Half-Kneel Position

The more I continue to read Gray Cook’s book, Movement: Functional Movement Systems: Screening, Assessment, Corrective Strategies, the more I realize how much more I need to learn. (A recent evening hanging out with Charlie Weingroff also led me to that conclusion). Right now, I am re-reading chapter 13. Specifically the section on Transitional Posture.

We have been using more half-kneel positions with some of our lifts. What I like about this position is that core stabilization is almost automatic because the athlete can’t compensate. Gray writes “It (half kneel) creates an interesting stabilization experience, because many individuals who have poor core stabilization can compensate at the foot, ankle, and knee. They can also compensate with poor hip, pelvic, spine, and shoulder positions, as well as faulty alignment. In half-kneeling, all compensations are removed”.

To me, this makes so much sense for athletes with spinal stability issues. Also, we are preventing spinal stability issues from happening in the first place by mastering stability and strength in this position.  All that we have to do is have our athletes maintain a tall spine with good posture. We will spend a greater amount of time in this phase so we can have a smooth transition into lunge position lifts.