thats what I meant, people are inactive that causes problems but once tendons have shortened its not easy if at all to get them back to their original functionality
I have always warmed up , I played rugby before weights so I know the importance of getting the body ready for any form of stress.
Didnt use to but now always stretch after workouts especially legs, lots of low back stretches
Yes , not literally on the neck but your low back is the weakest link in any squat movement.
It isnt designed to have a load bearing down on it, remember we used to be on all fours
Squats are more of a core excercise rather than legs
Your low back will blow long before you stress your quads, just look how much more you can leg press as opposed to squat, your quads hams and glutes are way stronger than the low back
I havent squatted for years and it hasnt hampered my leg development, I have way better development than most people at my age
There is more to it than "shortened" tendons. The change in water balance, collagen (and the type of collagen), elastin, etc. This happens, but happens at a slower rate in athletes. I would agree that as we age and have injuries our tendons tend to accumulate more of the collagen type III fibers (if memory serves correctly) and become less flexible.
I would say your low back took quite a pounding from rugby. Then going into squatting and lifting...something of a borrowed time. Thats why my shoulders are beat to shit. Gymnastics and swimming...real great for them HA HA
The leg press vs. squat thing is leverage. Also, I see way more low back injuries from leg press than squatting. Just speaking from a clinical experience side of things. Regarding the 'all fours' thing...we are bipedal creatures. We strive to be on our feet as fast as possible. The low back actually IS designed (well, the spine is) for loads. That's almost like saying the shoulder and elbows are designed for load bearing. Should we be loading our spines with 500,600lbs? Probably not. Benching 300? Again, probably not. Do you think your body was designed to take the pounding it did with rugby? It could, but thats probably why you have issues you do. You are an athlete....you pushed your body to do things maybe it wasn't meant to. A lot of us do...and we deal with all of the shit later on.
No one teaches an infant how to squat. They hold things and squat without issues. I actually see more and more kids in my office with shit posture and the inability to squat than I have 10 or 15 years ago. Their heads are 4 - 5 inches in front of where they should be? Whats the common denominator computers, tv, phones, etc. Kids are no where near like we were when growing up. You have to agree with that
