“Fold Over” – One of My Favorite Cues For Hip Dominant Exercises

I have talked on my blog numerous times about the importance of keeping a neutral spine, especially during heavy lifting.  Not only is a neutral spine position more likely to keep you injury free, but it will also help you produce a more efficient and stable movement pattern.

So today I want to give you one of my favorite cues for helping yourself and/or others correct a common mistake that often occurs during hip dominant movements (deadlifts, RDLs, hip thrusts, kettlebell swings, box squats, etc.).

When you are performing a hip dominant movement, the motion should be coming from your hips and knees with little to no motion in your core.  I always like to tell people that you should be rock solid from your hip to your shoulder.

As you begin to descend into the movement your trunk will often lean slightly forward as the butt moves backwards.  What often happens is that people are afraid of this forward trunk lean, so they arch their back in an attempt to stay more upright.  As we discussed in a previous post, this arched back posture decreases the effectiveness of your abs, which is not good.

So one of my favorite cues for a hip dominant movement is simply “fold over”.  Again, so many people like to stay really upright when they push their butt back, but this will cause them to arch their back or tip over.  You must keep your shoulders over the middle of your foot for good balance and stability.

Here is a video where I go over this mistake and cue in more detail:

Hope that is helpful. Make sure to let me know in the comments if there are other patterns or movements you are struggling with, and/or would like me to cover in a post.

Have a great week!