A great-looking physique is just that. And it should look that way from the front, the side, and the back. A typical visit to a commercial gym will entail people really getting after the muscle groups that they can see in the mirror! This is a good idea. But don’t neglect the muscles you can’t see. Namely, the posterior chain: the lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.

Here in the west, the most common sports injuries seem to be related to a weak lower back, pulled hamstrings, and knee issues. A lot of this has to do with a strength discrepancy between the quadriceps and hamstrings, very little attention paid to actually strengthening the spinal erectors and abdominal muscles, and poor hip mobility.

I hesitate to use the phrase “core training,” as I think the common notion of commercial gym core work leaves something to be desired. So to simplify: if you have chronic lower back pain, there’s probably a good chance that your core is weak.

You can do wonders to address these weaknesses by incorporating more big lifts (squat, deadlift), doing abdominal work that you can actually improve on (progressive resistance), and adding in daily soft-tissue work in the form of foam rolling and stretching.

Women looking for shapely glutes, tight midsections, and amazing legs should absolutely be incorporating some form of squats, deadlifts, lunges, reverse hyperextensions, glute bridges, good mornings, weighted decline crunches, and hanging leg raise variations, just to name a few. These are some of the hardest movements to perform—they burn the most calories, and build the most muscle. Consequently, they aren’t performed nearly as often as they should be. Don’t let this happen to you.

For men, certainly the above recommendations apply, but consider the need for total-body balance. The prime example of male symmetry was Steve Reeves, a Golden Era bodybuilder whose neck, upper arms, and calves all measured 18 inches. Are your calves as big as your upper arms? If not, you better start training them. You don’t want to be the guy accused of riding an ostrich.

A real world example of the benefits of posterior chain training is our very own Paul Hedrick, trainer and co-owner of Workshop Fitness. He can be seen performing lower back, glute, and hamstring exercises along with soft-tissue work on a daily basis. This will help him to achieve his goal of pulling 500 pounds, probably before the end of the year. Consider that Paul’s best lift was around 315 only two short years ago, and the only thing he changed in his programming was a renewed focus on strengthening the posterior chain.

Finally, if you need to ease into posterior chain training, take advantage of Workshop Fitness’s many resources. Push the Prowler, drag the sleg, start flipping tires. You don’t need to be inside a gym to get better, but you do need to want to do so. You will be rewarded with less chronic pain, better performance (in whatever you do), and a more beautiful, balanced physique.