Be Wise – Mobilise

An Olympic lifting coach once said that for every minute of strength training you do, you should do a minute of mobility. Ideally double that. That’s not realistic for everyone, but you get the point. We major on the training and minor on the stretching.

The movements you make every day often involve stretching, whether you intend them to or not. For example when you get out of bed in the morning your body makes a whole host of different movements. However often these stretches are done in a bad way which will lead to injury. Think of the body’s position as you sit up in bed in the morning – ouch, poor back!

 
The other problem we have in our western culture is that the postures we adopt often lead to stiffness and a tight muscle system. Sitting at a desk or table, driving a car, using a laptop or tablet – all prime examples of activities that promote poor posture. I find that the vast majority of my clients are incredibly tight, particularly in their hip flexors and shoulders. If you don’t mobilise you will find that when you exercise your body is in a poor position to carry out movements safely and efficiently.

 
Taking this into consideration you might find that mobility has become a tag on to your workout – slipped in hurriedly at the end, or even the first thing to go out of the window if you run out of time. It may become the element of your workout that you do begrudgingly out of a sense of duty. Or the part that you don’t do but feel a nagging guilt that you should… like eating vegetables you hate.

 
To stop this happening I incorporate mobility into everyday activities like brushing my teeth or watching TV. Below are a couple of stretches I often use. Come along to a PT session or one of my group classes in Dorchester, Tincleton or Tolpuddle if you want to see more.

The Teeth Brusher (one I do when brushing my teeth)
- stretches: hip flexors
- method: place one knee on the floor close to a wall facing away from the wall. Allow the top of your foot to rest against the wall so that your shin is parallel to the wall. Step your other foot out so that your knee is at a right angle and your foot below your knee. You should feel the stretch in the hip flexors of the leg that’s up against the wall. To accentuate the stretch try to straighten up your torso so that you are facing away from the wall, drive the hips forward… and squeeze the bum (my golden rule before you doing anything in life)

The Teeth Brusher

The Sad Neck Stretch (a more subtle one that can be done in a crowd)
- stretches: upper trapezius
- method: rotate your head about 45 degrees to one side and slightly down, as if you’re looking at the floor beside and slightly in front of you… like you’re feeling sad. Bring your opposite shoulder down and back with the back of your hand pressing into the small of your back. At this point you should feel the stretch in the shoulder and side of the neck that you are facing away from. To accentuate the stretch take the hand that you’re facing towards and apply some pressure on the upper side of your head that you’re facing away from, and move the hand that is in the small of your back down to your bottom.

The Sad Neck Stretch

In short start incorporating stretching into your everyday life, no not becoming obsessed with it but using “dead time” wisely. As I write this I’m lying on my front with a lacrosse ball just above my knee joint, and I’m just opening an closing the leg to mobilize my knee… yeah I’m a cool kid.

Dorchester personal trainer - Dave Wall - www.dorchesterpersonaltraining.co.uk