Range Of Motion
My range of motion has come a long way the past 6 months in terms of perfecting my technique. Prior I was performing my squats aiming for my ass to hit the grass and sending Romanian Deadlifts down to my ankles. After a while my hips joints were in agony, to the point where exercise hurt me and I ached even when walking!
While a very deep range of motion provides a decent stretch in the eccentric phase, it actually isn’t completely necessary. Squatting to parallel and performing a RDL to your knees is still considered a full ROM. It also becomes safer to perform the movement under heavier load if your goal is to gain strength. Neither method is wrong but rather needs to be adjusted to individual circumstances. This is because:
An excessively deep ROM can create unnecessary stress on your joints.
This being said, a deeper range of motion can generally be performed with more ease if you’re in your 20’s as your joints can allow it. However 30 and over will create too much wear and tear and do more harm than good in the long term.
Even if you are in your 20’s, you’re not completely invincible. If under a heavy load in a deep ROM you lose concentration or control of the movement for even a split second, there is a significant risk of injury.
I myself am in my 20’s though, 21 actually, and I’m already being careful with my ROM. The other factor here is injury. Any weakness of the knee joint or impingement of the hip joints can be severely inflamed by an excessive range of motion, as is the case with my grandma hips!
After working with Jarrod Brown over at Evolve Performance Method, we discovered that the way my hips were positioned meant I potentially had Femoral Acetabulum Impingement (FAI.) Any excessive range of movement putting my hips in a deep, abducted position, caused the bone to grind, resulting in inflammation and pain.
We got to work straight away, focusing on:
Proper glute activation prior to training
Increasing the strength of my glutes and hamstrings (I was very quad dominant) to improve the positioning on my femoral head in the joint
Perfecting my ROM and tweaking my exercise execution
After 1 month any lingering pain and stiffness had significantly decreased! 8 months later, proper activation and being mindful of my ROM is part of my daily routine.
This work was extremely important to protect my future of weight training, where years of wear and tear could have forced me to stop by my 30’s. This is a lifestyle I want to maintain for my whole life, further more, the same pair of hips have to last me the duration of my life, and it is so important we think about the long term effects of how we’re training. Not just to have a dream body for a year or two, but to prepare you for a long and happy life with optimal health!
Look after your joints. Look after your body. It’s the only home you have to live in!
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to leave a comment or share! It really does go a long way!
Mel xx