Aug. 15, 2009
Moon the shower door, pinch a quarter
This is more than just a story about your butt and what to do with it; it is a story about how to think about engaging your hips properly to get that explosive hip extension that is so necessary for the generation of athletic power. Don't think about your squat as a bending of the knees but rather a folding of the hips. Do this by thinking of yourself in the shower and mooning the steamed up glass door. If you leave a big meaty buttprint....no good. What you need to do is extend your pelvis backwards so that the bottom of your pelvic bone starts to protrude enough to make a little point. Now if you have a big ol booty and there ain't no point to be found, so be it, but the idea is to get your hips back and have your knees behind your toes. You are folding in half at the hips and your weight is solidly on your heels. That is the hips back ready to create power position.
From a standing position let your hips relax backwards so that you are no longer standing straight up and your hips are sticking out behind the line of your shoulders and your ankles. Now try to pinch your butt cheeks. I'll wait, go ahead and give it a shot.
Nope, can't do it. In that position your hips are "out of battery" if you will and you can't clench your butt cheeks. That hips part way back position is NOT the finishing position of your various overhead lifts or even the deadlift and clean. You have not come to full hip extension until you can pinch a quarter.
Moon the shower, pinch a quarter then is a thing to think of when you are doing a KB snatch for example. As you fold in half and allow the kettlebell to swing between your legs, stick your hips back and imagine making those small spots on the shower door. Now as you open your hips back up and swing the kettlebell in an arc overhead, don't just stand up, explosively launch your hips foward and clench your butt cheeks as if you were trying to pinch a quarter in there. This same motion and thinking will help you with thrusters, wall ball, swings and even push press.
See that, your butt is so much more useful than just a thing to put a tattoo over.