Post 8: Mobility as A Component of Training

          To follow up on Post 6: "Foam Rolling & The Kinetic Chain," I decided to post about mobility drills. To re-cap on Post 6, the kinetic chain is basically the muscular connection that dissipates external loading throughout the entire body. This is an amazing natural phenomena that serves us well during training, competing, and generally living life. However, if we do not pay attention to what our bodies tell us, the chain can serve as a catalyst for chronic injuries and eventual sidelining. When we experience things like pain, tightness, and decreased joint range of motion, we need to step back and look at the big picture. For instance, when dealing with tightness or discomfort in the hips, how often do we recognize that the athlete has poor ankle mobility (elevated heels) during his squats in the weightroom? Unfortunately, not often enough. Although this is only one potential cause, it shouldn't be ruled out.

           So what is mobility? Mobility is essentially our capacity to move through voluntary (or active) range of motion about a joint, or a series of joints. Typical problem areas for athletes are ankle, shoulder, and thoracic spine range of motion. When joint ROM is compromised, the body accounts for deficiencies by redistributing the stress to typically less involved muscle groups and joints. The result is never pretty, and the root cause is often improperly diagnosed. Joint capsules have no direct blood flow and are therefore reliant on controlled movement to mobilize their natural lubricants (synovial fluid) and remove waste products and/or mineral buildups from inside them.

          It is unrealistic to expect that ALL athletes will address joint mobility in their warmup without supervision and nagging. So let's address what are (in my opinion) a few very useful movements that can help to get those joints moving the way they need to be. We typically have our athletes foam roll before they even look at a squat rack or platform. After this we spend a few minutes doing some simple ankle, and T-spine mobility. Ankle mobility drills can be as simple as elevating the toes 1 1/2 - 2 inches while standing and tracking the knees over the toes. Basic T-spine mobility can be performed in a 4-point position, and lifting one arm laterally and reaching towards the ceiling. Dynamic stretching involving the hips can work wonders for hip mobility and range of motion prior to training. Personally, I am a big fan of Rob Shaul's "mountain athlete" hip mobility - you can check it out here and here.

           In summary, spending just a few minutes a day incorporating mobility drills and preventative methods into warmups and preparation goes a long way to decrease chronic injury. If we come across chronic and nagging injuries, it is important to not give ALL of our attention to the one problem area. We need to assess other factors that may be contributing to the onset of these conditions, and mobility of the primary movers are a great place to start. There are a number of available programs that are good coaching tools for helping to recognize areas that need improvement. I briefly discuss two systems that are pertinent to identification and restoration of muscular imbalances and the kinetic chain below.

          Gray Cook helped in the release of the the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) back around 1995. The FMS is a battery of tests designed to help coaches identify important deficiencies in their athletes. Using movements such as the overhead squat and in-line lunge to name a couple, athletes attempt to demonstrate mobility and stability. I am currently spending some time experimenting with these assessments, and will post more on our results.

For more on Functional Movement Screening, click here

           Within the last ten years or so, the Postural Restoration Institute has shed light on the fact that the body is asymmetrical, and in doing so has developed a revolutionary set of rehab modalities that can help to reduce detrimental effects that result from the natural left-right discrepancies in the human body. I will post more on this as I gain familiarity with their techniques and methods.

For more on the Postural Restoration Institute, click here

-Alex