Underlying, perhaps fundamental, weakness in my body; exciting!

[Kit_L]

As many here know, I have had a long-standing R leg upper-hamstring, 'lower underbutt' problem for years. This has been exacerbated by all the sitting and writing I have done over many, many years. 

 

Miss O and I have been sieging the SLS, concentrating on negatives and assisted positives from a trestle of about 700mm height. The "assistance" exercises we have been doing following these workouts (3–5 sets of as many reps as possible; today 10 on my weaker leg) are weighted speed skater squats (two legged version) and for me, Bret Contreras's glute ham raise (today, 15 reps with 60Kg). The latter exercise works glutes, mainly, in their strong ROM.

 

But following the two-leg SSS, the last two workouts we have added a single-leg version. The way we do it is to stand next to the seat of a heavy wood chair and to maintain contact with the vertical shin, and the action is achieved by the hips only going back and down. Also, we make sure the non-working leg does not press against the working leg, nor move backwards; the former helping stabilisation; the latter reducing the load. Once the full depth has been achieved, the hip height and knee angle both are maintained; the only muscles that can be used to lift the trunk and shoulders are the glute and hamstrings on that side.

 

Today, the weakness on the R side was clearly experienced: I could only manage four unweighted reps on the R side (yet my R leg is significantly stronger than the left, due to a significant LLD) and during the positive of one rep, I felt a spiralling sensation run down from the sore spot to the outer calf, via biceps femoris. This was not a pain, but simply a very strong sensation. I did 2 x 4 reps only in all (remember this is second-last exercise in the session, and I had been pushing towards failure on all exercises beforehand) but even so, the actual load was relatively small. To illustrate, last week I did the same exercise (but the two-legged version) 10 x 20Kg. The differences in the two exercise's demands on the body are very different though.

 

The two-leg version is completely stable and (just like the two-leg squat) is a zero balancing challenge. The single-leg version, where one half of the muscles in the hips and legs can be used at any time, requires a non-trivial balancing component which requires co-contractions of many more muscles; the exercise is 3–4 times as hard, perceptually. On the other hand, better form can be achieved because all the muscles of the trunk can work together to 'stick the butt out' (which exposes the problem area and makes both the glute and biceps femoris do all the work, rather than the lower back). I felt today that it's the co-contraction component which is the gold. 

 

Following the GH raises, I stretched out the hamstrings with the Elephant walk: something has changed, and the sore spot, while still sore, was permitting more movement. I will report back on this over time, but if anyone else here with pike–pancake–underbutt problems can try this exercises and report back 1) their experiences, 2) the sensations they feel, and 3) any L–R strength differences experienced, we might learn something.

[SwissDanny]

Happy to try this out, as you know SLS is one of my goats, and my left leg works (or rather doesnt) totally differently from my right one.  But a short clip of the movement would be most helpful; if I understand correctly it basically an single squat lifting one foot and keeping the shin of the planted foot vertical, keeping the torso vertical as poss on the way down and therefore not couterbalancing with the free leg?

[Kit_L]

SD, no; the exercise is 100% glute–hamstring on the working leg.

 

It is a Romanian bent-leg dead-lift on one leg, in other words, and no counterbalancing with the non-working leg (and don't press the thighs together either; the body is SO sneaky!). Counterbalancing happens when the non-working leg is taken out behind. Keep it near the working leg, but not touching it. Only one leg–hip–whole trunk is working.

 

The seat of the chair in front of the shin is only to stop the lower leg moving forwards; this means that the hips have to move backwards, as the trunk (lower back slightly arched) pivots on the hip joint (and the knee of the supporting–working leg has to bend too, for this to happen). But as soon as full hip depth is achieved, the knee angle is then fixed, and all the movement happens around the hip joint.

 

Try it with no weight first; it's intense. I might be able to shoot a little clip, but tomorrow – too sore today!

[Kit_L]

Repeated the SLS sequence documented in my Play Log yesterday with Miss O, using the 700mm heigh trestle.

 

Negatives – hold bottom position with straight leg held as high as possible – put that leg on the floor and kick assist back to top position.

 

3 x 5; not feeling strong today, but the movement is feeling less unnatural.

 

And the single leg SSS done strictly: vertical shin held in position by edge of seat of weighted wooden chair. 5 x 5 reps, unweighted, shoulders just below hips in deepest position. Deep sensations in the problem area, but getting stronger. Perceptually, it is remarkable how hard it is to really feel the foot as you work in this position: the sensation coming from the "underbutt" area is truly intense.

 

Did some over-bolster front splits to try to gently work the area (as someone suggested on another thread); the sensations in the problem area are changing, but too soon to tell if heading in the desired direction. I do, however, have the sense that strengthening this area the way I am doing it is a real solution.

[Cooper]

These exercises seem interesting, although im a bit confused at all the acronyms you are using, what do you mean by SLS, SSS and LLD?

[Francesco]

@coops, single leg squat (aka pistol), speed skater squat, leg length difference