Loss Of Mobility=Diminishing Health

The lesson for today is mobility. I’m always hammering out the importance of mobility to all of my students and through my social media outlets on a regular basis. This is something that has to be addressed not only in the athletic realm, but in society on a constant basis as well. It really is a simple concept. Move and try to move well, period. This trumps how much weight one can lift or how fast one can run although being able to move and to move well also goes hand in hand with lifting heavier and running faster. It all goes together just like Batman and Robin, or Kim Kardashian and The Enquirer. Either way mobility and performance just fit together.

Mobility And Your Strength Program…

The first line of defense for you to enhance your mobility is to make sure that your strength program addresses all of the primary (or primal) human movements. Oh and by the way I have written about those right HERE. If you followed that link then you noticed that there are only 7 of those that the human body is capable of performing. The key is being able to perform all seven and to perform them well. If you are deficient in any one of these areas then you are going to be deficient in your athletic performance. Mobility and performance go hand in hand, remember?

I remember a having a client that was at one time almost totally incapable of squatting. This was due to both having a lack of mobility and stability throughout his body. He had poor ankle and hip mobility, a weak core center, and never really took the time to practice the primary squat movement to any respectable degree. Aside from strengthening him I quickly worked on stretching him, had him incorporate a great deal of manual therapy (myofascial release) to free up some of those soft tissues, and had him groove to practice the squat movement most everyday to some degree even if it was for only slight moments on a frequent basis.

After a few weeks “presto” he was squatting with a solid ROM and maintaining stability at the base of the squat movement as well. I will give him credit though because he was diligent about doing what I asked of him. If you’re a coach or trainer you know this is NOT the usual case with most of your average Joes and Janes, but the committed bunch are out there and if you are like me you appreciate them.

So how do you know if your strength program is solid? Well once again look at those 7 primary movements I was talking about earlier. A solid development of core strength is vital and along with this if your strength and mobility program addresses all 7 of those primary movements then you have a pretty well rounded program.

The key to making sure that you are covering all of your bases is to predominately incorporate a series of multi-joint related lifts and drills into your program to engage your muscles to be more synergistically trained. In addition to this as you advance your strength training and mobility program you can always make sure to include more advanced dynamic lifts to encourage optimal mobility. For instance, take your chances at tackling a set of dual kettlebell burpees.

You see now this is a dynamic strength drill that by itself includes 4 of those 7 primal movements that are listed on that link I provided you earlier. Within this single drill you have a bend, a semi-squat, a push, and a pull. Yep, I would say that is pretty dynamic!

This is the kind of stuff (when done correctly) that will enhance your health.  As the title states Loss Of Mobility=Diminishing Health. There have been many cultures to embrace a culture of mobility and fitness and the Spartans were one of them. Oh by the way have you seen the trailer for the sequel to 300? Well no worries because if you haven’t then now you can right here…Boooyaah!

Well that was just freaking cool, right? Anyways if you are in need of putting your strength and conditioning program in mobility check mode then make sure you get yourself a copy of my Brandon Richey’s Better Than Steroids ebook to help you out in your journey.

Oh and by the way if you haven’t already gotten your copy of my ebook then get a taste of some of my other content by joining my Free Knowledge list! I mean it’s FREE and you get 2 ebook reports for signing up! Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart my friend and mobility is smart! Don’t forget your comments and questions are totally welcome in the comment box below!