We’re going to continue on with my mobility rewind. I successfully made it to the gym this evening. Boy, did it feel good. I put in a lil work, helped a couple athletes with their mobility and got to observe the afternoon & evening classes putting in work.
We have some mobility challenges when it comes to the Front Squat. We need to work on that front rack position as well as get those hips mobilized. The great part is, everything I saw is so easily correctable with a few mobilization movements. You will be amazed at how much your performance will improve with your Front Squat once you can attain optimum position.
The next set of mobility terminology focuses on the actual movement techniques you can and will perform when doing mobility. If you’ve asked for my help, or spent any time with me and mobility, some of these terms will sound familiar. Bear in mind a lot of this language will make more sense during a demonstration:
Snow angel / blue angel / blue snow angel – term used to describe the action of lying on your stomach and mimicking the tranditional ‘snow angel’ movement of rotating your arm from down at your side to above your head in an arc-like motion. Unlike the traditional snow angel, your lying on your stomach. You will have some type of mobility ball between your body and the floor and will usually target your chest muscle (pect muscle) and/or or shoulder girdle. You will perform the blue snow angel one arm at a time.
Contract & Relax – act of tightening and relaxing a specific body part and/or muscle group during mobilization. For example while mobilizing your hamstring, utilizing the mobility ball on your posterior thigh you’ll contract and relax your hamstring muscle in the back of your thigh all while the mobility ball is on the ugly bits of your hamstring.
Tack & Floss – term used to describe flexing and extending a specific joint while mobilizing to help unglue your junky tissue. For example, lying on your stomach, using the foam roller on your anterior thigh. Once you find an ugly bit, you stay stationary and then flex and extend your knee. You’re ‘tacking’ down the ugly bit and then ‘flossing’ out the junky tissue.
Pressure wave – a loose term used to describe what a stationary object is doing to the muscles being mobilized. For example, while sitting on the monkey bar to mobilize your hamstring, you can roll the bar forward and backward to create a pressure wave that can build up and then release some of your junky tissue that is matted and glued down.
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