A missing piece in the program?

[yamshiloh]

How come there are 3 hip extension movement patterns in the program (squat, deadlift, power clean) yet not one loaded hip flexion movement pattern?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Because loaded hip flexion is not a natural human movement pattern.

[yamshiloh]

Humans have been kicking and high kneeing stuff for quite some time... Not to mention running and jumping (high jumping in particular) where being able to flex the hip powerfully are crucial. And what better way there is to increase power then increase strength?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Is it your position that every movement possible for a human to performed must be trained separately for strength?

[jfsully]

I think you should test whether bringing your squat up to 2x body weight helps your kicking and jumping. Also, I believe (perhaps wrongly) that hip flexors are quite active in the squat and likely also benefit from progressive overload, even if they are technically antagonist muscles. See “Lombard’s Paradox” for a possible explanation for this. I would also point out that many lifters experience neck hypertrophy to some degree, despite not training the neck directly. Maybe there is a hormonal mechanism for the stimulation of hypertrophy that affects muscles other than the ones maximally stimulated in a given movement? If only someone would write a book about this stuff...

[Matt James]

Wouldn't that get trained in the eccentric phase of the squat anyway?

[ltomo]

Is there a way to load hip flexion based movement patterns using a barbell?

A quick internet search didn't turn up anything for me. It seems like it requires strapping something to the feet to pull it off correctly.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Wouldn't that get trained in the eccentric phase of the squat anyway?

The descent of the squat is eccentric hip extension, not concentric hip flexion. But all the muscles are involved in the squat, and they all get stronger from squatting. IOW, if your squat goes from 200 to 400, you hip flexion strength goes up too. This was discussed at length somewhere.

[Matt James]

I'm aware of the difference, I was asking if the eccentric phase would make hip flexion stronger. I assumed that a stronger squat would carry over to stronger hip flexion as well. Probably a stupid question, sorry.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The hip flexors are the rectus femoris of the quadriceps, the sartorius, and maybe the tensor fasciae latae and the psoas -- not much muscle mass, because it's not a human movement pattern that is under a load very often. Look at the anatomy and tell me how much of that muscle is engaged eccentrically during the flexion/eccentric phase of the squat.