SelfMadeFitness.com Q&A: French Fries and Glutes

Which is better for you: cookies or french fries?

Hmmm... well there are many types of cookies and many types of french fries. How it is prepared is most vital, in my opinion. However, because this question came with no other relevant information, we need to look a little deeper. French fries usually come with a barbecue double bacon cheeseburger, if I'm ordering, and seeing as I am a huge fan of bacon, cheese, and burgers for both size and satiety, there's a pretty strong case for the fries. However, cookies usually come with milk, which is equally important for those looking to bulk up. In fact, it's one of the big three, not to mention, if the milk is raw, it has incredible health benefits. So, because I wasn't provided any information on the quality of these two items, it looks like their supporting cast will determine the winner. French fries it is. Sorry cookies, while milk was a strong partner, it just couldn't match up to a grass-fed, grass-finished patty topped with raw cheese and fresh bacon.

Glutes: Get 'em firing

Which to warm up first: Glutes or Hip Flexors?

Okay, so I see what this question is trying to get at. In my ground-based warm-up, hip extension is the first motion done (actually in the revised warm-up it's the third, but anyways) which may seem odd if people's hip flexors are tight. It may make more sense to target the hip flexors with some mobility work before focusing on hip extension so as to lead to greater amounts of hip extension. Hmmmm...

So here's the thing, if your hip flexors are tight you need to figure out why that is. More times than not, tightness is just a feeling and is not necessarily indicative of a tissue's contractile capabilities or whether or not it is firing properly. Therefore, I cannot make the statement that if someone cannot extend their hip properly it is definitely because of tight hip flexors. Eh, no. If someone cannot extend their hip properly it is because the body does not want them to, for whatever reason. It may be do to an altered structure or muscle inhibition somewhere, but what or where is too individual.

So does it make sense to warm up your hip flexors before warming up your glutes? In my opinion, no. In general, I'd say to do hip extension as one of the first movements in your warm-up and to perform hip extension at different times during your warm-up as well. If your hip extension is limited, it usually is not because your hip flexors are tight; it is usually because the fibers of your glutes and other hip extensors or muscles of the feet are not firing properly or there is a structural limitation. Besides, how do most people "loosen up" their hip flexors? By going into extreme hip extension, i.e. contracting the glutes etc.

Get big or die tryin'.

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