5 Reasons For Closed Chain Exercises
1) It forces the contraction of your core and trunk muscular
These exercises force the body to stabilize from the core out. No, this should not be the only training for your Core (See Prior Oblique post) but it does teach the body to not let the arm control the body!
2) It creates a high demand for Scap Stability, specifically using the Serratus Anterior
When you are bearing weight through your arm, you must use your Serratus to keep your chest high off the ground and your Scapula flush with your ribcage. The better you can control your Scapula, the more it sets up the shoulder for success!
3) The body weight through the arm can act as a mobilizing force backwards to maintain mobility in the Posterior Capsule
Due to the repetitive deceleration of the throwing arm, some Pitcher’s can slowly develop a tightening of the posterior capsule which can decrease IR, Flexion, and Across Body movements of the shoulder. Now, it would be careless and potentially harmful to do a Posterior Shoulder mobilization on a relaxed and more hypermobile shoulder. Thats why we love the self limiting Beauty of the exercise. The constant co-contraction (covered in the next point) prevents any extreme motion so it is really only going to play a mobilizing role for those very restricted capsules that don’t let the shoulder centralize
4) The weightbearing through the arm causes a co-contraction of the Rotator Cuff to dynamically stabilize the shoulder
This Co-Contraction all around the shoulder joint creates a stabilizing force to centralize the humerus which is the name of the game in shoulder stability.
5) The Balance Factor challenges the neurological system to use the inputs of proprioception and vision to constantly make small adjustments to stay balanced
This tests the body ability to quickly receive input to the brain about the muscle and joint positions, then rapidly make small adjustments to maintain balance. This is more relevant to the single arm exercises and is further challenged when perturbation is added
Check out all the different variations we have of these Closed Chain Movements!
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