Test and improve your mobility!

Some athletes need more mobility exercises in the warm-up to prevent injuries. Others get by with a shorter routine because their mobility is sufficient. Which group do you belong to?

The quickest way to find out is to perform a squat with a PVC pipe or broom handle overhead.

1. Stand barefoot with your feet shoulder-width apart. Your legs will be free of foot rotation. You usually don't have your feet like this when squatting, but it will help you better assess ankle mobility.
2. Place the PVC pipe on your head and grasp it with a 90° angle at the elbows.
3. Push the pipe into your extended arms.
4. Perform as deep a squat as possible. Pause for a second at the bottom.

Can you get under parallel with your torso upright, neutral lower back position, heels on the ground, knees pointing outward, and the pipe held over the center of your feet? If so, you're doing well with mobility. If not, read on.

Wait, why squat with the axle overhead?

This exercise requires significant mobility of the peripheral parts of the body and stability of the middle of the body. The entire body must move in a coordinated fashion and with great control. It's a good mobility test for certain problem areas.

For example, let's look at how poor thoracic spine mobility can cause elbow pain during squatting. Below are two photos of how I'm set up for the back squat. The first photo shows poor mobility (stiff pectoral muscles and lats).

You can see that I don't have my palms completely wrapped around the axis that rolls onto my fingers. This causes significant wrist extension, which puts excessive strain on the forearm flexors and will eventually lead to medial elbow pain.

The second picture shows good thoracic spine mobility, a firmly grasped axis and neutral wrists, which prevents elbow pain.

Let's fix you up

If you had trouble with the test, you probably have stiff ankles, lats, boobs, or all of the above.

Problem 1: Stiff ankles

These will throw you off balance as you approach parallel. To keep your balance, you'll either lift your heels off the floor or round your lower back.

A good plan is to warm up by rolling your calves, mobilizing your ankles with a rubber band, and lowering your heels eccentrically.

Ankle mobilisation with rubber

Place the rubber over the ankle bone so that its force is exerted downwards and backwards. Keep the whole foot on the ground and push the knee forward through the toe.

Eccentric lowering of the heel

Use a pedestal to give your heels somewhere to lower. Lower down for about 3 seconds and pause there for 1-3 seconds to stretch the gastroc and soleus calf muscles.

Problem 2: Poor mobility of the thoracic spine (stiff breasts/lungs)

With this problem, you will compensate for the depth of the squat by leaning your torso forward. If this applies to you, a good strategy will include some soft tissue work on the pecs/shoulders and thoracic spine mobilization exercises.

Cat/Cow

• Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders.
• Inhale as you lift your head, squeeze your shoulder blades together and slightly arch your lower back.
• With an exhale, push your jaw into your chest, rounding your upper back and imagine you have a tailbone you are trying to get underneath you.
• Make 5-10 transitions, pausing at the bottom/top for 1-3 seconds on each exhale and inhale.

Stretching of the thoracic spine

• Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders.
• With one arm, reach up to the ceiling and up behind your body to stretch your chest. Externally rotate your shoulder so that you have your thumb raised. This will keep your shoulder in a better position.
• Extend your arm under your body as well. Try to get your head and ear as close to the floor as possible to stretch your lower back well.

Source: www.t-nation.com - Find and Fix Your Ugly Mobility Issues.
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