Welcome back! Today we are going to explore your posterior, distal lower extension mechanism.
Yes, your calves. But before you watch the video, we need to cover a few concepts.
1) If you have pain in a joint like say, your knee. A good place to start mobilizing is right above and below the knee. Say what? Yes, your calf actually crosses your ankle AND your knee. And as such it can cause knee dysfunction. Knee Pain? Start with your calves for example.
Tight calves:
1) Can cause knee pain
2) Limit your movement options in the bottom of movements like the split jerkand the squat.
3) Aren’t sexy
4) Can be one of the causes of a heel cord rupture.
5) Really make running POSE, feel not cool. And running should feel cool.
Test: Butt to ankle squat
Mobilize it-don’t criticize it: 4 min each foot. Time it. Don’t eyeball. We are making performance cakes here.
Re-Test: Is your knee pain better? Try your squat again.
Homework:
1) Anatomy Lesson for Tomorrow: Find out where your PSOAS(s) is/are.
Go to wikipedia. We are going to stop winging it people. You are like a fine swiss watch. You need to know that thing that’s you, is actually called the bezel. And, it’s time you began to know where your business originates and inserts. There will be a quiz.
2) My doctoral work was on adherence. I know you will make an excuse about not having 3 lacrosse balls and some jump stretch bands in a 7 days time. So don’t be that guy.
Go to Rogue and get a medium jump stretch band or two. Like Han Solo: You’re gonna need it.
See you tomorrow, you matted down warriors.
K-supple-star
68 Responses to “Episode 03: New Concept, and Homework….”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- WHITEBOARD – 17 March 2011 « Beyul Training
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- August 12th: T-shirts Are In The House | Crossfit Westside
- A Beginner’s Guide to Running | Nerd Fitness
- Wednesday, September 20, 2011 (20-09-11) « CROSSFIT MOOSE JAW — Building a Fit Community
- a question for fitness gurus | Mark's Daily Apple Health and Fitness Forum page
- Sunday | Momentum of Effort | Stoneway Crossfit WOD
- 2/1/12 WOD | CrossFit Medina
- Gym is looking good!!! « Getting better at life, one WOD at a time.
- WOD – 4/13/12 | CrossFit Regeneration
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Thank you so much for this..
It's well appreciated!
is it bad or ok or great that i feel most of the tension in my achilles? fanks!
Done. Thanks for the video. It really makes it easy to pick up on the nuance of the stretches.
Did the squat last night – felt solid.
That was not as unpleasant as the hip extension stretch. Still nowhere near the ROM you demonstrated in the video and I had a tendency to resist the stretch by attempting to extend the ankle.
Afterwards my squat was much more comfortable, I didn't feel like I was butting into the end of my ankle's ROM as I hit the bottom, I had some room to move. Potentially that could see me with a very knees forward squat if I were to make use of that and I'm working hard on locking in that butt torquing squat position you had me assume when I visited, so I'll keep my knees back. Even then it makes the squat less of an effort and I can concentrate more on driving my knees out.
What's next coach?
Any tips on preventing slippage? Typically I experience the ball of the foot sliding down the wall.
What do you mean 'each foot' with the butt to ankle squat? Are these single leg squats? Apologies if I missed something.
Done. Definatly a goat this one. Squat improved.
Awesome! And thank you so much!
Great blogsite Kelly. I look forward to doing them each day. Would it be more beneficial to do these pre or post wod and how long before or after? Could these be done like a two a day also say first thing in the morning with a warm up and then post wod? Thanks again for all the wonderful knowledge that you pass to us all..
Wow, did'nt know I was this tight. Thank you sir. Yesterdays MWOD big goat of mine.
Shaman's Blow?
Great stuff, thanks KStar! Is there any way to over do this? I am struggling with plantar fasciitis in my left foot and I am hoping this will help by really stretching the calve to hopefully release the achilles and the PF. I am going to keep doing this every single day you post them. Thanks so much!
Kelly, I've just discovered these blogs! This is terrific. You're helping this old lady with her multiplying goats–been back sliding. You are so incredibly generous and caring.
These are all Shaman's blows. videos are great, "pettin the dog, thats what we're talkin about!" I thought I had to figure all this stuff out by myself. I feel like I pulled on a pair of brand new legs and hips just from those last two videos. Anyway, I made this account solely to ask you what to do about stiff shoulders. I had an ac joint separation, then surgery to correct it. It's gotten tight and my body's load bearing is shifting to the right and putting strain on everything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and utilized.
Lance,
Have you watched Kelly's Two Minute Drills from the CrossFit Journal? Those are fantastic drills for your shoulders. They are as effective as they are painful.
Love this stuff!!
Hey Kelly,
The Stretch bands are just the simple woody pull-up bands you are talking about correct?
One more thing. Wikipedia says that there is a psoas minor muscle that exists in less than half the population. does it grant extra ability? how do you know if you have one?
thanks nick
Thank you for this, you're my hero
This is great stuff man, finally a "wod" that i can complete =). Stiff as fuck though.
Again, great stuff!!!
Max
Calves aren't too much of a problem but closing down the ankle joint gives me some anterior pain (mild, old injury scar tissue?). Anyone know if this should be avoided or to what extent progress can be made back into that ROM? BTW highly recommend the Mobility/Recovery Cert. Squatting and deadlifting with the KStarr is awesome. Thanks again for the site!
Just learned of this blog today, was pleased to find that we do #2 and #3 already at my CF gym (#2 my favorite), though holding 2-4 minutes is new. You've sold me on the value of holding the positions, feels like I have new legs (someone else said that too).
Oh, and @Lance: I can't think of any way – short of MRI – to know whether you have a psoas minor. But I doubt it matters in terms of performance. My 2 cents.
