If you “draw in” and try to maintain that hollow-belly/posterior-pelvic-tilt position (as demonstrated in Seagrave’s tapes) it restricts your shoulder range of motion during the arm swing. I know because Charlie used me to demonstrate this point at a seminar. Pioneer and Primo were there, so they can back me up on this point. Once you feel the difference, you become a believer. Like Bruce Lee used to say, “To hear is to be lied to, to see it to be deceived, but to feel is to believe.”
Excellent post Flash.
>>>If you “draw in” and try to maintain that hollow-belly/posterior-pelvic-tilt position (as demonstrated in Seagrave’s tapes) it restricts your shoulder range of motion during the arm swing.<<<
Flash,
Would you mind going into this a bit more? Specifically why it restricts the ROM? Or maybe a practical example?
Also, that is an awesome quote you gave! I have used it in the past and athletes/coaches love it!
all the best,
Jeremy
Contracting the TVA or hollowing the abdominals pulls the thoracolumbar fascia taunt across the low back. This fascia also networks itself into the fascia of the latisimus dorsi, glute medius and maximus and external oblique to name a few. If the TLF is taunt the other connecting fascia will become taunt as well. If there is existing adhesions, scar tissue or tightness to the surrounding fascia and muscles their contractability and length will be comprismised. To sprint and stay relaxed their must be a slight rotation of the torso and pelvis. Contracting your TVA will lock your pelvis and trunk together and you’ll run like a robot. For example, try to do an explosive one-arm dumbbell row without moving your trunk. Full, powerful flexion and extension of the shoulder and hip joint cannot be achieved if the the fascia is tight and/or the muscles cannot contract fully. There will be compensatory changes which may lead to further shortening and injury down the road.
The test is simple. Have someone stand with his arm in front of him with a 90 degree elbow angle and a fist. Have him hold the thin tummy posture and then quickly jerk down on his arm by pushing the fist. Watch the arm motion/snap back. Then try the same thing with the athlete in a more relaxed posture.
Are you not just eliciting a stretch shortening response from the muscles you’ve pushed down on?
Yes. The forward snap back of the arm during the arm swing while sprinting is largely from the stretch reflex. The key point from the test is the difference in range of motion.
You can do the same thing with a squat assessment. Perform a squat with a partner where you squat down and your partner pushes you down manually as you try to squat back up. Perform one test while “drawing-in” and perform one where you relax the abdomen. The relaxed version will dominate every single time and you will notice some serious differences in stability and strength.
Siff pretty much debunked the TVA “drawing in” stuff for athletes on the Supertraining Yahoo group. If you want to know more, go and dig in the archives there. In an interview, McGill, the spine guru from Canada, also laughs at those who think that drawing in is the proper way to do things for rehab.
There are a lot of people who recommend drawing in during activity. Mark Verstegan is one, Paul Chek is another, Scott Sonnon, the Clubbell and Russian Martial Arts guy does too. I am sure there are reasons behind it, but to me those reasons weren’t very compelling. I am not even
Now, when Siff showed pictures of the worlds best Olympic lifters and Powerlifters lifting, not a single one of them had a drawn in TVA when performing their lifts.
I did have a friend who had damaged his back, and the whole drawing in the TVA thing was what he swore by.
I, personally, don’t draw in the TVA while lifting. I don’t puff out my stomach like Louie Simmons recommends either, but I do tighten the entire midsection.