When I was a kid, maybe 8 years old, I was caught in a tornado.
It was one of the scariest moments of my life and to this day I still have nightmares about it.
You see, my family and I were fishing in a pond in our small boat. It was something we did quite routinely in the summer-time.
I remember the fish were biting, the sun was out, and it was an awesome day.
But then, all of a sudden, it was like the fish just shut down. The sun moved behind the clouds, and the breeze quit blowing.
It was really quiet, a strange and eery quiet – more like an absence of sound, where your ears start pumping as if they are desperately searching for something to hear…
Then, CRACK! There was an immense thunder-clap followed by a crack of thunder and instantly the rain started coming down.
My dad rushed us back to shore and we sprinted to our truck where we waited the storm out. I still remember the tornado shaking the truck.
Even as scary as the storm was, the thing that I remember most is that strange calmness that came about – the Calm Before the Storm, so they call it.
Well, right now is the Calm Before the Storm, because very soon the Tornado of craziness that is the Braced Bending DVD will come out.
I’ve worked very hard on this DVD to make it a winner for you.
I’ve edited and re-edited the video. I’ve added voice-overs, and put in slow-motion replays so that you can get the absolute best look at these amazing feats being done, so that you too can perform them.
Yes, this is the Calm Before the Storm, and just as that Tornado tore through the countryside shaking cars, ripping down branches, and knocking over old barns leaving a path of destruction behind it, when you get this DVD, you will be able to cut your own swath of damage as well.
After all, this DVD is called Braced Bending: How to Destroy EVERYTHING in Your Path.
As I put the final touches on everything that needs to be done, it is the Calm Before the Storm.
And the Tornado is this DVD.
More to come later. Keep your eyes open for more storm warnings from me, because this a storm you HAVE to see.
Jedd
P.S. No DVD anywhere will show you the detail that Mike and I do. There is nothing that compares to it. Believe me – I’ve seen them all.
This is a video I shot as part of an article for my buddy, Murph, recently on what to do with lighter grippers you might have laying around, especially if you have family members like I do, that don’t quite understand what it is you do in your Grip Training.
Check it out.
Taking requests for upcoming videos – anybody got anything they want to see?
If you spend a lot of time seated, or if you travel a lot in vehicles or in airplanes, then this post is for you.
Also, if you are an athlete and your sport requires you to be able to perform powerful movements with the lower body, like jumping and bounding, then this post is for you.
In addition if you run, whether in sprinting fashion or distance, then this post is for you.
And if you participate in strength sports or feats of strength, then this post is for you as well because today I am going to show you how you can get more power out of your glutes which will lead to better striding power when running, better leaping and jumping power, and better executtion of posterior chain strength movements such as deadlifts, cleans, throws, and braced bends.
Importance of the Glute Muscles to Sport, Strength and Power Movements
Your Glutes are some of the most powerful muscles in your body.
They are heavily involved in Power Movements like jumping and sprinting as well as directional changes.
Unfortunately, if you spend a lot of time sitting down, then you might be making your Glute strength disappear.
You see, when you are seated, your hips remain in a flexed position. Over time this joint angle at the hip can cause the hip flexors to shorten and tighten.
The image above from Human Kinetics shows the relationship between the front of the body and the rear. With tight hip flexors, generally comes weak lower abdominals and conversely, the muscles on the opposite side, the lower lumbar muscles and the glutes get weakened and can’t do what they are meant to do.
When the hip flexors shorten like this and become tight, they can actually hinder the amount of power your glutes can generate because they will keep your hips from extending correctly in the movements we mentioned earlier, such as jumping, running and other unilateral and power movements.
To illustrate this a bit better, imagine trying to jump up in the air, but attached to your waistline is a chain on either side, connecting you to the floor, and just as you are about to really get some drive going, the chains hit their maximum length and won’t allow you to explode. That is kind of what is going on when you have tight hip flexors.
Two of the main reasons to address this issue are stretching the hip flexors and activating the glutes.
Understanding the Hip Flexors
In the image above, you can see where the hip flexors are located, and where they attach. A lot of people don’t realize the actual articulations of the hip flexors.
Per Wikipedia:
Origins: The Psoas major originates along the lateral surfaces of the vertebral bodies of T12 and L1-L5 and their associated intervertebral discs. The Psoas minor, which presents in only some 40 percent of the population, originates at the transverse processes of L1-L5. The Iliacus originates in the Iliac fossa of the pelvis
Insertions: Psoas major unites with iliacus at the level of the inguinal ligament and crosses the hip joint to insert on the lesser trochanter. The Psoas minor inserts at the iliopectineal arch, the thickened band at the iliac fascia which separates the muscular lacuna from the vascular lacuna. femoral nerve, L1, L2
Common Hip Flexor Stretches
For individuals who have tight hip flexors, one of the ways to correct the situation is with stretching. Below is a commonly used stretch and some slight variations in order to intensify it.
Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
One common Hip Flexor stretch is the kneeling hip flexor stretch. Just getting into a position like what is shown above is not good enough, however. You must keep the torso upright and as you move forward, keep the pressure directed into the hip flexor muscles themselves. Improper angling here can result in stretching the quad. The quad originates on the ilium so its path is similar to the hip flexors. Not that there’s anything wrong with stretching the quad, but the purpose of this stretch is the hip flexor.
With Arm Raised
This stretch can also be intensified by raising the arm on the same side as the leg being stretched.
With Foot Elevated
As your flexibility increases, the rear foot can also be elevated to increase the stretch on the hip flexor and the quad as well.
Again, this is just one stretch that you can do for the hip flexors, along with a few modifications. In a bit I am going to show you another exercise to try that actually stretches my hip flexor even better while activating the glutes at the same time.
