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Top Mobility Exercises For CrossFit Athletes — Transcript

by Sonny Webster · 3,964 words · 556 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Crossfit and functional fitness are some
0:02of the best ways to build a strong and
0:05athletic body quickly, but they're also
0:07some of the sports that cause the most
0:10amount of injuries and niggles when
0:12people get into the sport due to the
0:14fact that they're so bloody high impact
0:16and there is a huge demand for skill in
0:18some of the movement patterns. But they
0:20also trash your joints if you're not
0:23moving well. So many people complain
0:25about issues with spine, knee,
0:28shoulders, thoracic, wrists, but if we
0:31can get the body moving well through
0:32those specific movement ranges freely
0:35with stability and strength, we can
0:37heavily reduce the amount of pain that
0:38people experience. So, with that being
0:40said, in this video, what I'm going to
0:42be doing is breaking down the key
0:44movement patterns that tend to cause
0:46issues due to lack of poor range of
0:48motion, mobility, and I'm going to help
0:50you fix them if you stick with me. My
0:52name is Sunny Webster and I competed in
0:54the 2016 Olympic Games in the sport of
0:56weightlifting and I've worked with over
0:5840,000 people worldwide improve their
1:01Olympic weightlifting and their mobility
1:03and that includes some of the best
1:04CrossFit athletes in the world. So,
1:06arguably the most common area that my
1:09athletes that do CrossFit or functional
1:11fitness describe feeling pain when it
1:14comes to training is generally in the
1:16shoulders. And that comes from a whole
1:18array of different movements such as
1:20burpees, shoulder to overhead, handstand
1:23push-ups, muscleups, toes to bar, and
1:26everything of the kind. So, we need to
1:28think about how can we prepare the
1:30shoulder and build stability and
1:31strength for a range of motion so that
1:33when doing these movements, we're not
1:35falling into poor positions. So, here's
1:37my first exercise. This one is an
1:39absolute gold mine of a movement and it
1:41kind of encapsulates everything that you
1:43need from improving range of motion to
1:46building stability and building strength
1:48all in one go. So big bang for your buck
1:50with this baby. Okay, so press. This can
1:53be done in a lot of different
1:54variations, but we're going to focus on
1:56the snatch one now. Okay, bar is resting
1:58right up on top of the traps. I'm just
2:00going to spin around and show you this.
2:02You see how that bar is resting right up
2:04on top of my traps? That's crucial. Not
2:06down the back. Okay. So, right up on top
2:08of the traps in this movement. I'll
2:10always set my feet in the receiving
2:12position of my snatch. So, again,
2:15although it may not necessarily be
2:16snatching, it's still going to improve
2:18our squat mobility when we go down to
2:20this bottom position. Now, when I'm in
2:22this lowest range, I'm focusing on
2:24keeping my knees forward over the toes.
2:26And then I'm trying to keep my chest up
2:28and having good thoracic extension. My
2:31elbows are then tucked underneath the
2:32bar. And then from here, I'm pressing
2:35into my overhead position. I'm making
2:38sure from here that I'm controlling the
2:40lower and I'm trying to keep the lower
2:42body as still as possible when I'm
2:44pressing through the movement. I like to
2:47work five sets of five on this movement.
2:49Absolutely fine. The key thing is
2:51control with this exercise. So, we're
2:53working both external rotation, thoracic
2:56extension, wrist mobility, hips, and
2:59ankles all in one go here. Amazing
3:01movement. Now, few of you are going to
3:04be looking at that and going, "Sunny,
3:05you're taking the piss now. There's no
3:06way I can do that movement." There is,
3:08cuz you can scale it. So, if you're
3:11first starting out learning the s press,
3:13start from a standing position. Squeeze
3:15your bum and get comfortable pressing
3:17like so in a standing position, keeping
3:19the body still. Once you have done this,
3:22you're then going to go down to a
3:23halfway squat. Now, when I'm in the
3:25halfway squat, I'm focusing on really
3:27loading the legs in this position, still
3:28keeping the torso upright, and I'm
3:30pressing from here. Over time, what
3:33you're going to find is you're going to
3:34be able to get deeper and deeper in this
3:35bottom position and press from the
3:38lowest point of the socks rest. Once
3:40you've got that full range of motion,
3:42this then becomes an exercise that you
3:44can load up in. Now, what's a good
3:48weight when it comes to stress? I'd say
3:50if you can do three to five repetitions
3:53around 50% of your body weight, great.
