The terms we use in our center, “Punch AND Drive”, describe the Hip Flexion and Hip Extension actions that are crucial components in the Acceleration Phase of Movement. ‘Punch’ is a cue for an explosive hip flexion movement, whereas, ‘Drive’ is the counterpart cue for Hip Extension and the ‘driving’ force! I enforce a great deal of emphasis on these two actions and as I preach them it reminds me of the recent T-mobile commercials. An interviewer sits around a table with a few elementary-aged children and they discuss speed. One little kid imagines strapping a cheetah to his grandmother’s back to make her faster. It is pretty entertaining.
One absolute guarantee in life is, that as we age, our body will lose a few things. Understand, I am not ignorantly referring to year-to-year changes but instead, decade-to-decade. Over time, we lose three vital aspects to movement: strength, power, and mobility. Anatomically, we have 5 muscles that aid in Hip Flexion and based on the their locations of origin, these muscles can either help all the way or part of the way.
The muscles that insert at the iliac crest (Tensor Fascia Latae, Rectus Femoris and Sartorius), can only assist part of the way. Confused?? In other words, if they connect at the hip, they can only lift to the hip and not beyond. If these muscles can generate enough force, they will propel the movement higher then the hip, but without momentum they will stop at hip level. Still with me?? The other 2 muscles (which give us a total of 5 potential movers involved in Hip Flexion) are the very popular psoas and iliacus. The psoas has an origin on the lumbar spine whereas the iliacus has its origin on the posterior of the ilium. The psoas and the iliacus are the only hip flexors capable of bringing the hip above ninety degrees.
A great test for an athlete to discover if he/she has an inactive psoas: Take his/her foot and put it on a box that brings them to a point above 90 degrees of hip flexion; ask him/her to activate these muscles by hip flexion off the box and hold for 10-15 seconds. Check for the following:
1. Lumbar Spine Flexion: Make sure that the athlete does not compensate by flexing their Lumbar Spine. One of the most prominent signs of an inactive psoas and lack of hip flexion is flexion in the lumbar spine (which is a leading cause of disk injuries!!!).
2. ‘Quad-Dominance’: If the athlete does not have the Psoas and Iliacus strength and mobility to produce hip-flexion, then the Rectus Femoris (Quad) may over-compensate to produce the hip-flexion movement (which is a leading cause in quad & knee injuries.)
So before I take you on an even longer tangent into the science behind these movements, the fact of the matter is that in this day and age of Sports Performance and Strength Training, there is a huge emphasis placed on training the ‘Drive’ Phase of Hip extension. Consider some of the hip extension exercises such as squat, deadlift, power clean, lunge, etc).
Where are your exercises focused on hip flexion??? ::Cricket Cricket::
Don’t take this out of context. Yes, there is Rectus Femoris Activation at some point in each of those lifts mentioned above but, is this quad-activation being used for hip flexion or knee extension?
Hip flexion is not the primary focus, which is a main contributor in psoas and iliacus deficiencies. Another contributor is the daily routine of many who sit behind a desk all day. This is not a knock on adults because kids spend a majority of their day sitting behind a desk at school as well. Therefore, in our Active-Dynamic Warm-ups and Speed Training, we spend a lot of time working on our ability to ‘Punch’ rapidly and efficiently to make sure that our pesky psoas has strength and mobility!!
Understand this, if you spend all your time and energy on developing your Hip Extension and ‘Drive’ phase but not consider the ‘Punch’ phase, then it is time and energy wasted. This is the main reason an athlete who, in the off-season, only lifts weights but does no running and is surprised by that mysterious “quad pull”.
You cannot have Drive without Punch!!!
Want some more information on Hip Flexion exercises?
Check out my facility, Velocity Sports Performance in Mahwah, New Jersey or Contact me using the ‘Contact Tab’ on the side for more information.
-Adam
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