Hey Leopard Hoard,

Today’s mission is to tweak some of our anterior hip mobs to improve upon their ability to decrease muscle stiffness. Usually when we load the front of the hip with the band, we are attempting to primarily mobilize the anterior hip capsule (y-ligament or iliofemoral ligament). By adding a movement to an idealized joint position, we create flossing. We’ve got some good flossing for hip flexion (forward folding at the hip) but flossing the anterior chain is a little harder.

During the Movement and Mobility seminar, we talk about the difference between mobilization and an effective warm up. In short, mobilization is not a warm up. However, some mobs are quite appropriate prior to training and competition. Today’s mission is a great example of the dual purposed mob. It’s brutally difficult to open that high hip.

Stiffness kills.

Mission: 2 min each leg/each mob. (for a whopping 8 min!)

Kstar

Hey Mwodistas,

Today’s mission is to take yet another look at a pulling set up. The key to understanding effective pulling is to see the similarities between all pulling styles. In today’s episode, we’ve got Jesse Burdick of Powerwod.com taking us through his pulling set up. Forget his pinche 784 lb deadlift, note that Jesse prioritizes spinal position first, loads his hips next, then tensions with his lower legs. Note also, that like Dine, there is NO change in his spinal position before he pulls.

Mission: Can you reproduce a consistent set up for conventional deadlifting, olympic lifting, and sumo deadlifting? Take your camera and video your back. Note any change in spinal tension or position before you pull.

Kstar

Hey Mwodies,

Today’s mission is to further our discussion about better, more consistent pulling. This time, we are working from the bottom up, instead of from the top backwards. Now clearly, athletes have been effectively pulling from both styles for ever, but it’s no accident that lot’s of great Oly lifters set up from the bottom so that they can optimize their upper back extension. In fact Glen Pendlay just wrote a great article in the magazine Power about the problem with having his Olympic Style weight lifting athletes pull heavy singles. He thinks that the loss of upper back extension potentially reinforces a poor motor pattern for Olympic lifting. I absolutely agree that the upper back position of the best powerlifters looks nothing like, or allows for receiving an enormous load at the shoulders or over head. You can actually experience this set up difference by trying to set up for a snatch from the top, and from the bottom (as Diane Fu does in this video).

We like the bottom up approach (takes some mobility eh?) for olympic lifting because it does set the athlete up for a much better receiving position. Start where you finish right? More importantly thought, you should be able to understand the similarities in both set ups (spine priority, hips loaded, use knees to adjust position) and find the one that best suits you, is most reproducible, and allows you to move the largest weights. Personally, I think athletes should be able to effectively set up from the top and the bottom, because, well, hey, you are an athlete.

Mission: Try a bottom up set up for a few cleans and snatches. How does it differ from a top down set up?

Kstar

Hey Leopards,

Today’s mission is about how to improve the sliding surfaces above your knee. As often as possible we want to mobilize in as close to the the actual movement we are performing as possible. The couch stretch works, true, but it’s still not really squatting. The problem has been to find techniques that are effective and actually can be applied to a working movement and not just it’s analog/correlate. I’m not going to lie, I’m in love with compression flossing. Donnie Thompson showed us how to compress our joints for swelling and Laura Phelps was talking to me about how some powerlifters have been known to duck tape their hammies. And Poof, the idea for compression tack and floss was born. Chances are you are a matted down warrior leopard. Get yourself a PT strength strip from Jumpstretch.com and start the informed freestyling. Remember, numbness is not ok.

In this episode, we are working with Klaus on the area just above his knee. This area is the common tendon for the quads and is in the region of the supra-patellar pouch. So, it’s an area we’ve spent some time tacking with a lacrosse ball. After you’ve taken a look at an athlete’s knee mechanics, work your way upstream to this area and start flossing.

Kstar

Hey MWoders,

As often as possible, we need to connect for our athletes the movements and theory of training and exercise with the common, pedestrian aspects of their locomotive (animal) selves. Running, for example, teaches a great deal about how to correctly walk. Walking with feet turned out (or running) exposes the athlete to significant (insidious and seemingly innocuous) stresses throughout the kinetic chain (flat feet/open knee etc).

While the bio-mechanics are complex, the movement corrections are not. Don’t walk like a duck. Your feet need to be pointed straight during walking for your ankle to actually work like an ankle, and for your knee to work like an actual knee. Get organized. Get your feet straight.

Mission: Through out the the day, see what your resting foot position is. Duck? Out of the Shower? Duck prints behind you? No wonder you have a bunion on your collapsed, plantar surfaces hurting, heel chord torn feet.

Kstar