3:55If you can get closer to around 70 80%
3:58of body weight, do the five reps.
4:00Probably looking at expert stability and
4:01strength in the bottom position. Right,
4:03second movement. This one's an absolute
4:05banger as well. And it's bottom squat
4:07plate raises. And just like with sock
4:09press, the reason why I love this
4:10movement is because we're not only
4:12looking at shoulders when we're doing
4:14this exercise, we're also hitting hips
4:17and ankles under load, which is
4:19brilliant. So, first things first, top
4:21tip. When you get into this movement,
4:23you don't need any more than like a five
4:24or a 10 kilo disc, but I want you to set
4:26with your feet hugging the plate like so
4:29with the toes very slightly turned out.
4:32This is important because we're creating
4:33enough room then for the hips to sit
4:35into our bottom position. Once my feet
4:37are set there and they're flat on the
4:39floor, I'm then bringing my plate out in
4:41front of me and holding it like so.
4:42Holding on the sides and taking a full
4:44grip. You'll notice how my elbows are
4:47pushed into my knees from this position.
4:49And then from there, what I'm doing,
4:50keeping my knees forward, my feet flat,
4:52I'm bringing my plate up and into my
4:55overhead position. Now, I'm trying to
4:57hold balance here, keeping the arms as
4:58straight as possible, and then I'm
5:00lowering the plate under control. I
5:03bring that plate back into between my
5:05legs, so my knees are forced out, so my
5:07foot is staying flat on the floor. And
5:09then I'm raising up again, holding at
5:11that end of range and controlling the
5:14lower. That is probably the biggest
5:16mistake that people make when they do
5:17this movement. they do it too quickly.
5:19They don't hold the end of range where
5:21we're trying to develop stability and
5:22strength. Okay? And then the final thing
5:25is is when they're coming back down,
5:26there's too much lower body movement.
5:28Try and keep the head completely still,
5:30lower body still, and just isolate the
5:32movement here of the shoulder. Again,
5:35three to five sets absolutely fine. With
5:38all my priming mobility, I only want you
5:41spending 10 to 15 minutes a day doing
5:44these mobility exercises. That's exactly
5:46what we do in the daily mo. You don't
5:48get great mobility by just all of a
5:50sudden doing three workouts on it,
5:52spending an hour and expect to be super
5:54mobile. It's an extended period of small
5:58amount of time being consistent that
6:00leads to the best results. Don't forget
6:01to go check out Daily MO if you haven't
6:03already. Next up is thoracic spine. Now,
6:06this is a crucial one if you're doing
6:08CrossFit purely because the amount of
6:09kipping movements that are required for
6:11you to do whenever you're doing anything
6:13gymnastic based such as toes to bar
6:16muscle ups etc. If you struggle through
6:19range of motion of your thoracic, it
6:20makes it very difficult for you to be
6:22efficient in the kipping movement. So
6:25again, there's a common theme with a lot
6:26of the exercises and drills we've been
6:28doing so far. We're targeting multiple
6:30areas in one go. This is an absolute fan
6:34favorite and this is called rightbacks.
6:36Nice simple one for you to be able to do
6:37at home if you've got a ball or at the
6:40gym if you got a wall ball, but you'll
6:42need that and a plate. Now, when I'm
6:44setting up for this exercise, what I'm
6:46doing is I'm putting the wall ball right
6:47into the lower of my back. I'm keeping
6:49my feet up and I'm making sure my bum is
6:51staying on the floor here. From there,
6:53I'm taking my shoulders back and behind
6:55the wall. So, do that without the plate.
6:57Get a feel for that. And all of a
6:59sudden, you'll feel already that you're
7:01getting put into great thoracic
7:02extension. For a few of you, this is
7:04going to feel really tight. Okay. Now,
7:07from this position, what you're going to
7:08then do is take the plate up and
7:10overhead. We're then going to let the
7:11disc go back behind the head. The head's
7:14going to come through.
