Welcome back to Wellness Wednesdays at Spine and Rehab Specialists. Today Dr. Earl Hayden, PT, DPT, CSCS, is continuing to review the hip hinge and teaching common exercise and daily movement, the deadlift. The main thing we need to point out is that this is not a squat, this is indeed a hip hinge movement because we are focusing on reaching back with the hips. This exercise is useful learning how pick up objects from the floor, developing strength in the whole back, hips, and knees, improving coordination between arm, trunk and leg movement, and can be used to get comfortable with bending forward at the hips. Just like the single leg RDL we covered last week, you start by pushing the hips back. Bend your knees at the same time. I like starting with reaching for a kettlebell or any other object, tapping the object, and then standing back up. While standing up, PUSH hips forward and squeeze those glutes. This exercise does not require a lot of weight when you are first learning it and is actually quite tiring, so you probably want to do this exercise earlier in your workout. If you don’t have the mobility to reach as far down or don’t feel confident with the movement, placing the weight/object on a higher surface is perfectly fine. Once you’re mastered the movement you can work on lifting the weight. 2-4 sets of 5-12 repetitions with GOOD technique works for most people, focus on performing the movement consistently before increasing the weight. If you want to learn more on how you can perform the exercise or having pain with doing similar movements, maybe it’s time to see a physical therapist. Come by for a free screen and we can analyze your technique and see if you need a little adjustment of if you need more in depth assistance to move and lift without injury. As always, join us next Wednesday for more ideas and exercises to keep you moving!
