Posterior Kinetic Chain Importance & Exercises

written by runnergirl training

You don’t have to standing around a gym too long before you hear talk of working the posterior kinetic chain. What is it & why should you pay attention to training it? Let’s find out more!

The posterior kinetic chain muscle groups include the low back, glutes & hamstrings. Most people have a difference in length, strength & balance between the muscles on the front of the body & the back. 

The muscles on the back tend to be tighter, weaker & shorter than the muscles on the front of the body. This is from a variety of reasons but two of the most common are they aren’t in plain sight all day and our sitting culture. Out of sight, out of mind are those back muscles, glutes & hamstrings. We see the front of our body all day so that’s where the focus in the gym can remain fixed. Sitting all day & then at home in the evening does nothing positive for the balance between muscle groups. 

The result of those habits is the backside muscle groups become weaker & less active when you move after prolonged & repeated sitting. Also, the hip flexors on the front become short and tight as a result as well.

It is important for everyone to have proper balance between muscles but this is especially true for runners. Injuries are easily found in runners with incorrect muscle balance and joint stability due to posterior muscles being weak and overly tight hip flexors.

Enough of these wacky imbalances already! Let’s get up & move! A well-rounded workout program will progressively incorporate exercises to challenge the posterior kinetic chain muscles. These exercise can be performed with body weight and increased to adding weights or resistance bands. They are in order of more stable (less challenging) to less stable (more challenging).

Hip Bridge on Floor

Supermans

Hip Bridge on Ball

Back Extensions on Ball

Hip Bridge Single Leg on Floor

Good Mornings

Deadlifts

Lunge

Split Squat

Hamstring Curls

Incorporating these posterior kinetic chain exercises into your workout routine at least twice a week will help to prevent muscle imbalances.