The posterior chain is a group of muscles on the posterior of the body. Examples of these muscles include the hamstrings, the gluteus maximus, erector spinae muscle group, trapezius, and posterior deltoids.
Exercises
The primary exercises for developing the posterior chain are the Olympic lifts, squats, good-mornings, bent-over rows, deadlifts, pull-ups and hyperextensions. The common denominator among many of these movements is a focus on hip extension, excluding bent-over rows and pull ups. Working on hamstrings is also important.
걷기나 일상생활을 할 때는 대부분 앞쪽 근육을 많이 사용하게 된다. 또 눈에 잘 보이기 때문에 앞쪽 근육에만 집중해서 운동하는 경향이 있다. 하지만 후면사슬을 등한시하면 안 된다. 후면사슬은 잘 보이지 않지만 몸 전체의 움직임에 직접적으로 관여하기 때문이다.
후면사슬이란?
신체를 움직이게 하는 다양한 근육은 부위마다 서로 연결되어 있으며 이 형태를 ‘사슬’이라고 한다. 후면사슬은 등 하부, 대둔근, 햄스트링, 종아리 등 뒷목부터 아킬레스건까지 연결된 큰 근육들을 말한다. 우리 몸 전체에 360개 관절이 있는데 그중 138개 관절을 담당하는 후면사슬은 척추의 안정성과 더불어 체중을 지지해주며, 운동을 수행할 때 폭발적인 힘을 지원해준다. 이번 호에서는 후면사슬 중 견갑골에 크게 작용하는 운동
후면사슬 트레이닝
싱글 레그 데드리프트
양손에 적당한 무게의 덤벨을 들고 한 발로 선다. 호흡을 마시면서 허리가 일직선이 되도록 가슴부터 천천히 내려간다. 이때 상체가 바닥과 수평이 되도록 복부에 힘을 주며, 시선은 정면에서 45도 아래로 향한다. 일어날 때는 호흡을 내뱉으며 상체의 긴장이 풀리지 않도록 한다. 동작이 수월해졌다면 덤벨 무게를 점차 늘려나간다.
후면사슬 트레이닝
오버헤드 스쿼트
발을 어깨너비로 벌리고 서서 두 손을 머리 위로 든 상태에서 시작한다. 앉았을 때 발끝은 무릎과 같은 방향을 향하도록 한다. 이때 손의 위치는 정수리에 오게 하는 것이 중요하다. 등이 굽거나 휘어지지 않도록 집중해서 동작한다. 운동 효과를 높이고 싶으면 바벨이나 덤벨을 들고 실시하면 된다.
후면사슬 트레이닝
케틀벨 스모데드
적당한 무게의 케틀벨을 들고 발은 어깨너비보다 넓게 벌린 뒤 발끝은 바깥으로 향하게 한다. 상체가 일직선이 되도록 복부와 허리에 긴장을 유지하고 무릎은 발과 같은 방향이 되도록 천천히 앉는다. 이어 복부에 힘을 준 상태에서 발바닥으로 바닥을 강하게 누르면서 일어난다.
8 Exercises to Strengthen Your Posterior Chain
Having a strong posterior chain can help you with everything from daily tasks to lowering your risk for arthritis and bone loss.
Advice to improve your movement, fitness, and overall health from the world's #1 in orthopedics.
The posterior chain comprises the muscles along the back lower half of your body that allow you to do important movements, from getting up off the floor to running to picking up heavy packages (and children). Having a strong posterior chain helps with athletic performance as well as preventing injuries and improving longevity.
When talking about the posterior chain, people are typically referencing the glutes, particularly the glute max muscles, says Mathew Welch, MS, CSCS, ATC, USAW-1, an exercise physiologist at HSS Sports Medicine Institute West Side. The rest of the chain includes the minor glute muscles, hamstrings and calves. Some of the muscles around the back that stabilize the lumbar (lower) spine are also considered part of the chain, Welch says. “A strong posterior chain is important for performance and also for being able to do activities of daily life—like running, jumping, and changing directions as you move."
Strengthening the posterior chain is also important for preventing age-related bone and muscle mass loss, a condition known as sarcopenia, he adds. As you get older, if you don't strength train these muscle groups properly and often enough, you may see even more decline in your muscle mass. “You might also su ccumb to an increased risk for arthritis and other health issues, including injuries,” Welch says.
Lower back pain can also be related to deficiencies in the posterior chain. “The lower back is there for stability and support,” Welch says. “So you have to make sure you're training that to some degree as well.”
Exercises That Strengthen the Posterior Chain
These posterior chain exercises deliver the biggest bang for your buck and are the ones Welch recommends to clients.
Here’s a sample routine he created.
Do each of these exercises 1 to 2 times per week.
Performing 3 to 6 sets of 5 to 10 reps per muscle group per week is a great starting point for most people.
Don’t hold your breath! Focus on breathing deeply, filling your lungs, as you perform each move.
With any of these isolation exercises, start with more reps and lighter weights, or just use your body weight, suggests Welch. You can progressively add weight to these movements over time. “For example, in the glute bridge exercises below, start off holding a dumbbell across your lap, and eventually put a weighted bar across your lap while bridging up,” Welch says.
Deadlifts
These are going to isolate your hamstrings and your glutes.
Start with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, weight distributed evenly between the ball and heel of your foot. Your weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbell) should be on the floor slightly in front of your feet.
Contract your core (imagine someone’s about to punch you in the stomach). Hinge your hips back as if to tap a wall behind you with your butt as your chest and head reach forward. Your gaze should follow this motion to keep your head aligned with your spine. Make sure your ribs stay stacked over your hips and you don’t arch your back.
