Baseball Hitting and Pitching

Imbalances

by Scott Tribby

In the world of athletics, there are certain physical characteristics that usually distinguish successful athletes from the general population. Overdeveloped hamstrings, a pronounced lumbar curve, straight and broad shoulders along with a chiseled back, all of these seem to be present in athletes from many different sports.

Superior posterior chain development is one of the keys to success on the playing field, and also a prescription for a healthier and more balanced body. We focus extensively on this area of the body, creating an explosive and powerful athlete ready to dominate the competition. This type of training can have benefits for everyone, even those who aren’t involved in competitive athletics. In the following article I’ll be covering things we can all do to help strengthen our posterior chain and create a more balanced body.

The daily grind of everyday life can cause many problems: stress, tension, poor diet, lack of sleep, etc. All of these things can lead to postural breakdown and increased muscular fatigue and tension. Couple these with the predominant positions we find ourselves in today’s society, and you have a recipe for imbalance. In today’s society we battle with what some call “flexion addiction”.

Too illustrate, let’s take a look at two of the positions that most people find themselves in for a majority of their day: sitting at a computer desk and driving. Both put the body in a similar position with major areas in a constant state of flexion, including the hips and hip rotators, hamstrings, shoulders, and head/neck. These positions are often held for hours at a time causing what we call “chronicholding patterns”. Unlike an acute injury (i.e. broken bone), these types of problems go largely unnoticed by people until they’ve gotten so bad that pain has begun to develop. This can sometimes take years and the road to correcting it is one that must be traveled for a long time as well.

Basically, two different problems are created by this: Upper and Lower Cross Syndrome. Because of these chronic holding patterns, certain muscles become tight and facilitated while others are weak and inhibited. In Upper Cross syndrome the tight muscles include the following: upper traps, levator scapulae, pecs, sternocleidomastoid, anterior scalenes, sub occipitals, latissimus dorsi and subscapularis. The weak muscles include: rhomboids, lower and middle trapezius, infraspinitus, serratus anterior, longus capitus and longus colli. The result of all of this is rounded and elevated shoulders with a forward head posture.

In Lower Cross syndrome, the tight muscles include: hamstrings, lumbar erectors, piriformis, quadratus lumborum, adductors, tensor fascia latae, rectus femoris and the iliopsoas. The weak muscles include: gluteals, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, transversus and the rectus abdominis. The result of this is an anterior pelvic tilt with an excessive lumbar curve.

Now that the problem has been identified, the road to correcting it can begin. This typically includes many modalities, including massage therapy, stretching, resistance exercises and stress management. A massage therapist will be able to help relax and lengthen the tight, facilitated muscles and tonify and stimulate the weak, inhibited ones.

An aggressive stretching and resistance exercise program will help to correct the imbalances and reducing stress helps in keeping the nervous system from over stimulating certain muscles. Here are some of the things you can do on a daily basis to battle these conditions:

- Make a conscious effort to become more aware of your posture
- Every time you get out of the car or get up from your desk, stretch out your pecs, hamstrings and hip flexors.
- Train movement patterns, particularly the pre/rehabilitation work in Rotator Cuff FIX
- If tightness and pain become constant, go get a massage

Following these suggestions will go a long way to helping correct some of the imbalances that we all exhibit.

SCOTT TRIBBY
Colorado | thirdeye732003@yahoo.com | 720.984.3701

Scott is re/prehabilitation and sports performance specialist residing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. In addition to coaching, he's also a Licensed Massage Therapist. Whether training individuals interested in overall fitness or competitive athletes, his focus is on optimal performance while maintaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle. When not working on clients, he can be found carving the slopes or hiking the rough terrain of the Rockies. He owns Next Level Therapeutic & Performance Solutions and works with athletes and individuals from all walks of life.

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