Never Break the (Posterior) Chain

So beyond the obvious Fleetwood Mac pop culture reference, why would this platitude mean much to you? The answer is the "posterior chain", which has become as much a part of the fitness lexicon as "WOD".  Everybody wants you to "strengthen the posterior chain" and that's about the end of it. But what, exactly, is the posterior chain? And why so much emphasis on it? 

From Wikipedia: "The posterior chain is a group of muscles on the posterior of the body. Examples of these muscles include the biceps femoris, gluteus maximus, erector spinae muscle group, trapezius, and posterior deltoids."  

Basically, this definition includes everything from your hamstrings to your neck, which is pretty much the entire "posterior" of your body. So, in terms of building muscle, movement patterns that engage the posterior chain are tremendously effective because they activate a large amount of muscle fibers. This also translates directly into rapid strength gains.  Multi-joint posterior chain movements are also efficient, because they take up far less time than training any of these muscle groups in isolation.  Take the deadlift, for example. It's multi-joint (hips and knees) and it engages every single muscle in the posterior chain. It also is perfectly suited for variation, overload and progression. You can deadlift with a straight bar, a hex bar, a sandbag, or a log you find in woods. It's obviously easy to overload, and progression is literally never ending because you can always get stronger in your posterior chain. Five sets of deadlifts once a week are sufficient stimulation to build strength and gain  lean muscle. 

Deadlifting is also as close to a "normal" activity as you'll find in the gym. Most of us don't lay on our back and push something heavy off our chests, unless we are a farmer and a cow or a bale of hay falls on us. You'll notice that nobody ever asks "How much ya deadlift?' because anybody that asks probably doesn't want to answer the question themselves. But everybody has to lift something heavy off the ground for their entire lives, including - perhaps - each other.  Tactical athletes like fireman base their entire resistance training around variations of the deadlift because it best simulates what they do in real life. That's called "specificity", and I think most of your training should be prioritized in a similar way.  

There are two, less commonly recognized advantages to deadlifting. First, the impact on the strength of your spinal erectors will prevent injury in a range of other movements. Second, if you're a man, lifting something heavy off the floor is the best way to release testosterone. So put that Nugenix away and pull some deadlifts. The release of testosterone will make you feel great and it will counteract the cortisol that gets released under stress, like when you have end-of-quarter financial challenges or major personnel actions to take. For me, personally, deadlifts are "erasers". When I'm over that bar nothing else matters but making that set count.  All other concerns are "erased". Don't we all need some that that from time to time?  

Be well, my friends.