When you get to the point where you can’t hinge anymore because your hamstrings won’t allow it, bend your knees and keep lowering your body with your hips back until your hands reach the weights sitting on the floor.
Inhale to prepare to lift the weights or bar. Grip the weights in both hands while squeezing your shoulders together and dropping them down your back (imagine there’s a pencil between them that you don’t want to fall). Keep your spine straight.
Exhale and squeeze your glutes to initiate the hips driving up and forward as you stand with the weights in your hands, pressing the ground away from you.
At the top of the stance, the front of your hips should be completely upright and your glutes squeezed, butt fully tucked under, quads tight, core engaged. This is a key step that will protect your back.
Hinge your hips backward, head and chest reaching forward with the weights close to your body as you lower them back down to the ground and repeat.
You could also do deadlift variations with barbells, kettlebells, and machines.
Romanian deadlifts
This is a deadlift with a top-down approach and half the range of motion of a deadlift to really work the glutes.
Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, weight distributed evenly between the ball and heel of your foot. Hold two dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a barbell in your hands in front of your upper thighs.
Contract your core (imagine someone’s about to punch you in the stomach). Hinge your hips backward as if to tap a wall behind you with your butt, as your chest and head reach forward. Your gaze should follow this motion to keep your head aligned with your spine. Make sure your ribs stack over your hips and your back doesn’t arch.
Keep the weights tight against the front of your legs as they move downwards, which will keep your lats engaged and help stabilize the spine. Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
When you get to a point where your hamstrings stop you from going down any further, pause. Do not round your spine to try to get lower.
Exhale as you squeeze your butt and drive your hips forward as you push the ground away from you with your feet. Your pelvis, hips, and shoulders should hinge up as one unit as you return to the starting position.
Glute bridges
Glute bridges are probably the best exercise for building the lower portion of the glute, which helps with hip extension.
Lie down with your back on the floor, knees bent, and feet planted on the floor.
Place a dumbbell across your hips and hold it in place with both hands.
Squeeze your glutes as you press your feet into the floor and drive your hips up into a bridge.
You could also do barbell glute bridges and hip thrust variations on a bench when a simple weighted glute bridge feels easy.
Squats/half squat
If you want to get stronger overall, squatting is a great movement. It works some of the glutes but it’s mostly the quads, the front of the thighs, and the insides of the thighs.
Start standing with weights in each hand, along the sides of your body.
Sit your butt back as you squat down and pause.
Squeeze your glutes as you rise up to standing.
Reverse lunges
These lunges are important for strengthening the gluteus max muscles.
Start off standing and holding a dumbbell in each hand.
Step back with one leg, dropping into a split squat where your knees are both at 90 degrees.
Push off with the back foot to stand up. Your glutes are going to work to pull you out of that stance.
Do one set on one side and then switch for one set.
Seated hamstring curl
At most fitness centers, there'll be a machine where you can do knee extensions for your quads, and then you can put your feet over it and do leg curls for your hamstrings.
That's a great movement for building hamstring strength, Welch says.
Try it at home using a sturdy chair and a resistance band.
Tie the ends of a resistance band to a sturdy object, such as a piece of furniture.
Sit in front of the band on a sturdy chair, 1 to 2’ behind the sturdy object it’s tied to.
Place the loop around only one of your heels and keep your feet together.
Bend your knees to pull your heels back, stopping when you can’t pull any further. Keep knees together the entire time.
Extend your knees to return to starting position.
Complete 5 to 10 reps. Then repeat with the loop on the other leg.
Nordic hamstring curl
This is a good exercise for building specific strength to the hamstrings for sprinting and running, says Welch.
Look for a “Floor Nordic Hamstring” bench at your gym or a “Glute-Ham Developer.” You could also enlist the help of a friend.
Kneel on the floor with your knees on a pad and a friend holding your ankles behind you.
Try to fall forward toward the ground with your hands crisscrossed on your chest
Use your posterior chain muscles to control yourself all the way to the ground and then as you straighten out on the way up.
Modify it: Place a box in front of you if you cannot control your movement all the way down to the floor. Over time, use a smaller box until you can reach the floor with a 4-second lowering tempo.
Calf raises
You could try this seated calf raise, standing calf raise, or do calf raises on a machine at the gym for variations.
Seated calf raise:
Sit in a chair with your right knee bent 90 degrees.
Place your right foot on a 4-inch box, yoga block or book.
Then, hold a kettlebell or dumbbell over your right knee.
Raise your heel up as high as you can, squeezing your lower calf muscle.
Lower your heel under control without letting it touch the ground.
Perform 8-10 reps on each side.
Standing calf raise:
Stand tall with your left toes on the edge of a step with your right hand holding onto something for support.
Hold a weight in your left hand.
Raise your heel up as high as you can, squeezing your calf muscle.
Lower down under control without letting your heel touch the ground.
Hold the stretch position for 2-3 seconds.
Repeat for 5-10 reps and switch sides.
Doing knee calves will target soleus calf muscles (the longer back part of the calf) a little bit more as opposed to standing straight up and doing calf raises on a machine, which is going to target your gastrocnemius muscles (the bulbous, rounder part of the calf).
Day 1
Barbell/Dumbbell Glute Bridge - 3 x 6 (pause at the top portion)
Reverse Lunges - 3 x 6
Nordic Hamstring Curl - 2 x 5 (eccentric/lowering phase only)
Seated Calf Raises - 2 x 10
Note: Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
Day 2 (two to three days after Day 1)
Barbell Deadlift or Barbell/Dumbbell RDL - 3 x 5
Weighted Squat to Bench - 3 x 8
Seated Hamstring Curls - 2 x 8
Standing Calf Raises - 2 x 10
Note: Rest 2-3 minutes between exercises