S B Coaches College - Tip of the Month July 2008




		S B Coaches College Tip of the Month July 2008

Back in November of 2004 I wrote a piece on how good closed chain exercise is and I'm not veering too far from that direction, but do believe that open chain exercise has it's place in a good training program.

Here's a quick review of the difference between determining if an exercise is open chain vs. closed chain. The body can be viewed as a chain. Your limbs (legs and arms) serve as the opposite ends of the chain. If either set of limbs is involved in supporting your weight (i.e. a squatting exercise in which your legs are bearing the weight of your body; a push-up in which your arms are partially shouldering the weight of your body), the exercise is referred to as an example of a "closed chain exercise." The end segment of the chain is closed (i.e. fixed).

If the end segment of the chain (your body) is not fixed (i.e. free-not supporting the weight of the body), the exercise is referred to as an "open chain exercise." Most machines are examples of open chain exercises.

The majority of the exercises you choose in your programs should be closed-chain as involves your joints, muscles and neurological systems to work together in an effort to improve movement. Some coaches tend to criticize any open-chain exercise and feel that it has no part in a training program. I'm here to tell you that everything has it's place and can serve a function.

Open-chain exercises can serve a large part of an exercise program for somebody coming off an injury/surgery or that may need modifications to their regular training due to an injury. These types of exercises allow for muscular activation while minimizing joint loading while the area recovers from trauma. This is beneficial while trying to restore muscle size to accelerate the recovery process and facilitate neuromuscular recruitment to those areas. For example, if an athlete undergoes a knee surgery, it is important to get the quads, hamstrings, and hip musculature to fire before progressing to closed-chain exercise. Closed-chain exercise in this instance may be too much loading initially, but should be the end goal of the progression.

Another way to implement open-chain exercise into your programs is in the form of muscle activation exercises in a warm-up session prior to training. The "activation" exercise helps to activate inhibited muscles and "wake them up" before engaging in traditional weight bearing movements. This ensures that the right muscles are doing the appropriate jobs. For example, it is important to activate the glute max, and medius before engaging in lower body movements so that extra stress is not placed on the hamstrings, and lumbar area.

Open-chain exercises should not form the bulk of your training program but can serve a role in a well thought program. They are definitely a useful tool to use in appropriate situations.