Not only focussing on training your posterior chain can give you the butt of your dreams, but it can also help you to gain strength (yes boys, I am looking at you also) and you will be significantly less prone to injury.
What is the Posterior Chain?
It consists of the erector
Why training it?
I give you two (of many) reasons: Lower Back + Knees
These two major joints are especially vulnerable to injury in the lack of posterior chain strength.
1. Lower Back
A strong butt will decrease your risk of low back injuries. Fact.
The gluteal group is one of, if not the most, powerful muscles in the human body. Unfortunately, most people develop “lazy glutes” due to spending long hours sitting. Well, this happens to be the lumbar spine’s direct neighbor; so it only makes sense to make sure it does its job!
2. Knees
The knee as a joint is very delicate: it is literally two bones sitting on top of each other with little stability.
One of the predisposing factors to a knee injury is the knee tending to draw inward, mostly due to quad dominance.
Another major reason is the lack of posterior/lateral hip control.
Most individuals are quad dominant because of sitting all day, leaving the quads as primary movers.
How do we find a solution to this? Let me give you a hint… By strengthening the posterior chain!
How to train it?
There are tons of ways to strengthen and target the posterior chain.
Here are a few:
– Compound moves: Deadlifts, RDL, kettlebell swings
– Exercises targeting Glutes: Clamshells, Bridge variations, Hip Thrusts
– Exercises targeting Hamstrings: Nordic Hamstring Curls, Hamstring Curls
Don’t get me wrong; you still need to train your anterior chain too, just doing more reps for your posterior muscles would be always a good idea!
