“Improper” Alignment and Jefferson Curls

“ There is no improper alignment, only improper preparation”- Ido Portal

There is a big push in the medical and fitness communities for “proper alignment”: making sure that everything is in line and stabilized before making any moves. This makes sense in most cases: I wouldn’t want to attempt a heavy lift like a squat or deadlift if I didn’t go through the checkpoints of making sure I was braced and set properly to avoid injury and get the best performance from that lift. 

On the other hand, life doesn’t always work out in that optimal way. Sometimes we have to load the kids or groceries into the car by squeezing and twisting around the car door because the car next to yours is parked too close. 

Sometimes you have to pull something heavy out from under the bed. Sometimes you step wrong and your ankle gets twisted awkwardly.  You get the idea. Life intervenes to twist us into non-optimal positions and you had better be ready for it!

That means training your muscles to be functional in those awkward positions. It’s great to strengthen your body in the big lifts like squat, deadlift, or overhead press with perfect form, but we also recommend working some things in less traditional positions just to keep your muscles more responsive and resilient to injury. After all, if you don’t expose yourself to the unfamiliar how will you ever get used to it?

Something we’ve been working on lately in this respect is the Jefferson Curl. This exercise is designed to move your spinal segments through a full natural range of motion and train them to become stronger with gradual increase of repetition and load. 

How it works is you stand tall and then slowly curl your head down to look at the floor, then round your shoulders, and slowly curl each segment of your spine down as you slide your hands down your thighs and reach toward the floor. Eventually you will feel tension/restriction by something in your posterior chain: your back, your hips, hamstrings, or calves.

 STOP  if you feel sharp pain with this!

Once you have reached a natural stopping point, try to slowly “uncurl” yourself using those muscles you just stretched out. Use your hands to assist if you need to. Repeat this 5-10 times and you will find your last repetitions reaching further than your first ones. This is your tissue getting springier and also your neurological system relaxing it’s tension.

“But what about disc herniations?” some might say. “I was told to never bend my back and always lift with my back straight!”

While this is generally good advice, especially when lifting heavy loads, every spine is different. Each individual condition requires individual assessment and intervention. If you are dealing with low back pain I would NOT recommend starting out with Jefferson Curls. But in general, you were built with a spine that is able to flex, extend, and twist, with muscles that pull those segments in all those directions. If they are not trained properly they will get stiff and weak. And then your risk of injury actually increases! 

Wouldn’t you rather keep those muscles strong and ready for whatever twists and turns life throws at you? It can take a lot of training, but it is possible to build enough strength with Jefferson Curls to lift fairly heavy loads with minimal risk of injury. 

You were designed to be hard to kill. We can help keep you that way. 

If you’ve been experiencing any problems with bending or lifting, chronic back soreness, or any other issues hindering your movement, give us a call, we would love to be able to help you get back to being Active for Life!