We’re going to build on our knowledge of the 90/90 position by using the tension we created from the irradiation technique. If this all sounds foreign, I’ll include highlights from the last post to get us up to speed for this position.
Irradiation
- Feet firmly planted
- Big toes especially pushing down
- Feel all four corners of your feet
- Arms at sides with 30 degrees abduction with either a fist or completely open palm as wide as you can make it
- Screw feet into the ground
- Squeeze butt and tighten abdomen in towards spine on your exhale
- Seek to tighten hands as much as possible with each out breath
- Do 5 breaths with 5 second pauses at bottom of exhale
- Ramp up intensity with each breath all the way to 100 %
- Completely relax to shake out tension
- Do at least one more set before beginning mobility work
Irradiation Rationale
This helps cue neural drive and strength in the body. Having this “neuromuscular command” before beginning the end range isometrics will allow us to communicate further with the nervous system.
Cueing this and then going with strong contractions at the end range, we will be directly influencing our active control of our new range of motion.
Basic 90/90 Setup
- First off we must literally keep a 90-degree angle between the calf and hamstring of both legs
- Next, our back shin must be parallel to our front thigh and our back thigh parallel to our front shin
- This is the classic “90/90”
- Before doing any end range isometrics or movements, we recline back to allow a passive stretch to open and begin communicating to the tissue
90/90 Lift-Off Protocol
- We put our hands in front of us near the front leg to create base of support
- Lean forward with slight hip and torso flexion in order to help lift the back leg
- We will do this lift-off position for 5 to 10 seconds at MAXIMAL contraction
- We will perform 5 total reps on each side between each rep seek to have less of a need to lean forward with each rep
- As with this and the last one stay connected to your glutes and keep them engaged.
Final Considerations
Whereas the last 90/90 position was passive, this is ACTIVE. Be sure to channel that irradiation force and carry it over to this exercise. Remember we are creating NEURAL drive and communicating to the body that it is safe to increase the range of motion. This requires focus. Cue this with your eyes and head being steady and keeping that active tension in your hands.
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