I have an issue with my posture. Specifically the orientation of the femur when standing erect. My knees point slightly outward; they are externally rotated when relaxed.
I am familiar with the Neanderthal no More articles. However, the corrective exercise program outlined in those articles addresses a wider range of problems than what I am facing. I have worked hard to correct the other postural issues I had, but have so far been unsuccessful at resolving this problem.
What stretches and which corrective weight training exercises will help to correct this issue?
Just to head off some targets. I already make use of squats, deadlifts, and other lower body compound lifts. Currently, I believe, I am compensating for the problem with strength in other areas and I require direct work to show improvement.
Any help is appreciated.
-A
Well you did say ‘any’ advice was welcome, so I’ll throw my cent and a half in.
The first thing I would do is try to figure out what the malfunctioning joint is. If you have really tight calves and a duck walk gait the femur could be rotating to compensate and make sure the knee isn’t misaligned. In that case soft tissue work on the calves (foam roll, tennis ball, massage) with strengthening work on the tibialis anterior would be a good first order of business.
Now if the problem is more above the femur then you’ll probably want to work on releasing the abductors and flexors: soft tissue work for the ITB, pirifimoris, iliacus and psoas. And then try to strengthen the internal rotators like the glute medius. The usual prescription for that is single leg movements ( http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=473323 is a good place to find some).
Of course some mobility and activation drills before your workouts would be good too. I can link to some if you want, this site has tons.
As far as static stretching goes I always like to do that before bed (I rush it at the end of a workout).
Everyone is different but I’ve read some intriguing stuff by a guy named Chuck Wolf that talks about different pairs of muscles that should be stretched together, which is something they go into a bit on the Inside out dvd.
If you’re stretching your left ITB you should try to stretch your left lat and QL at the same time since these muscles will tend to gravitate towards each other in way of stiffness (fascia links). Chest and opposite hip, calf and same hip are two others he described that might fit you bill.
Another tidbit you might want to keep in mind I read in one of Staley’s books (sheesh have I done enough name dropping yet?) is that this release work can be surprisingly draining on your body, so be sure to get lots of rest.
So foam roll, mobility, workout with single leg movements, and then stretch before bed. If you want me to expand on any of these thoughts just let me know, I tend to blather a bit in posts and I’m trying to show restraint.
I had a similar problem which only improved when I did 8 weeks of one-leg squats and one-leg RDLs.
If you think about it, all this squatting and deadlifting is reinforcing movement patterns where your center-of-gravity is centered with your feet apart and externally rotated.
With one-legged movements, your center of gravity is centered over a single foot, neutrally rotated and directly underneath your body. This is the position your body is in with more sport skills and activities of daily living (climbing stairs, walking, running, etc) and is more useful in terms of transferability.
Worked for me, anyway.
– ElbowStrike
Thanks for the comments. Sounds like both of you are suggesting single leg movements. Ive used these in the past but Ill make them religious and add the single leg RDLs. I know it feels like I can correct the error by flexing part of the hamstring perhaps this area of the hamstring has been neglected in my bilateral lifting.
Are there any exercises that will target the muscles responsible for internal rotation? Something that isnt a compound movement that might be useful as a corrective exercise?
kmanly, if you have some specific suggestions for foam rolling techniques for the area and some specific stretches I would be more than happy to hear them. The problem area for me is above the femur, but I will address the tibialas anterior (thats a good point as ive had to strengthen this recently do to the onset of shin splints.).
Thanks again guys. I appreciate it.
Hey no prob, if my personal experience with almost every posture problem in the book helps anyone else all the better.
In my experience reverse crossover lunges are the money exercise for medial glute activation. It?s a compound exercise technically, but done with a dowel or towel overhead it can be a basic rehab exercise.
Any type of side steps or x-band walks are also great. Its always so counterintuitive because these movements are basically abduction of the femur, but still seem to really work the medial glutes (an internal rotator).
As far as the foam rolling and Chuck Wolf-style stretches go the following clip is how I would go about it.
- YouTube I tend to confuse even myself when I try to write this stuff out. What I?ve gained from my research is that if you were doing single leg stuff in the past with a good glute activation mindset in the past its probably just adequate release work that was holding you back.
The other end of the reciprocal inhibition equation. The Wolf stretches are just trying to tie your hips into the upper body muscles that might also be tight. I demonstrated the two toughest ones to describe. Stretching your pec minor and opposite hip/ calf and same hip are pretty self explanatory.
The good thing with this approach is that you should feel a good amount of release at least right after the exercises and stretches (Long term postural changes will of course take longer).
If you don’t feel yourself moving in the right direction after trying this stuff half a dozen times then my train of thought was probably just a little off for your case.
Hope this helps a bit- lemme know if I can be of any more help, or if you’ve got any good critiques of my approach. I’m just another guy trying to figure this stuff out but these forums give us all a chance to learn from each other.
Simple solution: Whenever you walk, simply make a conscious effort to keep your feet pointing straight forward. If you do this consistently, I’ll bet you’ll see a marked difference in 2 weeks. Let me know how it works
[quote]adubswils wrote:
I have an issue with my posture. Specifically the orientation of the femur when standing erect. My knees point slightly outward; they are externally rotated when relaxed.
I am familiar with the Neanderthal no More articles. However, the corrective exercise program outlined in those articles addresses a wider range of problems than what I am facing. I have worked hard to correct the other postural issues I had, but have so far been unsuccessful at resolving this problem.
What stretches and which corrective weight training exercises will help to correct this issue?
Just to head off some targets. I already make use of squats, deadlifts, and other lower body compound lifts. Currently, I believe, I am compensating for the problem with strength in other areas and I require direct work to show improvement.
Any help is appreciated.
-A[/quote]
Wanted to thank you kmanley and Charles Staley for your help. Ive been actively working on flexibility and foam rolling since you suggested these release techniques. I have also incorporated cable hip abductions during my workouts and side lunges to my warm ups. Charles, I took your advice and focused on walking properly. From all of these factors I have seen some modest improvement, but the problem still persists.
If I hold my leg straight I can actively recruit, what feels like the interior portion of the hamstring to straighten the leg (force the knee to point forwards). However, when I do this I feel a stretch in the hip and it seems to clearly be this muscle that is too tight. Which muscle is this and how should I best stretch it?
I think this requires some additional stretches and perhaps some specific strength excercises. I should not that the problem is worse in my left leg where the vastus medialis is underdeveloped (by comparison to the right). My reason for thinking major stretching is required (rather than something like focusing on my walking) is because my legs are strong already (im squatting 405 now and deadlifting 515). The force exerted during walking is minor by comparison to the heavy squats I do.
If you have any other ideas I would appreciate it. If now I will see about talking to an athletic trainer.
Thanks agains guys!