7:16We're going to feel that stretch at the
7:17end of range and then come back in
7:19front. Each time you're going back, try
7:22and keep those arms straight. Let the
7:23head come through just like you would do
7:25when you're kipping. and then return the
7:27plate back in front of the body. I'm
7:29using a 5 kilo disc here. I don't think
7:32you need to use much heavier than that
7:34or a 10 kilo. The key goal here is to
7:37build and accumulate rapid tushness at
7:39that end of range like I said and
7:40feeling the stretch through the lat and
7:42the tricep as you go back. Most
7:44important thing as I mentioned here is
7:46when we're taking that plate back, the
7:48head is coming through and the arms are
7:50staying straight. You'll feel the
7:51midline working as well when you're
7:54going back into this position. So, the
7:56next one is our kettle bell thoracic
7:57opener. Now, I'm going to advise that
7:59you either get a mat or a couple of
8:01these pads when you're doing this
8:02movement so you don't absolutely destroy
8:05your knees. But what I'm doing is I'm
8:07setting them just outside shoulder width
8:09in terms of where I want those knee
8:10pads. I'm then going to grab myself a
8:12couple of sturdy kettle bells. You don't
8:15want them to be too light here, or else
8:16they're just going to fall over the
8:18show. Okay. I like this one as a static
8:20stretch because again, it really allows
8:22you to breathe and stretch into that end
8:24of range when you're doing the movement.
8:26So, I'm moving the kettle bell out to
8:28just outside shoulder width and away
8:31from the body here. Okay? So, I can
8:33really lean into this. I've got my knees
8:36on the pads like so, inside the feet
8:38down. And then from there, I'm gripping
8:41with the palm facing up on the kettle
8:43bell. So once I've got my grip here, the
8:46goal is to drop the chest down towards
8:49the floor, keeping the arms straight,
8:52and feeling the stretch now through
8:54external rotation, but also this then
8:57pulling through the lats. So I'm
8:59breathing and breathing out, relaxing
9:02into the movement, holding at that end
9:04of range. I'm trying to get to the point
9:06where my chest is sitting below the hand
9:08line, and I'm holding here. I'm at like
9:10a seven out of 10 uncomfortable, but
9:13already over the period of the 20
9:14seconds I was just holding in that
9:16position, my chest was starting to get
9:18lower to the floor. Again, this is a
9:20great one to open up the shoulders, the
9:22thoracic for any of our overhead
9:23movements or any of the kipping ones,
9:26too. Next up is the hips. And 90% of
9:29people neglect this area. And if you're
9:31anything like me and spend a lot of time
9:33at a desk, you can get extremely tight
9:35through the hip. And this becomes an
9:37issue in something like CrossFit or
9:39functional fitness because there's so
9:41many movement patterns that you'll be
9:43doing from walls to thrusters to lunges
9:45to squats to snatches to cleans that
9:48require you to break 90° which is why we
9:51need to have great range of motion in
9:53the hips. And this isn't just about
9:55flexibility. This is about building
9:57stability and strength through the
9:59articulation of the hip socket. So, I've
10:02got some key exercises here for you that
10:04you can start building into your routine
10:05that will really make those bottom
10:06positions feel a lot more comfortable.
10:08And this is exactly why I put such an
10:11emphasis on you actually working through
10:13mobility pre-training. Cuz if you think,
10:15if you're jumping into a workout and you
10:17haven't mobilized your hips, you're
10:19going to be moving through some
10:21substandard movement patterns when you
10:23actually start to build into that
10:24workout. And it won't actually be until
10:26the later part of the workouts, whether
10:28you're doing thrusters, cleans, or
10:29wobbles, where you're starting to
10:31actually break that 90 degree barrier
10:33and work the muscle through a full range
10:35of motion. So again, just as much about
10:37as this having good movement patterns
10:39and reducing risk of injury, this is
10:41about you actually having a better
10:42quality standard movement and actually
10:44building muscle much faster. This first
10:46one's such a nice, easy one, and it's
10:48the couch stretch. And the reason why I
10:50love this one is because you can do it
10:51at home. You don't need to be at the gym
10:53to do this movement. So it ties in
10:54nicely to what I was just telling you
10:56about. Grab yourself a bench sofa. It's
10:58called a couch stretch for a reason. But
11:00what you're going to do is you're going
11:01to hook the foot onto the top or the
11:02edge of the couch like so. And then from
11:04there, you're dropping your knee down.
