At MobilityWod KStar talks about the common faults he sees in athletes, and specifically, open and closed torque.
When we perform push ups or heave the barbell, we are able to create a tremendous amount of torque, or torsion force.
KStar refreshes our memory by referencing ’snapping’ the bar on the bench press or pushing the knees wide during squats. This external rotation of our hips and shoulders is what creates torque: Stabilizing our joints and enabling our big muscles to move bone.
The floor and barbell is a solid plain upon which we can APPLY torque. When you are pushing against a wall, its easy to wind your shoulder back and externally rotate. It’s easy to squeeze your shoulder blades together when you are benching a bar. But what happens when you are using dumbbells or rings or only using 1 leg or arm?
In these situations, there is no stable surface to help us generate torque. We have to create torsion force without a floor or a barbell (which is essentially a wall). KStar mentions that this is why he sees a lot of coaches use single leg work and kettlebells. Where a joint’s dysfunction can be masked during barbell lifts, nobody’s shitty movement pattern can hide from gymnastics rings.
(Floor and barbell work is called a closed torque system, while the dumbbell, ring stuff is called open torque.)
By adding dumbbells, rings, single-leg step-ups, and twin kettlebells to your workouts, you can teach your hips and shoulders to create torque even without a floor or stabilizing barbell. It’s self correcting.
To diagnose one’s ability to create torque in an open system, KStar recommends the Leopard Test. For max reps, perform overhead squats with either KBs or dumbbells while maintaining good form. For men he said the standard is 53# KBs. (Hozz started with 10# dumbbells and then moved up the ladder.)
As you can see with Hozz, his shoulders look good but his right leg is a little off.
Hozz and Rico will incorporate more rings and dumbbells into their workouts. And so should you.
Filed under: Hozz, Kettle Bells, Overhead squat
