Ido has a couple mobilization routines that I've found to be very helpful in my training. They're useful for both improving mobility and stability about the joints and decreasing joint pain. Let's take a look.
Ido's Squat Clinic, great for improving the depth of your squat and lower body function. In particular I've found the second and third exercises, the rotations, to be useful for eliminating knee pain due to tight hip rotators. I always do them before any workout that involves squats (and everyone should be doing squats of some kind!).
Scapular Mobilization, increasing function about the shoulder blades. In particular I do shoulder dislocations (don't let them name scare you away) with a band and the whippet on a fairly regular basis. Good for part of your warm-up on upper body days or if you're having a bit of shoulder pain.
And finally, Shoulder Mobilization. Again, something I do on most upper body days to prepare my shoulder joints for the stresses of the training session.
Some kind of mobility work should always be a part of your warm-up prior to doing any form of resistance training. This helps to warm up and lubricate the joints, as well as increasing their range of motion and stability through that range of motion.
Quick disclaimer: if you're doing mobility work to deal with pain in a joint, be careful of course. Move through motions gently with light or no resistance and if something really hurts, don't do it. Movement is great for healing injuries, but you want to be moving in the right ways.
In the end: mobility training is one of the most vital aspects of training, especially if you want a long training career and good movement later in life. Specific mobility for the joints you're planning to work in a training session is a wonderful addition to the warm-up and will help keep you pain and injury free on top of increasing range of motion. Just do it.
- Jonathan
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