IT ALL STARTS WITH MOBILITY.
It doesn’t matter what your athletic goals are—your ability to move well directly affects your success. Mobility training is often overlooked as an essential part of performance and wellness because the majority of athletes limit themselves to strength and cardiovascular training. However, mobility training is a key component to maximizing your athletic abilities, increasing your longevity and reducing the risk of injury.
One of the misconceptions about being mobile is that you have to be very flexible. Flexibility is only a fraction of the equation. BEING ABLE TO MOVE WELL IS A COMBINATION OF FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH AND MOTOR CONTROL. The human body should be able to coordinate bending, rotating, shifting, stabilizing, squatting, lunging, crawling, running and climbing from multiple angles and planes.
We hope you find these four mobility drills effective and productive in profressing your athletic endeavours.
1. Snake Reach
Mobility is not flexibility— it’s the ability to move freely.
BENEFITS:
• Stretches the lats, anterior shoulder, rib cage, obliques, hip flexors, psoas and lateral hip muscles.
• Mobilizes the hip and shoulder complex.
• Opens up your posture.
• Helps increase range of motion in the shoulder and lateral bending capabilities.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Desk jockeys, weightlifters, climbers, baseball players, volleyball players, basketball players, triathletes, martial artists, runners and obstacle course racers.
STEPS:
STEP 1: Get into a half-kneeling stance and place the stick just inside the left thigh.
STEP 2: With the hand on the side of the kneeling leg, reach toward the top of the stick and get a firm grasp on it with the palm facing forward.
STEP 3: Reach the free hand through until the stick is behind the shoulder, then grab the stick with the palm facing your body.
STEP 4: From this position, open the top hand and reach toward the opposite side of your body while using the bottom hand to move the stick to take the stretch even further. Make sure to squeeze the glutes and engage the muscles being stretched and the core during the entire movement. Always ease into these movements and trace your path back to get out of them.
STEP 5: Once you find your “comfortably uncomfortable” end range, hold for 30 seconds to one minute, then start to add light movements of rotating the chest toward the ceiling and back toward the front leg. You can do up to 10 rotations in each direction. You will feel a huge stretch in the lats, chest, entire torso, hip flexors and lateral hip muscles.
2. Half-Kneeling Monkey Hang
The human spine has 24 vertebrae, and has the ability to flex, extend, bend sideways and rotate.
BENEFITS:
• Stretches the lats, chest, obliques, hip flexors, psoas, rib cage, lateral hips and quads.
• Mobilizes the hip and shoulder complex.
• Strengthens the grip, lats, scapular muscles and core.
• Teaches scapular control, and preps the body for rotation, hanging drills or any pulling exercise.
• Introduces the concept and importance of ground force, which activates the core and the muscles being stretched.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Everyone! From this drill alone, I’ve had success in improving angles on overhead squats and snatches, as well as mobilizing tight shoulders.
STEPS:
Step 1: Place the stick in line with the front of the hip and a foot away from your body, grasping the middle of the stick with the hand farthest from the stick. Make sure the stick is anchored and does not slip.
Step 2: Reach the hand closest to the stick as high as possible and get a firm grip. Keep the shoulder locked into its socket by keeping your shoulder as far away from your ear as possible. Drive the stick into the ground to engage your whole lateral chain (lats, rib cage, obliques, core) while squeezing the glutes.
Step 3: Shift your hip toward the stick and hang toward the ground. You’ll feel your grip work, your lat stretch and activate, and a deep stretch in the lateral hip and quad. Keep driving the stick into the ground for 20 to 30 seconds.
Step 4: Now it’s time to add rotation. Lean the stick toward the front leg and hang the hips closer to the ground. You will feel a massive stretch deep into the lat. Apply force into the ground for 20 to 30 seconds to strengthen this position.
Step 5: Rotate the stick in the other direction to feel a massive stretch in the chest and anterior core. Hold for
20 to 30 seconds. Make sure to keep squeezing the glutes and drive the stick into the ground to build strength in the new ranges. Start with the holds in each section. As you get better, start to flow from one side to the other, keeping tension into the ground, the glutes, and core.
Step 6: When you own the half- kneeling version, try the lunge progression to build more strength and motor control. You can also progress to one hand and build a gorilla grip.
3. Horse Stance to Ninja Lunge
BENEFITS:
• Mobilizes the shoulder complex, thoracic spine, ankles and hips.
• Stretches the chest, adductor line, groin, hamstrings, torso, lats and rib cage.
• Strengthens the legs, grip, pulling muscles, entire torso, foot, shoulders and chest.
• Coordinates lateral shifting, rotation and hip hinging; helps the squat pattern and cutting ability.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Great for martial artists, golfers, baseball players, desk jockeys, football players, weightlifters, board sports people, hockey players and triathletes.
STEPS:
Step 1: Get into a horse stance (wide stance with feet pointed straight ahead, tall spine, core and glutes engaged). Place the stick
just inside the big toe and your stick hand between eye level and a few inches above your head, depending on your current range of motion. Apply a firm grip and drive the stick into the ground.
Step 2: Hinge the hips backward while keeping a flat back. Keep driving the stick into the ground. You will feel an awesome stretch in the chest. You may feel a big stretch in
the hamstrings and adductors in this position. If this is a challenging position, stay here until it becomes easier. You also have freedom to move the stick in different planes from this position.
Step 3: Reach the free hand to grab the lower half of the stick while keeping the hips as square as possible. This will start freeing up your thoracic spine. Increase the stretch in the chest and lower your grab. Make sure to keep pressure into the ground.
Step 4: Keep a firm grip on the stick and shift your weight to the leg away from the stick. The other leg should be completely straight, with both feet still pointing forward. You will feel a big stretch in the adductor line, thoracic spine, chest and bicep. You will also feel your bent leg working like crazy.
Step 5: Shift the weight back over to the side of the stick and shift the knee outside the stick. Stay as low as possible and hang on the stick to a get a deep stretch in the rib cage, lats, chest and adductor line. Tips: This movement should be learned statically and then can be taken into a fluid movement, shifting side to side and trying to get progressively lower and lower. This has helped many of my clients increase their squat depth.
4.Straight Leg Hinge
If you don’t use your full ranges of motion consistently, you will lose the ability to access those ranges.
BENEFITS:
• Mobilizes the hip and anterior shoulder complex.
• Stretches the hamstrings, calves, adductors and lats.
• Strengthens the core, lats, chest and serratus.
• Coordinates the hinge pattern, internal and external rotation of the hip, and core engagement in the bent-over position.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Great for triathletes, CrossFitters, runners, climbers, desk jockeys and soccer players.
STEPS:
Step 1: Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Place the upper portion of the stick onto one shoulder.
Step 2: Place one heel a few inches in front of the other foot, maintaining a hip-width stance.
Step 3: While keeping the stick on the shoulder, climb down the stick while keeping the back flat and leg straight. Once you hit the end range, apply pressure into the ground with your heel and with the stick to create tension in the body.
Step 4: Keeping the hips completely still, rotate the straight leg as far outward and inward to train internal/external rotation of the hip, while stretching all sides of the hamstrings and calves. Do 10 to 12 rotations while maintaining pressure into the ground with the heel and sticks.
Step 5: To advance the stretch, reach the stick as far as you can in front of you while pushing the hips back as
far as you can. Keep driving the stick into the ground. This will lengthen the spine, stretch the lats and teach a deeper hinge pattern.
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