Active Leg Raise

  FMS (Functional Movement Screen) is spreading and that's a great thing. I'm hoping it spreads faster and further than Cross Fit and other "Kill Me Now! I Will Learn Later!" training systems. If you are a trainer unfamiliar with FMS, it's probably a good idea to familiarize yourself with it. Here's the link - FMS

  One exercise I find very beneficial is the active leg raise. This is especially helpful if there is something wrong with the force-couple relationship of muscles controlling the pelvic tilt. Specifically I am referring to the abdominal muscles, hip extensor muscles, hip flexor muscles and back extensor muscles. The abdominals, pull up on the anterior pelvis and hip extensor muscles, pull down on the posterior pelvis. They work in a force couple relationship to tilt the the pelvis posteriorly, and when optimal will "flatten" the lumbar spine. On the opposite side, the hip flexors pull downward on the anterior pelvis and the lumbar spine extensors pull up on the posterior pelvis.

 Here is the breakdown of the testing according to ACA (American Chiropractic Association)
http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=4584

 When these force couple relationships are not optimal, it is easy to develop bad postures such as sway back and lordosis, and to create dominant issues with improper muscle groups. Also this enforces unstable low back and pelvis (which is where a majority of low back pain begins and is only worsened by "over-stretching" the problem). It is essential to gain a good force couple relationship within the muscles supporting the pelvis. Weakened abdominals, gluteus muscles and over dominant hamstrings are the common problems.

 A very efficient and easy way to get back on the right track and enforce proper muscle balance is using the active leg raise assessment and exercise. The proper way to do active leg raises has been made popular through FMS. Adding to the great exercise Gray Cook popularized, Shirley Sahrmann emphasizes very strong points about the exercise. "Straight-leg raising in the supine position requires the synergy of the abdominal and the contralateral hip extensor muscles to counteract the pelvic anterior tilting action of the hip flexor muscles..."(Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, Sahrmann 2002 )

 With weak abs a person will use his contralateral hip extensor muscles to stabilize the pelvis (essentially lack of lumbo-pelvic stability). To eliminate this faulty dominance and begin activating abdominals properly, Sahrmann describes reducing of hip extension in the contralateral hip (meaning the leg opposite of the raised leg). I think FMS does a good job of reinforcing this idea by placing small board underneath the knee on the side of the contralateral hip extensors. I think a towel will do just fine for this. The idea is to keep the extensors from exerting too much pressure into the floor and creating pelvic stability (when the abdominals should be).

 A great assessment and a much needed exercise.