There are 3 major areas that can make a huge difference in your stretching and mobility rountine.
“It’s not enough to exercise, you have got to sleep. You have got to drink enough water. You have got to develop a practice around maintenance of your body. You have got to learn how to move right.” -Kelly Starrett
Let’s face it, there are times when movement preparation, warmups and cool-downs take a back seat to your actual workout. You might be guilty of skimming over your warmups and jumping right into your main lifting or workout of the day because you’re short on time.
Maybe your post workout cool-down consists of gasping for air and sweat angels on the floor before lumbering back into the car in search of your protein shake.
All of us need to make time for mobility, whether we are training & working out hard or stuck stationary at a desk from 9-5pm. Mobility is equal parts injury prevention and performance benefit. If you want to maximize your body’s athletic potential & fully express your DNA’s capability, mobility is well worth the investment of time.
Let’s look at 3 major areas that can make a huge difference in mobility.
1. Ankles
2. Illiopsoas
3. Thoracic spine
Ankles: Tight ankles joints can be a major impediment in your daily training. If you feel like you are plateauing in your lifts and want to improve your squats, deadlifts, cleans, and snatches you may want to give some serious attention to your ankles.
Shortened range of motion in the ankle will make it difficult to maintain powerful positions in movements like the squat. The body will adapt to achieve depth in the squat by borrowing additional range of motion from elsewhere in the body. Borrowing or compensation is often shown by the individual turning their feet out to the sides. This is often a less favorable position for our muscles to produce optimal force from and can increase risk of injury.
To prep the ankles and increase range of motion practice sitting in the bottom position of a pistol (1-legged) squat or a deep lunge. A pistol squat forces the ankle of the working leg to dorsiflex, or shorten the angle created at the ankle joint.
Illiopsoas: The Illiopsoas is a tricky muscle that often slips under the radar. It runs from the head of the femur into the hip socket and travels up attaching to the lumbar spine. If the psoas tightens it reduces range of motion in the hip socket and simultaneously pulls the lumbar spine down and in. This usually shows up as pain in the low back and sometimes looks like a “duck bum” posture.
Mobilize the psoas by exploring positions of hip extension. Think about hip extension as the backswing of the leg before you kick a ball. Illiopsoas mobilization is found by creating space within the hip socket with movements like the couch stretch or a banded Samson stretch, make sure your spine is neutral when performing these stretches. Your low back will thank you.
Take a look at the Elevate online training YouTube channel for some great hip mobility drills. https://youtu.be/8lP0Y9wUXIY?list=PL0mNoOWMaoCrKxBy-TgcnhAFTsqI7h7-d
Thoracic Spine: The thoracic spine or t-spine for short refers to the series of vertebrae the length of your rib cage, from the neck down to mid spine. As you can imagine, this area is strongly impacted by the activities we perform and the sustained positions we keep it in. Sedentary behavior and poor posture will cause the thoracic region to become immobile and lose its ability to flex and extend. This becomes problematic and dangerous especially when overhead movements are involved.
Just like with our ankles, a lack of mobility in our thoracic spine causes our body to compensate and search for movement in alternate areas when hitting an end range of motion. This means losing stability in order to allow for additional mobility. When the thoracic spine is tight our body finds extra space in the lumbar spine and/or scapula region. Chronic injuries and inflammation tend to spring up in these areas if we continually force this movement during exercises like the overhead press or kipping on the pull-up bar.
Try mobilizing with a peanut shaped trigger ball on your Tx spine or by performing cat/cow Tx movements.
These are just 3 major areas of your body where mobility can make a huge difference in your performance and your health.
If you want to learn more about ways to improve your mobility head to the Elevate online Training YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvNwEUQotq2q-b-xDOShQuA
Alternatively, make an appointment at The Health Space Australia with Alana, your appointment could be Remedial massage, Personal training or a dedicated Stretching & mobility session. http://www.healthspaceaustralia.com.au
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