I'm with cffoster on this one, but the fact that your client is overweight leads me to think that maybe he has a weak abdominal core (this isn't always the case with overweight clients, but the majority of the time it is). ย And as we all know, if our agonist is weak, then our aneforum.xxxonist (the erector spinae and other trunk extensors) will be overly strong. ย One of the tests that was mentioned for firing patterns was that of trunk flexion. ย If you have the client supine, place your fingers of one hand deep on the transverse abdominis, the thumb of the same hand on the obliques, and then the other hand on the rectus abdominis. ย Then have him do a small crunch. ย Ideally, the pattern should be transverse abdominis, obliques, then rectus but in most cases of people with weak core strength rectus will fire first. ย And if there is no strenght for stablilizing the body in the trunk flexors, now the trunk extensors must do all the work. ย Check your clients balance - a weak core also translates to having horrible balance. ย If his pattern is off, a good way to reset it is before he does his crunch, have him flatten out the small of his back or pull his belly button towards his spine. ย This actively engages transverse, then have him do his small crunch several times in a row. ย Recheck. ย Good luck, and I hope this was of some help!