Daily Maestroism

DM #35

Monday, June 27th, 2016

DM #35: Here’s to opening another can of worms! Today’s #BeatTheSeatChallenge post generated some discussion about the dreaded ‘buttwink’ so I figured I’d address it in tonight’s DM.
The butt wink speaks to the rounding of the low back (lumbar flexion) as the sacrum tucks under at the bottom of a squat. In a healthy individual with good mechanics and full mobility, the butt wink occurs at the very bottom of the squat and is 100% normal. This is because they have run out of hip flexion range of motion, and so in order to continue the downward movement and completely decrease the space between the torso and the thigh, they take the motion from their low back. THIS IS NORMAL!

Additionally, depending on the hip socket architecture of the individual along with with their torso:femur ratio, this butt wink may be more or less prevalent at the very bottom of the squat.

We begin to view the butt wink as problematic when the individual still has hip flexion range of motion left to use but starts rounding their back and tucking their sacrum under. This is especially concerning when it occurs under load, aka when someone is performing any sort of weighted squat. In this case, the butt wink is not occurring to compensate for mobility deficits, but rather because of STABILITY deficits.

How do you know whether your buttwink is caused by mobility or stability deficits? Easy. Assess your hip flexion range of motion. How do you do that? Stay tuned for a follow-up video. After all, I am on my honeymoon. Can’t be spending all my time writing these DMs. ?

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