Hey Lance, 2 quick questions:
1) Have you had experience with shin splints before? They always start hurting during my SL bounds. During sprints they don't hurt though. They also hurt during basketball sometimes. Is this something where I can just keep fighting through it and my body will eventually adapt?
2) I started doing Natural GHR's at home, eccentrically, pushing off on the concentric, but I was wondering if I was doing it right. I looked at many videos and did my own research but still confused. Are you supposed to be able to work your glutes from these, or are natural GHR's just a purely hamstring workout?
As usual, thanks for the help.
We have been extremely successful with managing shin splints once I implemented heel walks for 40yds x 3 sets done 3 x a week.
Couple that with ice/stretching the tib anterior/soleus/gastroc, and you will see good results. Usually doesnt take long to notice improvement, and once youve healed keep the heel walks in as a workout finisher periodically to maintain lower leg health.
It really is that simple, dorsi flex your feet as high as you can, walk for 40 yds, rest, repeat. Alternating with toe walks is good for calf and achilles tendons as well, but even without them the heel walks are effective on their own.
re nghr: I dont like them nearly as much as ghr on a machine. You are correct in that it is almost purely a hamstring exercise, and if youre on the floor youre punishing your patellas as well. Ghr on a ghr bench is a glute/ham exercise, and you can progress it all the way to the point you would be doing a natural ghr, only without the knee cap getting smashed.
If someone has already extremely strong hamstrings, its possible to make the natural ghr a glute exercise as well, however that is very rare to see it happen. Check adam archulettas training vid on youtube for example.
