Spinal issues and health - good read

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/270spine.jsp

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/271spine.jsp

I liked those articles too. In fact, I bought a copy of his book. After I’ve tried his ab exercises for a few weeks I’ll let everyone know what I think of his approach.

i don’t know if anyone was at the can-fit pro confrence over the weekend but he was in attendance.

chek- had some interesting comments about him

I’m sure McGill has some interesting comments about Chek. I’m less impressed by Chek than I used to be. This is not to say he doesn’t have some interesting ideas, but I don’t consider him THE core guru. I think a lot of McGill’s ideas are in line with the observations of the Eastern Eurpoeans and the late Mel Siff.

Without a doubt, ab training is one of the most controversial areas of training.

If anyone is interested, here’s an article by McGill outlining the basics of his approach.

http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~mcgill/fitnessleadersguide.pdf

Thanks Flash

I am convinced that a greater percentage of Back trouble is related to tight hip flexors and the resulting tension on the pelvus rather than weak muscles…

Why jump to weight-training straight away?

Let me explain … it may sound like a slight contradication - but what I mean is that I feel the emphasis should be more on developing hip flexibility (and any other muscles that are affecting the pelvic area… ) rather than so much emphasis on strengthening exercises for abs and lower back etc…

Develop good posture by relaxing muscles, stretching them and releasing the tension on the pelvic area - rather than creating tension somewhere else to balance out the original muscular tension …but again that’s just my opinion and until I can run a properly controlled test or experiment … it’ll remain just my opinion!

Flexibility First - then strengthening …

Comments?

I agree. A lot of muscle “weakness” is really the result of chronic spasm, which prevents the muscle from functioning properly. Regarding tight hip flexors and back pain, Ian King has been making that point for several years.