I’ve addressed your concerns below:
First off, I stand by my statement regarding the lats, especially when it comes to people who weight train. When analyzing many kyphotic postures, you will notice not only a rounding of the shoulders forward but also an internal rotation of the arms when viewed from the side. When the arms are internally rotated (e.g. the back of the hand is facing forward) you know the lats are overactive. Most trainees who train back are quick to perform pulldowns, pull-ups, pullovers, etc., but far fewer perform rows or any kind or specific scapular retraction/depression work. This type of work is crucial to balancing the upper body and maintaining the integrity of the entire shoulder complex. Stretching the lats is a general recommendation that would help most trainees; that’s the best I can do without seeing someone in person and assessing their posture and movement.
Please also note that just because someone may have a kyphotic posture doesn’t necessarily mean that they have upper crossed syndrome. It seems that far too often therapists and clinicians see one or two signs of upper crossed, lower crossed, or layer syndrome and prescribe treatment accordingly. Instead,a comprehensive analysis of the posture and movement patterns of each indvidual client/patient should be performd and the necessary areas addressed, whatever they may be. No need to guess here; by using the proper tests the postural and motor faults will be evident.
As for your next point, I am well aware that we are trying to avoid and prevent hyperlordosis of the spine. The stretches you allude to are provided as a way to stretch the latissimus dorsi and improve extension of the thoracic vertebrae, respectively. Unless you have no lumbo-pelvic control, a simple drawing in (I hate that term, btw) of the abdominals and posterior tilt of the pelvis prevents any undesired hyperlordosis.
With regards to the deep stabilizing system of the core, it has it’s place in a training program but too many overemphasize and spend excessive time working on ‘isolating’ or making sure a muscle is ‘firing’ properly. It has been shown in numerous studies that in healthy, uninjured trainees the TVA fires up to .5 a second before any movement of the leg. Second, while I feel that improving the recruitment and motor control of the deeper musculature is important, it is just as if not more important to make the entire core area strong. You can work to recruit and fire as much as you want, but until someone is strong and healthy enough to pick up cat litter, groceries, or their child, then you can throw all that isolation work out the window. It’s only a small part in the progression from motor control to functional, every day movement.
With regards to the more cervical section of the spine, I did not discuss this topic in my article due to brevity, but it can also be affected when the posture is kyphotic. Typically the compensation pattern is as you stated: With protraction or ‘jutting’ of the chin, inhibition of the deep neck flexors such as the longus capitis and rectus capitis are usually paired with concomitant overactive antagonists (suboccipitals) and synergists (SCM).
As for the comment regarding the external rotators, I will give you this snippet(?) from an upcoming article I have written:
“Before I go on, I’d like to step onto my soapbox and address the topic of external rotation strength. When working towards my Masters degree, we had a discussion regarding training of the external rotators. An athletic trainer in our class had the audacity to state that the most you EVER need to use in external rotation exercises is 2.5#'s; that’s it, no questions asked. She stated that you simply did not need to use any more weight, regardless of circumstance because they are smaller muscles and didn’t need much stimulation. Unfortunately, I’ve met several people since then who actually AGREE that training the external rotators should only use minimal weights and high repetitions. Here’s the question I pose to these people: What makes the external rotators different? Doesn’t it make sense that these muscles strength should be increased proportionately (whatever that proportion may be) to their counterparts? Obviously the external rotators are not designed for huge amounts of power production, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t or don’t need to be stronger. I’m all for starting off light with external rotation exercises to increase awareness, motor control and learning how to use these muscles properly, but at the same time there’s absolutely no reason you shouldn’t periodize your external rotation program to include strength improvements as well. Can you honestly say that trainees with a 200# bench, a 500# bench and an 800# should have identical strength profiles when it comes to their external rotation strength? For a group that’s so interested in balancing or finding optimal ratios between certain muscle groups (e.g. quad/ham ratios), I find this argument absolutely ludicrous. But, I digress”
I appreciate your criticism, but please contact me personally if you wish to do so again in the future.
Stay strong
Mike Robertson