Why the hinge is the most important exercise
For those that may not know this I’m a CrossFit (CF) enjoyooor and have been doing it since 2007.
I’ve got a L2 certification (plus a variety of other well known physical therapist and strength and conditioning “certs”), and have coached in multiple gyms in multiple cities.
Now I’m just a member and show up and do an occasional WOD.
It’s nice to just show up, less nice I actually have to pay for it now
I was first introduced to it in 2004 by my Battalion Chaplin. He came up to me in the TOC (tactical operations center) one day while in Iraq, showed me some words scribbled on a sheet of paper, and said
“Bengal, I started this new program, I think you’d like it. Check out this workout”
The workout:
The only words I recognized were “50” and responded with
“Chaplain, are you fucking nuts?”
I eventually came around and started it on my own after watching videos of people doing bar muscle ups.
I went to the gym the next morning and tried and (failed) for 30 minutes to get one on the pull up bars on the cable stack. You’ve seen the type:
Not the best set up to do bar muscle ups.
Crossfit was my gateway drug to fitness, and I spent the next several years learning all I could about the strength and conditioning side of it. In the middle went to PT school for more knowledge.
What’s that have to do with the hinge?
A majority of exercises in CF are hip dominant
pulling anything off the ground (deadlift, oly lifts)
rowing
box jumps
how people end up squatting
The stronger your hips are, the less fatiguing these movements are.
Less fatigue equals better performance. Less fatigue also equals less back pain since when the hips (and you) get tired, you usually end up using the back more.
This also translates to life.
Anything important you need to pick up is on the ground.
your kids
groceries
bags of feed/mulch for your grass
tools
dumbbells I put there for you to pick up
Knowing how to load the hips/hamstrings is important for function AND confidence you won’t hurt you back
Leg strength is important too, so any complete program has BOTH of these.
It’s why I include them in our Hip and Low back protocol, which is always available for you as a paid subscriber.
Subscribe and grab it below