Quake3World

andyman wrote:some from last week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YzeXx99jng

feedback wrote:I have tracked my meals for 25 days straight.

LawL wrote:

andyman wrote:some from last week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YzeXx99jng

No vid.

andyman wrote:testing the new gopro. max snatch tomorrow, too.

https://vimeo.com/56876943

andyman wrote:can't tell if serious...

[xeno]Julios wrote:that's why you maintain a rigid spine by keeping your spinal erector muscles contracted and your abs really tight.

Maintaining this position while undergoing extreme shearing forces is precisely what builds strong fucking backs. This is why people deadlift - to build strong fucking backs so that they can do things like snatches safely and efficiently.

andyman wrote:oh lol catching the weight on my legs, i can't even feel it. The bar is going straight down as well, which puts little strain on my back. If it hurt my back, I wouldn't do it

my back is purty strong these days

plained wrote: shearing forces on your spine does not make a stnog fucking back

That funny shit tho ey im glad youll never be engineering anything for anybody lol

The conventional wisdom holds that a more vertical torso is better for both squats and deadlifts (the conventional wisdom, being very conventional after all, does not much concern itself with cleans and snatches, but they are often taught this way too). The supposed benefit of a vertical torso is a reduction in shear force on the spine. Shear is the sliding-across strain that results from the stress of rotation along the back at non-vertical angles, and increases with horizontality. Shearing would be the sliding movement between adjacent vertebrae were the back muscles, the spinal ligaments and tendons, and the anatomical overlap of the vertebral bones themselves to fail in their job of holding their position. The rigidity of the spinal column is maintained by the erectors and trunk muscles in isometric contraction, and the back angle is maintained by the hip extensors. If the trunk muscles and erectors do their anatomically correct and important job of preventing intervertebral movement, or any change in the spatial relationship between each of the vertebrae, shearing cannot take place. So, when rotational stress is successfully overcome by the trunk muscles, shearing does not take place. Actually, really and truly, when the back muscles fail to do their job, shearing does not take place. The force of rotation overcomes the ability of the trunk muscles to maintain spinal extension, so when the back rounds during a squat or pull the intervertebral movement will occur as spinal flexion. The intervertebral space opens in the back and closes in the front, and the net movement has occurred around the center of the disc space. This is not particularly good for the discs, but the fact is that many heavy deadlifts have been pulled with a lot of spinal flexion and the lifter walked away tired but uninjured. Actual shearing can only take place if there is a (usually) congenital spondylolysthesis, or if you have a bad car wreck with your seat belt on.

So the maintenance of intervertebral stability is the job of the trunk musculature, and heavy squats and deadlifts are effective back muscle exercises because no other exercises, and certainly no machine, can duplicate this function. The conventional exercise certification industry’s call for more verticality in squat and deadlift technique ignores this fact. And this is why the stress on the back produced by the first lever arm is a useful part of the exercise.