Teaching people how to move and train safely or in other words, “Fix Yo S#!t,” is the driving desire behind Dr. Mike Wasilisin, the face and brains behind social media PT giants MoveU. Eliminating unnecessary injuries by sand the subsequent need for pills and insurance claims. Wherever a more appropriate and straightforward treatment is possible, the sports chiropractor believes in simpler diagnosis and rehab for all.
In his videos, Wasilisin provides fun and easy to understand tips for better posture and exercise techniques, and in this installment for Muscle & Fitness, the real-life doctor — who also plays an influencer on Instagram — provides a valuable demonstration on how to prevent deadlift disasters by improving your spinal alignment. By trying out his “head, back, crack” method, you will also get more from your deadlift because you’ll be more efficiently targeting the hamstrings and glutes.
MoveU
MoveU Wants You to ‘Be One with Your Crack’
“It’s called ‘head, back, crack’,” says the MoveU doctor, as he advises using a stick placed vertically over the persons spine for both illustrative and practical purposes. “You’re gonna have a stick, it’s going to push into your head, your back, and that crack. And now, you’re gonna hinge all the way down. All the way, keep hinging until you come to a stop.”
Once you begin bending toward 90 degrees, the stick will naturally distance itself from the posterior end. The lesson here is to be able to bend while keeping the stick touching all three points, as this is the optimum position for back alignment during a deadlift. “You need to learn to be one with the crack,” says Wasilisin. “Feel the crack, keep the crack, now come on all the way up.” The next step is to slowly return to a standing position, while still maintaining the position of the stick.
Those that are still working on their flexibility, and find bending toward 90 degrees to be difficult, can modify the downward movement by bending their knees. “Now that you’ve warmed up your spine, you’ve done 10 reps of this … watch yourself in the mirror, [behind] the deadlift bar,” says Wasilisin. “What you are going to do from now is hold that position, you’re simply going to straighten your knees, and extend your upper body, upright, maintaining those (visualized) points of contact, you’re in better spinal alignment, you’re preventing injury, you’re reducing pain, you’re gaining strength in the muscles that matter the most.”
