By Bruce Burke and Ryan Burke
Last Updated: 8/18/24
Consider how often your body rotates throughout the day. Activities like picking up a dropped set of keys, reaching into the dryer, or opening a heavy door all require rotation. Knowing how to rotate properly is critical to ensuring healthy, effective movement both in and out of the gym.
Why is rotation important?
Virtually every joint in our body has the ability to rotate, and nearly every movement we perform requires some degree of rotation or anti-rotation. Unfortunately, excessive rotation, or the inability to stabilize a joint from rotating, significantly increases our risk of injury.
We often see excessive rotation in the lower back. In fact, one of the most common causes of lower back injury is repeated flexion and rotation. There are many reasons why the lumbar spine moves more than it should including poor thoracic (mid-back) mobility, poor hip/ankle mobility, and most commonly poor core stability.
How do we ensure safe rotation?
The bottom line is that we must be mindful of how we rotate. Even the most mundane tasks involve rotation and must be done properly. Consider the following guidelines to ensure safe rotation:
- Maintain “I” alignment by consciously engaging your core. In every movement, hips and shoulders should move together. This will decrease lumbar rotation and encourage movement in the ankles, knees, and hips. This is especially important when raising and lowering your torso (for example when lifting something from the ground).
- Keep movement/rotation to about 45 degrees away from your midline. If you desire to rotate more, using a pivot technique will free up your hips and ensure that the lumbar spine stays neutral.
- While exercising, remember your endpoints. Rotating or drifting through them can result in injury.
For this week and moving forward, maintain your active lifestyle for the long haul by focusing on proper trunk rotation. Be sure to talk with our training team about strategies to improve your ability to rotate!
