From: Paul Chek Subject: Dangers / risks of the behind the head Pulldown Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 06:19:32 -0400 Behind the head Lat Pull Downs are very damaging to the anterior capsule of the glenohumeral joint. This is because of the following reasons: 1. Most Lat Pull machines are not designed with sufficient ergonomics to allow optimal body positioning to do the exercise. Because you generally can't get close enough to the machine to have the cable hang over T1, the resulting compensation is a forward lean of the trunk, which places excessive stress on the shoulder joint in external rotation and horizontal abduction (the exact position which loads the weakest portion of the shoulder joint capsule). Repeated exposure under load will lead to glenohumeral joint laxity, which can be career threatening if you are an athlete. 2. To prevent bashing your head with the bar, it is common to protrude the head forward into a forward head posture. This causes excessive stress on the cervical spine because of the force transmission through the elevators and stabilizers of the shoulder girdle that are very active during this exercise (see below). 3. The Levator Scapulae is a very important and complex muscle which provides rotation and frontal plane stabilization to the cervical spine and inferiorly rotates the glenohumeral joint. When performing the typical behind head lat pull, the levator scapulii are heavily recruited to inferiorly rotate the glenohumeral joint. Because the loads are often very high (far too high for most people based on body language fit for someone being electrocuted) the levator scapulii are recruited to the point of strain, resulting in neck pain and lost range of motion in the cervical spine. 4. Beside wearing the neck and shoulder out, the exercise promotes bad motor patterning, as it promotes forward head posture. As I say in my seminars, I have never seen a single primate climb anything and pull it behind their head??? This is a non-physiological exercise and should be used as little as possible and only with perfect positioning. The reason your weight went down so much is most likely because you were using so much trunk and hip flexor to accelerate the bar behind your head. When you try to pull it in front of your head you can not activate your flexors nearly as much or you will leave a dent in your head! There are many exercises in the gym that are very hazardous to the body. Sincerely, Paul Chek MSS, HHP, NMT PAUL CHEK SEMINARS 1-800-552-8789 International 619-551-8789 New Zealand 0800-346-346 Australia 64-9-478-2111 = www.paulchekseminars.com --------------------------- From: Jerry Connelly Subject: Dangers / associated risks of the behind the head Lat. Pulldown Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 08:44:17 -0400 Paul, I disagree that the B/N Lat pull is inherently bad, but it's the application of it that makes it bad. If you watch someone perform the exercise as the bar nears the base of the neck, the elbows always seem to drift backwards...this is what places the excessive anterior stress on the shoulder. If the person were taught to do it properly, by focusing on bringing the elbows in towards their sides, and not just pull the bar down, you would see to things happen...one of course is that the arms would continue throught the same plane of motion and not drift posteriorly...second is that most would not be able to bring it all the way to the base of the neck...most people can only bring it to the level of about C1 or higher...only those with very good shoulder flexibilty can maintain the proper motion all the way down. Sayiong this exercise is "bad" bothers me in that it's like the school of people who say squats are bad or full squats are bad without really looking into what is bad...the exercise or the exercisee. Others will argue it has no place in sport or no application, like the B/N Press, shouting "no sport movement requires this motion"... Well, how about a gymnast doing back handsprings or press up on the rings or parallel bars. These motions do more than we see...they are important for scapular movement and strengthing those muscles. It's the same as the full squat, we may not be able to directly see a deliberate application, but througout a sport, we will find these odd or "bad" exercises a necessary part of preperation or even rehabilitation Jerry Connelly, MEd, ATC, CSCS Performance Zone Web Page http://weightlift.com/ East Coast Gold Olympic Weightlifting Team http://weightlift.com/ecg JerryATC@weightlift.com From: Paul Chek Subject: Behind Head Lat Pull Down Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 07:29:14 -0400 Jerry, I am sorry to read that my post regarding the Behind Head Lat Pull (BHLP) bothered you. My post is based on extensive clinical experience in the fields of orthopedic rehabilitation and strength coaching. My reasons for not using the exercises (as posted) are not of personal bias. The reasoning is very well explained in my video titled "Controversy and Current Concepts of Pulling Exercise." The video has been reviewed by many elite strength training and rehab experts with no rebuttal. The information given in my post is clinically sound! Anyone who has attended my seminar titled "Scientific Back Training" will tell you that I present many viable reasons to abandon the exercise, including slides showing that most LPD machines are not ergonomic ally designed to support the exercise. Are you being dogmatic because you like the exercise? Have you seen the average gym goers form when doing this exercise? Are you aware that the BHLP was banned by the US Air force Academy? My reasons are well founded, I assure you. This is not a personal bitch. I don't make a living consulting pro teams and manufacturers on personal beliefs I can't back, or I would never get hired. In regards to the Deep Squat issue, you are singing to the quire! I have been lecturing on the benefits of this exercise all over the world for quite some time. Do a literature search on anterior shoulder instability and see what you find in the Journals. If you need, I can give you references when I get home to my office. I am teaching, consultant filming in New Zealand at present. Sincerely, Paul Chek www.paulchekseminars.com