How to Activate the Glutes
When tightness on one side of the body inhibits a muscle on the opposite side of the body, we often have to retrain the muscle to fire properly. In the case of Glutes that have been shut down, the athlete has probably learned to use the hamstrings and muscles of the lower back to provide the force needed for hip extension. We have to get the body back in tune by training the Glutes to fire when they are supposed to.
Glute Bridge
Perhaps the most common of Glute activation exercises is the glute bridge. This movement can be done with one or two legs, and can be modified by extending a leg or by adding resistance, such as chains.
Quadruped Hip Extension
Quadruped refers to being on all fours. One leg is then lifted upwards by means of the Glutes. Very simple to perform, but attention must be put forth not to cheat or use momentum.
Fire Hydrant
Named after a dog lifting its leg to mark a fire hydrant, I learned this movement from Joe Defranco, and in particular, I learned that you don’t half-ass this movement (sorry for the pun, but I had to). The way I heard Joe describe this movement is to imagine you’re sneaking into a house through a very large window. Perform the exercise by carefully pulling the hip around the full range of motion, slowly and deliberately. Doing the exercise like this REALLY helps you feel it. Don’t just go through the motions.
How to Do Both at the Same Time
There is absolutely plenty of value in performing the above exercises. I have done all of them and they have worked for me in varying degrees.
However, recently, when shooting footage for a DVD on Braced Bending, I stumbled onto an exercise that actually is highly effective at stretching the hip flexors while getting an extremely intense contraction from the glutes. In fact, of all the Glute exercises I’ve ever tried, none of them can compare to the heightened contraction of this maneuver.
I call this move the Knee Driver, because I was using it to demonstrate the initial kink used when braced bending things like steel bars, wrenches and other odd objects. In the initial kink, you use the strength of your glute to drive your knee into the bar to get it to bend, thus the Knee Driver.
Knee Driver
My apologies for the poor quality video. I had changed the settings
by accident and did not realize it was so grainy until I uploaded it.
For me, I have never felt a Glute Exercise that caused such a deep and hard contraction of my Glute Muscles. I mean, this exercise balled my glute up so tightly when I first tried it that I could not believe it, plus it stretched my hip flexors at the same time, and I have done it just about every workout since then in order to get my Glutes ready to go.
I like to perform this exercise for two sets with each leg and to do at least 6 to 8 good solid contractions per set. I don’t even bother with a lot of the other glutes exercises I used to do, because the contractions pale in comparison to what I get out of the Knee Driver.
I encourage you to give this a try and report back what you have found and how it compares to other exercises you have tried.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Don’t miss important updates – sign up for the Diesel Crew Newsletter today.
When it comes to Feats of Strength, people know where to go in order to get the proper technical instruction they need.
They come to me.
They know I most likely either have an ebook or DVD showing them the exact techniques for the feat of strength they want to accomplish, OR I have explained it at The Grip Authority.
Common Questions about Performing Feats of Strength
You want to know what wraps to get for bending. This is very important because there are many options out there and some are better than others.
You want to know what kind of protection to use on their body, especially when doing things like braced bending or horseshoe bending which requires you to press the object against your body.
You want to know what kind of steel to buy. This one REALLY varies, depending on what kind of feats you want to do – Braced? Unbraced? Log bars? Mid bars? Short bars? When you get into shapes, then it just gets even more confusing.
How to Get Started – The Essential Basics
To continue with this tradition of being the go-to guy for learning feats of strength, I asked my good friend, Mike Rinderle, to put together something that will cover EXACTLY these principal topics:
What Kind of Wraps to Buy
Where to Go to Buy Your Wraps
What Steel to Buy for Bending
What Kind of Steel to Avoid for Bending (Safety-Wise)
What Kind of Odd Objects the Pro’s Bend
If you are into Feats of Strength and you want to learn the basics from one of the best all around benders in the world, then you need to check out the video that Rindo put together.
The best thing about this video is that it is no fluff. I do a quick Intro, Mike covers everything in about 8 PowerPoint slides, and then I close it to give you an important message, and that’s it.
Once it is queued up, it will take you like 5 minutes to watch it and take notes, then it is just up to you to get the stuff.
Regardless of the actual set depth that you use when training on grippers, the set-up is the same. I show this in the video below. The way you position the gripper in your hand and how you have your thumb in relationship to the rest of your hand makes a HUGE difference in your performance. This video has been called the best setting demonstration on-line.
Every so often I like to really challenge myself to do something which has most likely never been done. Such was the case with this video. Instead of goblet squats with a puny 24-kg kettlebell or a normal dimensioned dumbbell, I used the monstrous, globe-headed Inch Dumbbell which weighs in at 172-bs, and I got it for a set of 10. Looking back, I do wish I would have gone a touch deeper on many of the reps, but my stupid wind pants were hindering me.
Incidentally, I do train with Kettlebells and have a few Kettlebell videos as well.
This one made a climb to the top of this year’s videos very quickly, as I just posted it in December. It has also gotten a lot of good feedback because this exercise is completely BAD ASS. You gotta try this piece.
People are loving the simple grip training exercises. This one gives you all the benefits of standard Block Weight training without having to cut up dumbbells or go on a hunt for a wild goose / unicorn implement. Work this type of lift regular for awesome hand strength.
The Sledge Deadlift involves picking up a Sledge Hammer by the end of the handle while balancing a coin on the head, trying to keep the entire implement level. It will hit your Grip, Wrists, and Forearms. It is very beneficial so try this one out too, even if you have to choke way up on the handle – it will still build strength for you.
