercise etc
In the mean time can any one recommend any good books they have read in this area.
I also want to learn about ways to improve the basic movement patterns in someone who is so tight / inhibited / weak in certain areas that they cant even do a proper squat with a wooden stick on their back
Thanks in advance
Maybe check out Grey Cook ‘Movement’. The overhead squat is one of the movements he screens for. Shirley Sahrmann gets a lot of references for ‘Movement Impairment Syndromes’ which covers issues with the lumbar spine, hip, and shoulder girdle. I think she has another out on disorders of the limbs and cervical spine - but I haven’t seen that yet. Still working through the other two.
Will be interested to hear what others suggest.
Cheers…a good start. Lets hope lots of others come in with some good suggested readings
Structural balance is based off poliquin’s work with thousands of high level athletes… ie it’ss proprietary info that hasn’t been published elsewhere… most of the teaching of structural balance comes during the courses and it isn’t really anything that requires too much background knowledge (though it is extremely helpful in getting results)
IMHO The structural balance issue was given a bit too much attention a few years ago when a number of strength coaches started discussing it but I definitely agree that Gray Cook’s 2 books are must reads for any strength coach/trainer. I think McGill’s work is very good for structural balance as well though it usually isn’t grouped under that umbrella since it isn’t his sole focus.
Poliquin is a smart guy, no question, but those courses are not my cup of tea. People are asymmetrical and people also have more strength, flexibility, etc. in certain movements versus others (flat benching versus overhead pressing for example) and that doesn’t necessarily mean impending injury. Barry Ross has gained a lot of popularity after Tim Ferriss’s book came out and he only has athletes bench press, deadlift up to the knee, and do some occasional jumps. He reports an extremely low occurrence of injury. Granted, it is self reported but given the popularity of his program, I think there would be a number of anecdotes floating around the internet by individuals with injury reports by now if it were an issue (I could be wrong). His work is inspired by Pavel Tsatsouline who has discussed the issue of structural balance in a number of articles and his book Power to The People.
In regard to improving squats, as mentioned, Gray Cook’s functional movement tests are a great start. You should be able to find some exercises he suggests to help at his site or other pt’s who are fans of his on the net. Working on being able to do good, below parallel free squats and practicing Gray Cook’s overhead squat a couple of times a day should get you there. It could take a couple of days or a couple of months but you will definitely get there. For best results on achieving the proper position, I would drop the broomstick and barbell squats until you can do it correctly without one (as Gray would recommend). Olympic lifters are often pretty knowledgeable about hitting deep squatting positions out of necessity as well, so if you know any you may want to ask them.
Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook