What if I told you that forwards was backwards?

You are probably confused with that statement and/or thinking I have totally lost my mind.

Check this out.

While standing, feel where the most pressure is located in the bottom of your feet.

Now take a step or two forward.

Did you feel that point move?

You probably felt that point move forward as you pushed off.

Now take a step backwards.

Assuming you didn’t just stumble backwards, you probably felt that pressure also move forward towards your toes.

That’s kind of interesting (at least to me).

We can move backwards but we still use forward mechanics in the pelvis and torso to do so.

The body is designed to move forward efficiently. This is fantastic for us as our eyes are in the front of our head. Seeing where we move the fastest seems like the best situation.

The only issue is we can optimize forward movement so much that we begin to lose the ability to move sideways or up, and down.

Ever see the person with “military” posture? The person has their chest pushed forward. Their upper spine is very flat. Shoulder blades pulled together.

We are taught that is optimal posture.

But that’s usually not optimal for movement or health.

This type of person has a center of gravity that is pushed quite far forward. They have a lot of muscles on all the time stopping them from falling on their face (tight hamstrings, hip flexors, back).

Some of the fastest people in the world also are the people with their center of mass forward. This isn’t a bad thing until it gets to be too much. For some it may be helpful to manage your center of gravity by choosing better exercises in the gym.

Bike riders need to be able to get in certain positions. If your body is really tight because of this forward shift, you may not be able to ever get in those positions on the bike.

Why this concept matters to you

This week one of my online coaching clients was asking me why we do so many exercise while reaching arms forward.

The client is an adult with an adult job that requires a lot of sitting with hands on a computer keyboard.

Typical thought is to counteract that in the gym by doing pulling exercises.

Often times the common recommendation is to do 2 times the amount of pulling as you do pressing.

Back when I owned a gym that worked with many people, I subscribed to this idea.

A lot of my programs had a lot of band pull-aparts and Y’s, T’s, W’s in the warm up. I programmed a lot of rows in various positions. All of this because I was told that we had to build stronger low trap muscles to help stabilize the shoulders.

Well, this seemed to create more shoulder problems then it solved.

Forward to go back

Picture this—stand up, feel that pressure point in the bottom of your feet again. Now reach your arms forward as far as you can. You should have felt that pressure in your feet move BACK.

When we pull an object towards us we shift our weight FORWARD.

So for many people that are already have their center of mass forward, doing more rows and pulling yourself more forward doesn’t make a ton of sense if you’re trying to re-establish movement.

By reaching arms in front of you, you bias more weight forward. Your body will naturally counteract this by shifting back.

We can use this concept to help us feel and move better.

Ever notice that a squat with a barbell in the front rack position allows you to squat deeper than a weight on your back?

Putting this into practice

If you are a person that considers themselves as not mobile. You feel tight throughout your body. Try adding in more activities where you counterbalance yourself backwards.

Squats and Lunges with a weight in goblet position or small dumbbells reached straight out work well for remaining more upright. You may feel that you finally take the demand off your low back and feel your legs doing more work.

Core exercises are a great place to practice reaching. If you plank, don’t just passively hover with your shoulder blades together. Reach your arms long and hands away from your body. I love exercise like reverse crawling as your arms are constantly pushing the ground and moving your body back while hips are flexed (rotate the person 90 degrees and it resembles the position we use to pedal our bikes).

Single arm dumbbell rows can be made better by reaching your planted hand as you row. Instead of being a limp noodle, reach your down arm into a bench. This will turn on serratus and oblique muscles to shift your center of gravity back as you row the other arm.

Wrapping up

This concept of shifting your center of mass backwards might help you unlock some better movement on the bike.

Instead of stretching tight muscles, try giving them an opportunity to finally relax by shifting back to re-establish better movement.

You may find that you begin to feel and ride better.