MELT with Adele

https://youtu.be/wGbSB8oBmmI?si=C8yD31jwD5iRKKOG

Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds and links everything in your body. It’s a continuous, responsive system that helps transmit force, support posture, and coordinate movement.

When fascia becomes restricted from injury, stress, or long-held patterns, it can limit mobility and pull the body out of alignment.

When fascia moves well, the whole body moves well.

Fascia Research Society. Photography by Thomas Stephan.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DGZHt4xox/?mibextid=wwXIfr

HIPS are key!

Every ounce of power you create with the paddle has to travel through a major gateway on its way to the hull: the hip joint. Miss this, and you’re leaking speed and increasing risk of injury.

Dr. Stuart McGill, a leading spine biomechanics expert, consistently states the SPINE is designed to STABILIZE, not to create power. Instead, he says, it should come from the HIPS.

Why? The hip is a massive ball-and-socket joint where the femur (thigh bone) connects to the pelvis. It does 2 important things:

Bearing load (eg body weight).
Generating motion and power (eg. paddling!).

Every bit of force you anchor with the blade has to pass through this joint before it can push the boat forward. Lats engage & core braces; but if the hips don’t transmit that force cleanly into the seat and hull, energy leaks.

#1 – If you use linear reach (forward & back):
Hunching from the low back? Your biggest muscles disengage and your spine's ability to transfer force weakens.
Instead, lean forward (hinge) at the hips ... fold forward from the hip joint. This will allow you to load the glutes and hamstrings like a spring.

#2 – If you use rotation:
Twisting from the spine? You won't fully be able to utilize the core as your rotate.
Instead, twist from the hips.
The pelvis leads - shoulders follow. The lumbar spine should stay relatively motionless; let the rotation come from the joint.

Sign up for my Full Strength Paddling Newsletter. It's the same as what I use to I break down the stroke from a systems perspective: drills, exercises and techniques.

And it's also the same thinking I used to coach a world championship team and to get athletes onto the national team. Free and written with the paddler in mind:

https://www.fullstrengthpaddling.com/contact

A MELT technique before you run - MELT Method Learn some fascia stretching techniques from Sue Hitzmann that you can use before your run or workout. Visit the MELT Method blog today to discover more!