As Rx'd. Trying to get my foot flush to the wall was rather difficult and actually caused a slight pain in my lower back. >_< I needed this.
Right on! Not nearly as bad as yesterday, but helpful in loosening everything up. Was definitely feeling the second stretch more in tendon and ligaments around the ankle and not as much in the soleus, which I assume is our target? Thoughts?
Done. Absolutely wonderful feeling after. I was walking in the air.
P.S. – Was I the only one who immediately ordered my band, and went to the local sporting goods store for lacrosse balls? Damn you K-star!
Wow. Been following since you started. My butt wink is finally gone at the bottom of my squat.
Jeffrey, I definitely felt this one in my ankles almost more than in the calves after minute 1.
Thank you so much for this project K-star. Looking forward to shredding my business over the next while with you.
Coach KStar, I have been wanting to come to one of your mobility certs for a long time, but am without a car or much money currently. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise like this. This is a truly incredible project and I will do my best to keep up with it every day.
Jordan. Great news buddy. Keep it up.
Done and done. This helped my squat 10 fold. I also felt this in my ankles more than gastroc and soleus.
Love what you are doing on this site but, and there's always a but, the video taping leaves a bit to be desired. Any way you can enlist someones help so we see more of the movement and less of your tshirt or other parts cuz the camera angle is wrong???
Ahhhmaaaaazing blog, good doctor. Thank you so much. All our athletes will be checking in for their daily dose..
V/r,
Steve
CFM
Great WOD today! I'm pretty mobile in this area but I definitely was feeling some release at the 2 min mark.. Also, a tip of the hat for mentioning visco-elastic properties of fascia. An often ignored component of mobility work. Have you seen the "Strolling Under the Skin" DVD? It's a video of living connective tissue. It totally morphed my understanding of the human body… Insane!!
Awesome!!!! This is so freaking great!!
This is so great. I have wanted to attend a mobility cert. but I haven't had a opportunity to get a foundation in the ideas first. This will allow me to gain some basics and make the most out of your cert.
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!
I did this one about 10 mins after yesterday's hip extension mobility wod- the combination of the two = phenomenal! So comfy in the bottom of my squat right now!
Notice a tightness in the lateral head of my gastroc in my right leg in part II of the stretch I hadn't picked up before… one to work on!
J.
(2:00, 2:00), (2:00, 2:00)
Good stuff, I thought I was fairly mobile until about 3 days ago….
Keep em' coming!
Completed 4 min each side. I felt so much less tension I hadn't even been aware of before doing the stretch. I also felt the bent knee posture in my ankle more than my calf. This wasn't as painful as the quad stretch and both sides seemed pretty equal
Just finally catching up on the comments. This stuff is amazing. Although I'm seeing hell for 10 minutes a day now. The knee to wall hip/quad stretch was the worst for me. I couldn't even get my hand up on my knee and I felt like the tip of my quad was going to explode when I clenched by butt cheek. There was no way I had my hip fully open. Definitely a goat (but with my back/psoas issues I knew that was going to be the case).
Thanks. I think I can officially call myself a Kelly Starrett groupie….
Which tension level band is best/recommended? Thanks!
@MikeP-Medium tension I believe. Rogue sells them in pairs. I got mine from Elitefts (it's the grey one) for about 20 bucks.
Ben, you likely have a talus that is rotated, blocking the normal slide/glide that occurs with Dorsiflexion (pulling toes to shin), A manual therapist or chiro can generally manipulate this for you with a distraction or J-stroke. You can also try band traction with movement, you may feel a big clunk and then motion improves or you will have to work it a bit before you feel the movement free up.
K-Star,
You are the man. What is the Paleo coconut snack!?
Achilles and heel felt the brunt of this stretch. Not as mobile as I thought in the ankle.
Calves were tighter than I expected. The knee bend wasn't too deep either. Injured my left ankle a few mos ago and that was quite evident today.
I'm glad you are trying to get us normal humans up to your standards!
Holy Shizite!
I tried this on myself and had great results, but I also tried this today on my athletes, one in particular that has barely a parallel squat. After just 1:30 seconds per leg his squat depth increased approximately 20 degrees. He was flabergasted <– his word not mind, he's british!
Episode 2 killed me!
I admit, I went in to the pain cave for a short time. I didn't realize how rigid thigh was until i tried this. Episode 1 was ok, just need to work to get those heels on the ground more easily. Thanks Kstar!
I had no clue I was so tight! I was finally able to get my hips to the wall after minute 2. Thank you for this.
i was surprised by how hard this one was for me. i basically had no mobility bending my knee. i do my best to roll calves and feet with baseball but it didn’t help with this one. gonna hammer this one for the next few days.
Nice. My calves feel like bbq’d limes.
Holy crap. Didn’t realize that I have NO mobility in my ankles, particularly the left one. Maybe one my calves have been KILLING me with half-marathon training, eh? This and the hip stretch in epi 2 are real eye openers. Excited to keep going with this stuff, even if I am a couple years behind!!
Great Videos. So many of my patients wonder why I go after the calves when dealing with their knee pain. Essential anatomy.
25/m/6’2″/279.4
Didn’t feel as much when I bent my knee but definitely felt a real good burn when my knee was straight.
thank you kindly, good sir!
My thought with this…those people that have fallen arches or an elongated plantar fascia by stretching in this position aren’t you just further elongating a tissue that is already too long (since you are stretching through the plantar aspect of the foot) and creating increased dysfunction? If you want to truly stretch the ankle joint and increase gastroc/soleus length w/o causing the talus to tilt, shouldn’t you find subtalar neutral so the athlete isn’t crashing through the midfoot to gain dorsiflexion? Love the site BTW! Keep up the great work!