Why Does My Powerlifting Total Stall
The Extension Addiction That Limits Your Squat, Deadlift, And Bench
Powerlifting has an extension problem. Not the kind you see in a failed squat. The kind that lives in your nervous system 24 hours a day, quietly limiting every lift you do and slowly compressing your spine until something gives. If your total has stalled despite solid programming, this is likely the reason.
What Is The Extension Addiction
Heavy axial loading drives your nervous system into extension. Extension creates stiffness, and stiffness creates stability. The problem is that your body does not know how to turn it off. After years of heavy training, your nervous system defaults to extension as its resting position. Your ribs flare. Your pelvis tilts forward. Your lower back compresses. You lose the ability to flex, rotate, and breathe properly. This is what PRI researchers call the extension-based postural pattern.
How Extension Limits Your Squat
Extension locks your hips out of flexion. You cannot achieve proper depth without compensating through your lumbar spine. Your glutes turn off because your pelvis is tilted so far forward that they are in a mechanically disadvantaged position. Your quads and lower back do the work. Your squat stalls because you have hit the ceiling of what those muscles can produce without the glutes.
Why Your Deadlift Pulls To One Side
The Left AIC pattern rotates your pelvis, which means your left hip is in a different position than your right. You pull harder with one side. Your bar path drifts. Your lockout is inconsistent. You add accessory work for your weak side, but it does not help because the issue is positional, not muscular.
What Extension Does To Your Bench Press
Extension flares your ribs and internally rotates your shoulders. Your arch looks impressive, but your shoulder blades are not properly retracted because your serratus anterior and lower traps are inhibited. Your pec cannot generate maximum force because the humerus is not in the right position relative to the glenoid.
How To Break The Plateau Without Changing Programming
The fix is restoring your ability to flex, rotate, and breathe. PRI-based corrective work teaches your nervous system that it is safe to come out of extension. The 90/90 Hip Lift restores pelvic position. Wall Supported Reaches bring your ribs down. Breathing drills reset your diaphragm. Within weeks, your squat depth improves, your deadlift evens out, and your bench press starts using the muscles it is supposed to use.
See This In Your Own Body
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