Tuesday 03.19.13

 

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The Ultimate Mobility Quick Reference

I have a little story for you. For much of my youth, my Dad was the Jolly Green Giant. For the first 10 years of our lives, my brothers and I had a view of my father from only the waist down, unless we cranked our heads all the way past vertical. Because my Dad is 6'5". My Dad also has one helluva craptastic back. In his 20s, he missed a step while moving an upright piano down a stretch of stairs. Heavy load + bad positioning = OUCH. This injury, combined with some inherent curvature of his spine, resulted in years of debilitating back pain. I remember some family dinners where my Dad would eat lying down on his back with a plate on his chest because his back pain was such that he could not sit in a chair. Further, every piece of furniture in our home was rock hard - for Dad's back - and Dad still sat in a wooden dining room chair to read at night. After numerous chiropractic adjustments over the years, my Dad found relief - finally - in the form of....wait for it...your mind will be blown...DAILY STRETCHING.

I ranted about stretching (a.k.a. mobility work) before and we incorporate mobility work into our warm ups. Recently, I also started incorporating more links to relevant mobility work for the WODs in my daily blog posts. Unfortunately, all the hard work is up to YOU. You have to get on the roller, the lacrosse ball, or the bands EVERY DAY to effect change in your pain and range of motion issues. Your tight shoulders are not normal. Your crappy overhead squat is not normal. Your short and tight hamstrings are not normal. Your bad posture is not normal. Your low back pain is not normal. Bad positioning and PAIN is the result of habitually bad positioning that isn't optimal or functional. Functional means you could do a movement (without weight) ad nauseum without blowing out a disk or tearing a muscle.

So, the question becomes what do I do to improve positioning and alleviate pain?

1. Numero uno, at the very least buy a lacrosse ball (or a pink bouncy ball from the Dollar Tree or a doggie chew toy from Wal-Mart) and a foam roller FOR YOUR HOUSE or OFFICE (or both!). If you would like to buy a band, you can get them through either Rogue (#RF Black) or Primal Fitness Systems (a #3 should do you just fine).
2. Numero dos, after several weeks of combing through MobilityWOD.com, I finally completed the ultimate WCFM cross-reference table of stretching and mobility exercises for all your crunchy bits and range of motion issues. All the videos you need to reach better positioning in LIFE are hyperlinked. Instructions on how to use the table are at the top of each page. Learn it, know it, and most importantly use it.
3. Numero tres, mobilize with that ball or foam roller EVERY SINGLE DAY - in front of the TV, during a break at your desk, over your lunch break, in the morning, in the evening - whenever you have 15 minutes to spare. And there is ALWAYS a spare 15 minutes. ALWAYS. No excuses. Stretch and roll until you see more range of motion in your affected limb/joint or until you alleviate your pain. This is meant to be an uncomfortable, yet rewarding process.

There is no excuse for you to keep trashing your body. Yeah, soreness can be great after a harsh WOD, but it should not last and it CAN lead to injury. Additionally, like my Dad, mobility work is not just for improving your overhead squat, but for improving your daily life. These days, my Dad rarely needs a chiropractic adjustment for his back (unless he's uber-stressed) and he can function pain-free throughout the day - every day. Because he takes care of his issues EVERY DAY when we wakes up.

What we teach here at WCFM is more than just how to get stronger and more fit. We try to teach you how to take ownership of your body and maintain it for life. Deep, below-parallel squats are normal. Good posture with a neutral spine is normal. Flexible, pain-free wrists, ankles, and knees are normal. Get yourself closer to normal because you have the tools and power to do so.

WOD

Strength:

5 Rounds

3 Front squats

7 box jumps (24"/20")

Increase weight each round

-- 

15 --> 1

Wall balls (20/14)

Situps