The Kettlebell Snatch - for Shoulder REHAB? - PART 2 (And the tight hip flexor conundrum)

“Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells”
https://salutis.kartra.com/page/systematic-core-training
“The Sore Joint Solution”
https://go.chasingstrength.com/sore-joint-solution-e/
Your hips are vitally important because they help you create the “hinge” necessary for all modern kettlebell training.
The hinge is used in:
Swings
Cleans
Snatches
Deadlifts
High Pulls
… And all variations both single and double.
Remember, in KB lifting -
“The hips DRIVE, and the arms GUIDE.”
So you can see that without proper, healthy, and normal hip function, you’re not really going to be successful with your KB training.
And in most cases, faulty hip function creates / causes lower back pain.
The glutes don’t work, so the lower back takes the brunt of the work - which it’s not supposed to do.
Why do the hips fail to work?
Well, it’s obvious -
Tight Hip Flexors!
(We’ve all known that since about 2002, right?)
… Or so the theory goes, anyway.
Simply stretch your hip flexors and you will magically unlock your glutes!
And Voila! Hey Presto!
You’ll be able to use your hips again!
YAYYYYYYYYY!
If you detect more than a hint of sarcasm here, you are correct.
Yes, stretching tight hip flexors “works.”
Until it doesn’t.
See, I too thought, taught, advocated and espoused the stretching - actively, dynamically, and even passively - the hip flexors.
I even got a True Stretch Cage so I could stretch mine and have my clients stretch theirs in all three dimensions - 3D - the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes.
In fact, I was going to write a book on it and create a training course about it because I thought it was “The Secret” to unlocking all the ills stored in the body. (This was about 2004.)
(A Stretch Cage, but not with me in it.)
Problem was, although it felt great to “unlock” our hip flexors, they always seemed to lock back up.
This culminated in me tearing the labrum in my right hip in January of 2005 and the labrum in my left hip in September 2005.
So why doesn’t stretching your hip flexors work in the Long Run?
Simple.
Tight hip flexors are a SYMPTOM of a dysfunctional deep core musculature.
Your body can no longer stabilize your spine and pelvis correctly by creating the appropriate amount of Intra-Abdominal Pressure (IAP)…
So creates compensatory movement - dysfunctional movement patterns instead to do the best it can.
It uses the hip flexors - the psoas, iliacus, and rectus femoris - to do that job.
And as a result, they remain chronically tight.
And through a process called “reciprocal inhibition” - when the muscles on one side of a joint contract, the muscles on the opposite side relax…
Your tight hip flexors create relaxed hip extensors - your glutes.
As your hip flexors remain tight, they tend to pull your pelvis forward and down (think tipping a pail forward so the water inside pours out).
This puts your glutes on near-permanent stretch, which then “disconnects” your muscles from your brain causing “gluteal amnesia” - a form of “sensoriomotor amnesia.”
Now you’re lower back and hamstrings get tight as a result.
This making sense so far?
Again, stretching your hip flexors addresses the symptom of the problem, but doesn’t fix the problem.
So how do you fix the problem?
You FIX YOUR CORE DYSFUNCTION.
That’s one of the reasons I think @Denys is seeing results with his hip and back.
It appears he’s simultaneously restoring his core function and training his Snatch.
And the two are providing a powerful one-two punch restoration combination.
If you have unresolved hip and lower back issues, go see your doc or medical professional and get a clear diagnosis if you haven’t already.
Then, get on a restoration plan.
Obviously I’m biased, but I recommend Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells like @Denys is using.
It’s great for muscular dysfunction.
You might be wondering what the difference is between that and The Sore Joint Solution and which is better for you.
Both are born of the same philosophy, but I recommend you use The Sore Joint Solution instead of Systematic Core Training For Kettlebells if -
[+] You have actual joint damage, like I did
[+] You’ve had joint reconstruction surgery
[+] You’ve had a muscle tear and / or surgery (think rotator cuff surgery)
[+] You’ve had or been in chronic pain for a long time and the doc says there’s nothing he/she can do about it other than give you steroids / shots
(I hesitate to put that last one in there - chronic pain is such dark territory dependent on so many different things… Yet, I had chronic pain for 25 years in both knees and now I don’t… So there’s always hope…)