Friday, 2 Dec 16

MOBILITY

UPPER BODY

LATS - FOAM ROLL

2:00 Each Side

Mobilize your lats by laying on your side with the foam roller high towards the armpit area. Pinning your lat to the foam roller, make large sweeping motions. 2:00 on each side, seeking out tight areas. Spend several moments on a “tight area”, using multiple arm sweeps to loosen the area. Be a mine-sweeper, seeking these tight spots.

PECT MINOR - LACROSSE BALL

2:00 Each Side

Lay on the ground, stomach down, with a lacrosse ball. Put your right arm behind your back, opening up the right shoulder and pec. Place the ball where the pec meets the shoulder, and slowly move about with pressure seeking out tight areas. Mobilizing this tissue allows for your shoulders to externally rotate better.

SHOULDER TO FLOOR

1:00 Each Side

From a kneeling position with both hands on the floor in front of you, walk one hand an extra foot forward. With the opposite hand, reach beneath and across your torso. Reach as far as you can, and slowly relax the shoulder to the floor. This stretch will be felt across the side of the shoulder (the deltoid).

PUPPY DOG POSE

2:00 Total

Take a kneeling position, and extend your arms out in front of you on the floor. Keeping the femur (thigh) vertical, hips in the air, allow your chest to start to sink to the floor. Aim to keep your hands at shoulder width in front of you, and slowly let this stretch open the shoulders over the course of the 2:00 duration. Relax into it.

LOWER BODY

QUAD/ADDUCTOR - FOAM ROLL

2:00 Each Leg

Start high towards the hip, and work down towards the knee (core to extremity). Mash the quads with a foam roller, slowly moving high at the hip flexor down towards just above the patella(knee bone). After a full pass, from hip flexor to knee, go high to low again but this time on the inside of your thigh (adductor). 2:00 on each leg, seeking out tight areas.

STRADDLE STRETCH

2:00 Total

With legs at 90 degrees, slowly walk your hands out in front of you, bringing your chest forward moving into the stretch. Slowly work your hands out further as your hamstrings and adductors open – let it be a process.

KNEELING SPLIT

2:00 Total

From a kneeling position, begin to slide your legs apart, slowly moving into a split position. As we move into this stretch, ensure the ankle is behind the knee – not flared in our out. Pause when you feel the stretch in the adductors, and to accentuate the stretch over the two minutes, slowly start to push your hips back.

COUCH STRETCH

2:00 Each Side

Facing away from a wall in a kneeling position with hands on the floor for support, place one leg so that the shin bone is as close to the wall as possible (the respective foot will be in the air). Slowly bring the opposite foot up in front of you, and keep the heel down for a base of stability. Slowly bring your chest up as you imagine driving your waist forward, and hold at a position that provides a deep, but overwhelming stretch. Focus on your breathing.

PIGEON POSE

2:00 Each Side

From a pushup position, sweep one leg beneath your body. Let’s use the right as an example. With your right leg beneath your body, aim to adjust your shin so that it is perpendicular to your torso – in other words, horizontal in relation to where your torso is facing. Slowly imagine sinking your waist back and down to the floor as you feel the stretch in the outside of your hip.

WARRIOR SQUATS

10 Reps on each Side

We can place a hand on the foot to root ourselves. Focus on rotating at the shoulder, as opposed to the hip. Imagine your hips are fixed in space, and it is your upper back (thoracic) that is rotating to reach with that outstretched hand.