Mobility

Zachary Long explains how to identify and correct flexibility limitations in the front-rack position.

Front-rack positioning can make or break the CrossFit athlete.

Poor flexibility in the front rack is one of the most frequent complaints in the gym, and without good positioning an athlete’s ability to properly perform the front squat, clean, overhead press and jerk can be significantly affected.

The front-rack position is a combination of several motions: shoulder flexion… Continue Reading

Identifying and correcting range-of-motion, stability and technique issues will pay dividends when athletes are upside down.

Many exercises commonly used in CrossFit are also frequently used by athletes participating in other sports. However, the handstand—fundamental to gymnastics—is a rarely employed training tool in other sports but an essential part of CrossFit.

The handstand requires considerable amounts of both joint mobility and stability if it is to be performed with optimal… Continue Reading

Rarely is physical therapy funny. But with movement and mobility guru Kelly Starrett at the helm, laughs are guaranteed.

During the CrossFit Experience at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games, the doctor of physical therapy talks about good posture and how it translates to athleticism.

“I want you to take a huge breath in your belly—big breath. Hold it. Now get tight. How’s that workin’ for ya?” he asks the crowd… Continue Reading

The language of strength and conditioning is the language of human movement. So says movement and mobility guru Kelly Starrett, who also founded San Francisco CrossFit.

In this video, he and powerlifter Jesse Burdick demonstrate how they’re saying the same things but with different cues in teaching the sumo deadlift.

The first idea they tackle is “get tight.” For beginners, that can be an esoteric concept that’s difficult to grasp, Burdick says.

… Continue Reading

The language of strength and conditioning is the language of human movement. So says movement and mobility guru Kelly Starrett, who also founded San Francisco CrossFit.

In this video, Starrett and powerlifter Jesse Burdick demonstrate how they’re saying the same things with different cues in the set-up for the sumo deadlift.

“The most effective positioning is the same language you’ve been using with all your friends,”… Continue Reading

Once you mobilize the muscle, you mobilize the joint. In this video, movement and mobility guru Kelly Starrett presents two ways of mobilization with band distraction and compression/approximation.

The band acts as a force multiplier, he says while stretching an attendee at the trainer course with a resistance band.

“His capsule is thick and powerful,” Starrett says. “If I don’t put some kind of vector or encourage a different motion or a… Continue Reading

In this video, movement and mobility expert Kelly Starrett talks about lengthening the muscle via proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF.

To illustrate, he has class participants get into the deadlift position, relax and re-tension.

“What are we doing here? Testing and retesting, showing that there’s actual change,” he says.

Next, it’s time to bring the hammer down on the posterior chain, Starrett says.

He asks everyone to lie on the floor and pull one… Continue Reading

Externally rotating the ankles not only creates the right tension, but it also stabilizes the back and forces the torso upright. Mobility guru Kelly Starrett says the movement is important for the set-up of the deadlift as well as the Olympic lifts.

“I contend that if you turn that foot out as an unconscious compromise, you’re immediately going to collapse through the ankle,” he says. “And that sets me up … so my only plane… Continue Reading