381: Alex Effer on Force Production Strategies, Lunge Dynamics and Base of Support Concepts

More show notes at https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-381/ Today’s podcast is with biomechanics and rehab specialist, Alex Effer.  Alex is the owner of Resilient Training, and has extensive experience in strength & conditioning, exercise physiology and the biomechanical function of the body.  He also runs educational mentorships teaching biomechanics to therapists, trainers and coaches.  Alex has been a previous guest on the show speaking on many aspects of gait, and the links between common gym movements and locomotion. For the amount of talk that goes into particular exercises, or exercise variations, very little goes into looking at human biomechanics first, as a base layer by which to base exercise selection.  We also spend little time understanding how two athletes may ideally perform the same movement differently, to optimize their own leverages.  We also often hear, or see exercises or training methods designed to improve external rotation, but tend to overly generalize the roles of “knees in/out”, or “inside edge/outside edge”. By understanding more about the biomechanical basis of force production, and how structure determines our base of support, we can achieve not only a better exercise selection process, but a better understanding of athletic movement in general. On the show today, Alex gets into important concepts on how humans produce force in movement, and how the internal and external rotation of joints creates effective motion.  This leads into how various body types have different bases of support, and what this means for programming squat and lunge variations, as well as implications on the level of various kettlebell swing and catch exercises.  This was an in-depth show that will change your lens on the way you see squat and lunge setups across a breadth of athletes in training. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs, TeamBuildr and the Plyomat. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers.  I’ve continued to hear great things about the Teambuildr platform, and whether you are looking for an in-house training portal or an online training hub, be sure to check out Teambuildr.com training software. For 15% off of Exogen Wearable resistance, go to lilateam.com and use code: jfs2023 at checkout.