Touch Your Toes with the Maestro Part 10: The Jefferson Curl
Before you bombard me with questions like “…but what about Stuart McGill's research?!” please note that I'm not here to debate that. If you don't like this drill and never want to do it, that's fine with me. Not here to change anyone's mind.
The Jefferson curl is an exercise that looks scary, but I contend that is because we have a pretty poor understanding of what it means to move well and how to make truly resilient tissues. #ExploreYourEndRanges
The Jefferson curl is a way to load the toe touch pattern while ACTIVELY flexing the spine. Some folks can't touch their toes, or get injured with forward flexion because they bend forward passively, hanging on soft tissues and joints instead of using tissues both concentrically and eccentrically to control the movement.
The HOW: while on an elevated surface with the feet together, keep the weight forward toward the ball of the foot and slowly bend forward while allowing the spine to round (knees straight), one vertebrae at a time. The core should be engaged during this and you should be breathing. Contract the core to pull yourself further into flexion and bend forward as much as you can. The elevated surface will allow the hands to go past the toes. To come back up, reverse the pattern, starting at the base of the spine and moving up, finishing at the head.
As for weights, reps, sets START OFF LIGHT. I'm using a 15# DB in the video because that was all I had. Don't be afraid to use 5 lbs and go from there. 3 sets of 5. The goal is QUALITY and proper patterning. Loading this pattern not only teaches us how to properly engage, it gradually and incrementally stresses the soft tissue which is what builds resiliency.
This is part TEN of the series which means you've made it through the rest of the drills and are ready to progress to this. Don't come crying to me if you jump to this and then hurt your back. The Maestro warned you!
Thanks for watching, and if you missed the series I'll be putting it together in one spot on my website.
If you liked this, drop me a comment??and let me know what series you'd like to see next. I'd love to hear from ya.