One of the biggest things I focus on clinically in the crossfit athlete (and any other individual that requires full overhead range of motion) is overhead mobility. I regularly get patients that complain of low back pain and pinchy shoulders with overhead movement. It makes sense. If you’re lacking this motion then you’ll be constantly compensating at the lower back and adding more stress at the shoulder during overhead movement (Think kipping, overhead press etc.).
One of my biggest goals as a therapist and coach is to give people the tools they need to take care of their own mobility issues. Sure manual techniques work well in this population but if we aren’t giving people tools to help themselves then they’re lost when they leave your practice. Also keep in mind that manual therapy generally gives short term effects which isn’t always best for a long term fix.
The next piece of the puzzle is that we need exercises that are easy to perform and don’t require a tremendous amount of time. For the coaches and trainers out there who can’t perform manual techniques and wouldn’t be able to regardless because of working in a group setting we need tools that are effective.
I’ve done several overhead mobility videos in the past but I’ve decided to make another video. This time I’ve selected the exercises I find to be most effective and also time efficient. Here it is, 5 minute overhead mobility:
Go get mobile,
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