11:06Now, this one's great again if you spend
11:08a lot of time seated because you'll
11:10shorten through the hip flexor. When
11:12we're doing the couch stretch, what
11:13we're doing is we're trying to drive
11:15those hips forward like so and tuck the
11:17bum back behind the foot line here. So
11:21once in this position, I'm focusing on
11:23keeping my hips square and I'm keeping
11:25my chest up and my eyes pointing
11:27forward. And I'm feeling the stretch
11:28down now through the quad and through
11:30the front of the hip like so. As this
11:33starts to ease, you can actually work
11:35your bum a little bit further back,
11:36maintaining extension through the hips
11:39and hold in this position. Again, this
11:42becomes super beneficial for us in any
11:44movements where we have to hit
11:46extension. Again, like when we're
11:48snatching, when we're cleaning, or even
11:51like you think movements where you're
11:53kipping and your feet are going back
11:54behind hip and shoulder line, you have
11:56to be able to extend through this
11:58position. So, it comes a really good
12:00good warm up for us. I tend to hold for
12:03about 90 seconds in this position. And
12:05over the period of the 90 seconds, I'll
12:08increase the intensity of this stretch.
12:10If you also want to increase it, a nice
12:12simple way to do this is to actually
12:14take the hand from supporting and bring
12:16that up and over the head. So, we're
12:19lengthening through the side that we're
12:21stretching and holding. All right, our
12:23next movement is the co-ac squat. This
12:26is a great one. There's absolutely no
12:27hiding on this movement. And again, like
12:29the theme we went over with the
12:31shoulders, we're going to work
12:32adductors, ankles, and hips all in one
12:35go whilst working on torso position. So
12:38getting into the KAC squat, what I want
12:40you to do is take a wide stance. So your
12:43outside shoulder width almost creating
12:45like an A with your feet to your hips.
12:48Right now from here, what we're going to
12:50do is we're going to load front loaded
12:52with our kettle bell. You can hold it
12:53like this or you can turn on its head
12:55and hold it like so. Now to begin the
12:58coat, we're going to break one knee and
13:00we're going to start squatting into this
13:02side. But simultaneously as we squat to
13:04the side, we're going to turn the toes
13:06up towards the side on the other side.
13:08And we're going to keep the torso
13:09upright and chest pointing forward.
13:11We're then going to push away with that
13:14leg. Return to the A position. Break the
13:16knee on the other side. Let the toe pop
13:18up. And then again, hold in our bottom
13:20squat. Now, when I'm in this bottom
13:22squat, what I'm focusing on doing is
13:24keeping the knee tracking over the toe,
13:25foot staying flat, torso staying as
13:27upright as possible, and then this leg
13:30is straight, feeling the stretch through
13:31the adductor. Okay? And then from there,
13:34like I said, to stand back up from this
13:36position, I'm pushing smoothly with that
13:38leg so the torso stays upright, and then
13:41transitioning again to the other side.
13:43Again, a great dynamic stretch for you
13:46to be doing to mobilize in all the key
13:48areas that you'll need to be in if you
13:50want to sit deep in those bottom squat
13:52positions. Remember, one of the key
13:53areas that prevents people from sitting
13:55deep with an upright torso position in
13:58anything when we're loaded overhead is
13:59tightness through the adductors. So,
14:01this is a great one to put into your
14:03buildup routine. And finally, we're
14:05moving on to the ankles. Now, this is
14:07probably one of the key areas I see
14:09people struggle with the most,
14:10especially if it's to do with anything
14:12like running, box jumping,
14:14weightlifting, you name it. We need good
14:16range of motion in the ankles so that
14:18the hips, shoulders, thoracic don't end
14:20up having to compensate for poor range
14:23of motion in dorsif flexion. Okay? So,
14:27this is why this has need be in anyone's
14:29program if they struggle with mobility.
14:32I've got a couple of amazing exercises
14:34for you. Now, the first one is quite
14:36challenging. We're going to be doing the
14:38loaded pistol squat. But don't worry,
14:40I've got a slightly easier variation for
14:42you to do as well. So, we're going to
14:43need that kettle bell again. So, for the
14:45loaded pistol squat, this is way too
14:47heavy.
