By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
A common postural deficit among males
who weight-train on a consistent basis, and especially among those
who aggressively train the bench press, is habitually protracted
shoulders coupled with internally rotated arms. This so-called "gorilla
posture" doesn't just look bad- it also increases the risk
of training-related injury.
A great way to visualize and understand
the posture I'm describing is to look at someone wearing a "bench
shirt" during a powerlifting meet. These shirts- made of super-tough
materials and worn so tight they often require 1-2 helpers to put
it on, "oppose" the action of the pectoralis major as
you lower the bar to your chest. This is why, when standing relaxed,
the wearer is pulled into an exaggerated version of the posture
I've described above:
Notice the extremely protracted shoulders
and (harder to see in this photo) internally-rotated arms. This
is the opposite of healthy, functional posture. In fact,
if you wore this shirt 24-hours a day for about 3 months, you'd
end up with shortened pecs, internally-rotated arms, and stretched
out rhomboids & trap fibers.
Now as you might imagine, when you're
wearing one of these shirts, it's absolutely impossible to raise
your arms over your head. Which gives you a clue to the functional
deficits you'll experience when you've got gorilla posture.
The commonly prescribed solution to
this problem comes straight from the exercise community- the doorway
stretch, shown below:
Why do I say the doorway stretch comes
from the exerciser community? Because it's painful and boring all
at the same time. For all intents and purposes, it's a form of punishment-
you've been a bad boy spending all that time bench pressing, and
now you've gotta pay the price. While your buddies are having fun
lifting heavy weights, you're in the naughty chair doing a boring-ass
pec stretch.
Well, aside from the philosophical
issues I have with the doorway stretch (and all stretches in fact),
I also have physiological issues with the way most people try to
lengthen their muscles. The problem with static stretches is that
they're passive, and passivity has poor transfer to activity.
In other words, if you want to improve your range of motion during
active movements (and all movement is "active"), you can't
use passive stretching methods to get there.
Think about that doorway stretch again.
Yes, it's "active" in the sense that you're actively leaning
into the doorway (or against a wall) to create the stretch tension,
but as far as the pec is concerned, it's passive- a stretch is being
imposed upon it by an outside force. It's really the same as if
a partner was administering the stretch to you.
Now let's look at what
I consider to be a better way- the overhead squat. This is an active
stretch of the pectoralis major. It requires dynamic external rotation
of the humerus along with active retraction and depression of the
scapulae as you squat. It also strengthens the deltoids and triceps,
not to mention the entire lower body and core.
As you descend into the overhead
squat, the motor cortex must actively adjust the pecs' length
to accommodate the movement. This is done via a variety of
neurological functions, including inter-muscular coordination
between the pec, its synergists, and stabilizers. In other
words, your muscles have to do something, as opposed
to having something done to them.
To perform the overhead squat,
simply take a wide grip on the bar (start with a wood dowel
initially) extend it overhead, and squat. If you've got flexibility
issues, you'll notice a tendency for the bar to drift forward
as you squat. If this happens, limit the depth of the squat
until your range of motion improves. Over time, you'll develop
the ability to overhead-squat impressive weights to a below-parallel
squat position. Use caution and progress gradually- short
muscles don't lengthen overnight. Athletic maturity is expressed
as the ability to delay immediate gratification for the sake
of long-term gain.
If you've never tried this lift, have
a look at the video below, and post your questions using the link
provided below the video!
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About The Author
His colleagues call him an iconoclast,
a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The
Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches
miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled
in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’
methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious
results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing
demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY
Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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