Midline stabilization is essential for effective functional movement. Kelly Starrett, of San Francisco CrossFit, explains the essential anatomy and physiology of it in this excerpt from his one day seminar at CrossFit Santa Cruz on November 9, 2008.

The midline is the entire spine, and its stability is dependent not just on the core, but also on all the prime movers of the body, including the hip, glutes, and hamstrings. Excessive tightness in any of the prime movers will affect the core muscles, often resulting in low back pain.

In this part 5, Kelly proclaims stretching is dead. Lengthening the range of motion around a joint is alive and kicking, but you don’t get there from stretching (at least the old fashioned way). With PNF, you create peak tension around a joint, then release and lengthen. The result is much more effective than standard stretching techniques.

This is the fifth of a series from Kelly on the theory and practice of stabilizing the midline in functional movement.

Watch this video in the CrossFit Journal here.