Mobility

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. “It’s like putting a bounce house… 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.

“If… 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,” Starrett says to… 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 hinge going on there, I’m… 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 of force is to rotate in—’cause… Continue Reading

The deadlift set-up is easy, says Kelly Starrett: get stiff, load the hips, send the knees forward, pull back, stand up. It’s a strategy athletes should use every time they approach the barbell, and it becomes increasingly important when they’re tired, he says.

“We want to do the same thing every time, particularly when it becomes a complex motor skill and all of a sudden there’s a lot of things going on—I’m breathing hard… Continue Reading

At Kelly Starrett’s box, San Francisco CrossFit, ring dips are an intermediate skill.

The key to the movement is external rotation of the arms for the best efficiency and mechanics, says the movement and mobility guru.

During this trainer course, Starrett has three male athletes hold the top of the ring-dip position. None are in the correct position. All three started and finished in internally rotated positions. The turned-out finish position of the arms… Continue Reading