Where should I start to un-zombify my very zombie self...?

The attached pictures show where I am after 6 months of following Coach's program.  In each case, I am at my absolute end range for these stretches.  (Yes, I was even less mobile/flexible 6 months ago)  Like many in this forum, I find mobility to be the major impediment to my progress, and I am greatly concerned about quality-of-life issues moving forward if I don't address these problems now.  I am 44 years old, 6'2", former basketball player.  Could someone recommend 8-10 mobility exercises as a priority for my granite self?  I have lacrosse balls, resistance bands, Kelly Starrett's book, etc. -- willing to invest the time but not sure what to prioritize. Many thanks.

 

Hi Craig

First of all kudos for posting pictures of things you are struggling with. Often this is of more value to the community than posting pictures of perfect form - something we all have likely seen already. Further down the road you'll find it nice to be able to look back and see how much you've improved, but beware I'm talking months and years rather than weeks.

 

So from your pics I can see that your main deficits are hamstring flexibility and thoracic mobility / shoulder flexion.  Join the club.

 

Hamstring mobility is dealt with in the course and as long as you adjust your form to achieve the best stretch in the hamstrings, exercises like windmills and jefferson curls will serve you well. I also like to add in static stretches, particularly single leg versions since you can focus all your effort on one leg at a time. Things like the traditional toe touch are of limited use IMO until you are more flexible and you have developed more hip flexor strength.

 

I put thoracic mobility and shoulder flexion together since they are often linked and are caused by tightness in some of the same muscle groups. The RC iM's are good for shoulder flexion and there would be no harm in including some of the later iM's in your stretching program. Shoulder mobility is covered extensively in Handstand One. You could say that normal thoracic mobility is a pre-requisite for Foundation, which is an uncomfortable truth for those of us unable to extend our thoracic spines properly. This makes even a passable ABH all but impossible. I have found the following helpful:

- Weighted overhead reaches (with entire back on the floor)

- 'Wall extensions' done on the floor (sometimes assisted with weights)

- Back bends over support

- Assisted overhead reaching - accomplished by standing inside a doorframe, grabbing the top of the doorframe as far back as you can manage and then sliding your lower back down the doorframe until your arms are straight.

All of the above should be approached as assisted active stretches, with the aim of achieving the same range of motion first of all with support/added weight, then without, then without the aid of gravity, then finally against gravity/added weight.

 

The trouble with recommending certain stretches is that what might be ideal for one person has a limited effect on another. The only way I've found to combat this is to keep trying various approaches and then taking advantage of whatever seems to be working best for me at that particular point. The stretch that is of limited use to you now may be the perfect one to use in six months time.

 

Finally I offer another personal observation. I would venture to say that all of the poses in your pictures won't do much for you at this stage. I imagine the last one in particular feels very intense. The stretches that have worked best for me though are those which feel fairly comfortable in a general sense. Yes, the stretched muscles may feel very uncomfortable and perhaps there may be a strong contraction in an agonist muscle, but otherwise the intensity is low. This allows me to spend more time in the stretch and to direct my attention to the areas being stretched. I should make it clear that I'm talking about stretching here as opposed to mobility work, which often seems to be based on the idea of putting yourself in the most uncomfortable position possible.

That's almost impressive inflexibility!

What's been working for me is every morning I go through a mobility routine (joint rotations and a lot of the IM's) followed by some foam rolling and gentle stretching, the whole thing only takes 30 or 40 minutes. If you're a bit cold/tight in the mornings a simple yoga routine (YouTube morning yoga or similar) or SLS:PE 2 (don't go mad on these but 20 reps with a comfortable ROM should be plenty to warm/open the hips up) are excellent to do before hand.

What has worked for me to greatly open up my flexibility has been to do an intense stretching session once a week. I precede it with a 20 minute run to get my body nice and warm (a.k.a. dripping). I then throw on tights and sweats to keep all that heat in and stretch out my tight areas.

I think Murray's daily mobility would help a ton too. I just can't seem to carve out the time to do it every day with my other priorities. Flexibility isn't currently my limiting factor, so that definitely plays into my lack of commitment

Foundation and HS progressively take you through flexibility. MN progressions work a ton on hamstring flexibility. FL progressions work on your back bend. HS rocks the shoulders. Once you get the first few mobilities mastered and move on to harder strength elements, you might find mobility is no longer holding you back.

My favorites:

Hips / Ankles -- Relax in a low squat

Hamstrings -- Windmills

Thoracic extension -- Static Cat (Yoga's Extended Puppy pose)

Shoulders -- Everything in HS

I should add that I'm experimenting with an intensive PNF/loaded stretching routine at the moment that I'm doing every other day.

Early results seem promising.

My best advice for Craig at this stage is be consistent, start gentle and try and figure out what works for your body. In my own case I seem to respond well to loaded stretching/weighted mobility.

Kibbo, Tex, and Murray:  much thanks.  Much to digest and ponder.