Full Body Mobility Series

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a mobility, Indian clubs and GS kettlebell workshop at Juno Fitness Oakland California put on by all three members of the Orange Kettlebell Club John Wild Buckley, Jason Dolby and Nazo.   These three travel to the far corners of the earth to learn from the greatest teachers and coaches and share their knowledge and experience with other during these workshops.

In this first installment I will go over some of the mobility drills Jason Dolby taught us during these two days.

Mobility drills are great to perform daily for several reasons:

• They get the joints, muscles and nerves primed for the upcoming training sessions, which reduces potential injuries
• Diminish joint and muscles stiffness from the previous training session
• Balance the body between sides, we often have one side that is more mobile and flexible than the other
• Postural re-alignment through balance of opposing muscle groups.  Hyper-mobile/flexible areas are usually opposed by Hypo-mobile/flexible opposing muscle groups.  For example when you sit at a computer all day the muscles in the front of your body (ex. Pectorals) get short causing the muscles of the back of the body (rhomboids) to be over stretched.   Over time this leads to all types of postural problems and gives that hunch-back appearance.

Like with any form of human movement it is important to adhere to a few guidelines in order to perform the drills in a productive manner.  These main principles are.

• Good Posture, Always.  Jason kept telling us to imagine a chain pulling the top of our head upward when we were doing these drills.
• Start from the feet and work towards the head.
• Motion should be fluid; start with and small range of motion and do not force it, it will increase over time.
• Learn to breathe with the moments.  Breathing lowers tension and allows for more fluidity.
• In terms of sets and reps low volume/high frequency might be the way to go.  Do each movement daily for 1 set of 6-10 reps.  I tend to focus on my weaker areas more than the mobile ones.

Below are many of the mobility exercises we performed before we trained during the workshop. I have a video below demonstrating the movements.  It is important to note that I am not an expert at these movements yet and I am working to become better each time I do them; therefore my technique might be off at times.  Also I do not know the technical names for the movements so I apologize for that.

So if we are all past my ignorance and low-level skill set then without further adieu; Mobility Drills:

Feet:

Staggered- Stance Single Foot Roll

Wide Stance Double Foot Roll

Foot FistàDorsi-FlexàFlattenàDown

Flat footàDorsi-FlexàFoot FistàDown

Ankle Figure 8’s (Horizontal Movement)

Pelvis:

Pelvic Tilt – Forward/Back

Pelvic Tilt – Side/Side

Pelvis Figure 8’s (Horizontal Movement)

Hour Glass (Two Directions)

Thoracic Spine:

Chest CavesàShoulder Retraction

Cervical Spine:

Clean Rotation

Lateral Tilt

Protraction/Retraction (“Chicken Head”)

Head Figure 8’s (Try both Horizontal and Vertical Directions)