Is There Such Thing as a Closed-Chain Exercise?

If you have studied exercise science or been associated with physical fitness long enough, you have undoubtedly come across the terms "open-chain" and "closed-chain" exercise. What do these terms mean, and are they actually applicable to the weight room?

Open-chain and closed-chain were originally engineering terms used to describe the movement patterns of the joints of different structures. In engineering, an open-chain pattern is one where the joint motion is variable, i.e. unpredictable. The inverse of that is closed-chain, which means you know exactly what is going to happen at each joint in the structure. Unfortunately, the idiots in the fitness world have taken these terms and tried to apply them to exercise, but changed the meaning of the terms for their convenience. Today, there are so many definitions of open-chain and closed-chain exercises in fitness that I can't help but wonder if having an actual definition even matters. If our definition is constantly changing, does it matter if it exists for our purposes?

Okay, so taking the engineering definition of open-chain and closed-chain, how does this apply to the weight room? The joints that are described are the ones of the human body and their motion is what happens during an exercise. Often times, a barbell back squat is given as an example as a closed-chain exercise. Here's the problem with that: if somebody has limited external rotation of their right hip, their pelvis will shift to the left during the descent of the squat. However, if somebody has limited external rotation of their left hip, their pelvis will shift to the right during the descent. Not to mention, this shift also affects what is happening at the SI joint, the lumbar spine, and all the way up. The point is, even though we think we know what an ideal squat should look like, as human being we have different limitations. These limitations cause our bodies to move and compensate differently from everybody else. Because of these compensations, you don't actually know what is going to happen at each joint.

This same logic applies to exercises performed on machines, as well. One limitation in joint range of motion can be seen as any number of compensation patterns--side bending, pelvic shifts and tilts, excessive flexion or extension of the spine, etc. Just look at how many people extend their lumbar spine while performing a knee extension exercise.

The point of all this is that a closed-chain exercise is an ideal, not an actuality. When a power lifter squats they want their body completely tight--back, abs, forearms, etc--so the only movement is happening where they want it to happen. However, because we are dealing with human beings and not machines, our bodies are often times forced to compensate to produce similar movements even when things aren't working at 100%. These compensating patterns undoubtedly cause joint motion that would not normally be there.

Get big or die tryin'.

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL. He is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM and has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

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