14:49For the loaded pistol squat, what we're
14:51going to be doing again, we're going to
14:52be front loaded with our kettle bell
14:55like so. From here, what we're going to
14:56be doing is we're going to go one foot
14:58out in front of the body down into our
15:00bottom of the squat and then push with
15:02the leg like so to stand up. When I'm
15:05going down into that bottom position,
15:07I'm doing my best to control the
15:08descending phase to the bottom of the
15:10squat, keeping the leg as straight as
15:11possible, and then pushing with the leg
15:14to stand up. You can then alternate
15:16sides. No doubt you're going to have one
15:18that's easier than the other, but again,
15:20focusing on that knee tracking over toe
15:22and then pushing with the leg to stand
15:24up. This is a great one because it's
15:26getting you used to again, like I said,
15:28work through the ankle dorsy flexion,
15:30work on thoracic extension because we're
15:32front loaded, and then utilize the quad
15:35to stand up at the lowest range. If you
15:38can't do that and it is hard, then you
15:41can set up a box behind you and just
15:43start off by actually just working. I'm
15:45actually going to show you. I've got a
15:46box over here. Come with me. What you
15:48can do is just with the way the bench is
15:50set up here, we can go down, kiss the
15:53box or the bench with your bum and then
15:55stand up from that. That's going to get
15:57you used to strengthening and loading
15:59through the quad and the ankle in that
16:01range. Over time, you're going to be
16:03able to drop that lower and lower
16:04through the movement. And for the final
16:06time with the trusty kettle bell, we're
16:08going to do fox elevated or bench
16:11elevated kettle bell loaded
16:14ankle glide. Now, this is a great one
16:17again because what I'm using is the load
16:19here from the kettle bell. Making sure
16:21that the heel is staying flat onto the
16:23bench like so. And focusing specifically
16:25on that tracking of the knee over the
16:27toe at the end of range. As I'm coming
16:29back here, I like to do a little stretch
16:31through the hamstring as I'm doing this.
16:32But then again, putting emphasis on
16:35trying to get as far forward with that
16:36knee over the toe in the end of range,
16:39applying pressure through my kettle
16:40bell, and then returning back. Again,
16:43you want to accumulate quite a lot of
16:45repetitions with this exercise. 10 to 15
16:47is absolutely perfect. Most important
16:49things when you're doing it though is
16:51making sure the hips are staying
16:52pointing forward and that knee tracking
16:54is directly over the second toe. I don't
16:58want to see knee collapsing in like so.
16:59I don't want to see heel popping up off
17:01the floor. I just want to see that
17:02tracking straight forward into the
17:04bottom position. extremely important for
17:07us to be able to maintain again a good
17:09upright torso position. But most of all,
17:11load the quad in the bottom range of the
17:14squat. You think about whenever we're
17:15loading in weightlifting movements,
17:18generally we're going to be overhead or
17:20front loaded. If we let too much load
17:23sit into the hips and in the glutes, the
17:25chest drops. So, it's really important
17:27whenever we're doing our mobility, we're
17:28thinking knees forward. Load those
17:29quads so we can keep those
17:31elbows upright
17:33and have a much happier bottom position
17:35of the squat. Mate, we can't miss this
17:37last bit. This is the secret. This is
17:39the secret source. Now, if you do a lot
17:42of box jumps or running, this is an
17:43absolute bonus for you, right? Get
17:46yourself a bar as part of your warm up.
17:48Kick those shoes off. What I want you to
17:50do is spend a little bit of time
17:52actually releasing the fascia on the
17:54bottom of the foot. Now you'll see I'm
17:56running my foot over the barbell like
17:58so. You can get really tight in the
18:00bottom of the fascia of the foot and
18:02also through the backs of the calves as
18:03well, which has a huge impact on ankle
18:06dorsif flexion. So spending literally 60
18:09seconds each side rolling out the bottom
18:10of the foot, you're going to feel some
18:12sharp sort of popping pains as you're
18:13doing this movement. Also a great
18:15addition for ankle mobility. So
18:17remember, if you're doing CrossFit four
18:20to six times a week, functional fitness,
18:22whatever it may be, mobility is not
18:24optional. It's essential, and it's
18:26something that you can build into your
18:28warm-up routine or something that you do
18:30before you get to the gym for a number
18:32of reasons. Not only is it going to
18:34allow you to work your muscle groups for
18:35a fuller range of motion, allow you to
18:37be more efficient with the movement
18:39patterns that you are doing, but it's
18:41also going to help reduce your risk of
18:43injury, which is crucial. Remember, we
18:45train for fun. Now, if you found this
18:47video useful, I've put together a full
18:50step-by-step guide to help you improve
18:52your range of motion, develop strength
18:54and stability through it on a daily
18:57basis through the Daily MO at the
18:59mobility manual. I'm going to pop a link
19:01to that below this video. It'll be the
19:02best investment that you make into your
19:04training this year. My name is Sunny
19:06Webster. Thank you very much and I'll
19:08see you next

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