Welcome to this eight-week video series brought to you exclusively by Whole Life Challenge in partnership with MobilityWOD. Each week, physical therapist Dr. Kelly Starrett will present you with a simple concept regarding anatomy and movement — as well as some techniques you can incorporate into your daily mobility practice. Note: These techniques are optional and are simply one of the many ways you can accomplish your ten daily minutes of mobility.
Let’s talk about soft tissue basics. If we understand the principle behind an approach, we can then apply the principle to our own individual problems. So how do we know if a tissue is “normal”? Normal tissues are painless to moderate compression, i.e. it shouldn’t hurt to press on or push on an area. If it’s painful, that means you’ve found restrictions in your tissues and, therefore, you know where you need to do some work.
Watch the video to see how I test and help my body with the lacrosse ball. Using myself as an example, I’m going to walk you through how to improve your hamstring and glute health simply by sitting on a ball and practicing deep breathing. Now, we’re not just going to randomly sit on the ball. We’re going to search for problem areas and systematically fix them. Remember, we’re going back to the principle to solve our individual problems.
You may find some really painful areas, so don’t push too hard and remember to breathe! Slowly teach your nervous system that it’s okay to let these muscles relax. Spend about five minutes per leg each day this week and see what a difference this can make in your movement and how you feel.
Kelly is the co-author of two New York Times bestselling books Becoming A Supple Leopard and Ready to Run. He created the wildly popular CrossFit Movement & Mobility Trainer course and has worked with and lectured for every branch of the military, the NBA, NFL, NHL, professional soccer, ballet dancers, cyclists, Olympians, and more.
Kelly’s background as an athlete and coach includes paddling whitewater slalom canoe on the US Canoe and Kayak Teams, and leading the Men’s Extreme Whitewater Team to two national titles and competition in two World Championships. In his free time, Kelly enjoys spending time with his wife, Juliet, and two daughters, Georgia and Caroline, surfing, paddling, CrossFitting, and dancing.
