Make the Connection

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, people of all ages, lend me your ears and eyes and soak up some knowledge!

People get muscle injuries all of the time. Clients, friends and acquaintances come up to me all the time and say "my hamstring has been bothering me" or "my back has been really tight lately" and ya know what? I believe them.

However the cause is not always the hamstring or the back.  Your entire body is connected. Your muscles are a complex network of pieces like a puzzle, or a car engine, all working together to create a walking, talking person.  That person is YOU.  Its actually extremely remarkable when you really think about all the steps that have to take place just for you to lift a glass to your mouth and drink from it, but we don't need to get into all that right now.

This example doesn't include that lower leg, I do.

Now as I stated earlier with the sore hamstring or back example, the muscles in the body are all connected and work with each other. That connection is most evident in the posterior chain.  The posterior chain includes the calvs, hamstrings, glutes, low back, and spinal erectors. All of these muscles rely on each other to perform their jobs and perform them correctly.  If you are super tight in the hamstring, you may not feel it IN THE HAMSTRING, instead you might feel like your back is always tight and bothering you.  The same thing goes for any other part of the posterior chain.  All of its links must be strong and flexible in order to maximize your bodies potential. 

So make sure you always warm up your posterior chain properly and thoroughly, and always stretch it out after a workout.  Don't forget to foam roll (see earlier post about foam rolling) and just try to keep the backside of your body generally happy.  Trust me, the rest of your body will thank you for it.  A strong and healthy posterior chain will help to keep the rest of your body strong and functional.  Keeping the backside of your body lose, stretched and flexible will help you avoid many common injuries and keep you partying harder and rocking out with more frequency!

Until next time peeps, embrace the burn!