I just emailed a New Zealand based physical therapist (who shall remain nameless) after reading an article by him about muscle imbalance when squatting and lunging and what can be done- stretches, strengthening etc.
This was his reply what do you think?
'Hi Mathew, for all of these issues it is crucial to avoid Hamstring stretches. The Hamstrings always need to be tight and tight Hamstrings will never cause a flat lower back. A flat lower back is caused by weak Thoracic Para spinals. Tail tucking under early in the squat can be numerous issues, I never recommend squats as an exercise as I believe it is very overrated and the long term effects of squats are miss understood. Squats do not create a good motor pattern for human gait. We squat when getting out of chairs but never under load so there is little relevance. There is more effective means of training hamstrings, Gluteus, Quads, than squats without the huge spinal loading that comes with squats. Flag TVA as a stabilizer, the TVA is a 2 millimeter piece of membrane which main function is assisting with bowel movements. To put it in perspective for you if your Hip Flexors can move 60kg how can a thin area of tissue provide any stability against such force, it cannot. A book for you to purchase is Lower Back Disorders by Dr Stuart McGill. It will provide you with a lot of these answers. Last note flag stretches for you clients. There is no scientific evidence to show there are any benefits to stretching. All research to date is showing negative effects to stretching. The more flexible you are the faster your spine will degenerate. Tight strong muscles protect joints.'
This was his reply what do you think?
'Hi Mathew, for all of these issues it is crucial to avoid Hamstring stretches. The Hamstrings always need to be tight and tight Hamstrings will never cause a flat lower back. A flat lower back is caused by weak Thoracic Para spinals. Tail tucking under early in the squat can be numerous issues, I never recommend squats as an exercise as I believe it is very overrated and the long term effects of squats are miss understood. Squats do not create a good motor pattern for human gait. We squat when getting out of chairs but never under load so there is little relevance. There is more effective means of training hamstrings, Gluteus, Quads, than squats without the huge spinal loading that comes with squats. Flag TVA as a stabilizer, the TVA is a 2 millimeter piece of membrane which main function is assisting with bowel movements. To put it in perspective for you if your Hip Flexors can move 60kg how can a thin area of tissue provide any stability against such force, it cannot. A book for you to purchase is Lower Back Disorders by Dr Stuart McGill. It will provide you with a lot of these answers. Last note flag stretches for you clients. There is no scientific evidence to show there are any benefits to stretching. All research to date is showing negative effects to stretching. The more flexible you are the faster your spine will degenerate. Tight strong muscles protect joints.'
