Spring Training Flows w/ @MobilityMaker


Spring Training is here and @MobilityMaker has what you need to move and feel better.


Dana has been working with MLB teams for over a decade and her work has kept players healthier and on the field longer. 


The beauty of Dana's work is that it is meant for everyone. Give the below flows a go and let us know how you feel!


Movement 1






 


Movement 2















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CMB Roll Ups are one of my favorite total-body, core-focused exercises. I learned them from my #brotherinstrength????♥️ @realrudyreyes at #SummerStrong a couple of years ago. . This video is of my last set from yesterday’s #garagegym session. I was a little tired...but my form is still pretty much on point. I love this exercise—but there’s no question that five sets of ten (this was the 5th set) crush me!???? . Want to give it a try? Here are a few important points: ✅Keep your feet planted and leverage a strong exhale with core engagement to roll up into the deep squat—rather than only relying on the momentum of the overhead weight to propel you forward and up. ✅In order to perform this safely, you need the dorsi flexion and hip mobility to perform a deep squat. If you aren’t there yet, regress this exercise to simply rolling up to a seated position; practice TRX-supported deep squats and dorsi flexion exercises to gain the necessary mobility to progress. ✅Pick a weight that you can safely sustain as you get tired. I could do a set or two of ten with the 35lb CMB…but it would start to become dangerous for me after that. Instead, I use a 20lb CMB for all 50 reps—maintaining decent (safe) form throughout all sets. . BTW, if you’re unfamiliar with CMBs, they’re Center Mass Bells (made by my friends at @sorinex ). Although I really like doing this exercise with them, you could use a dumbbell held on either end or even a smaller med ball.????


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Movement 3















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If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m not a fan of passive flexibility. Splits don’t impress me.???? In fact, unless you have a fairly equal range of motion throughout all aspects of your hip movement and can come into and out of splits in the same manner with precise control…your passive flexibility is likely inhibiting your overall ability to move, increasing your likelihood of muscle tear or strain and degrading the integrity of your joints over the long term.???? . That’s why my mobility programming focuses on exercises that enable control throughout a full range of joint motion—purposefully training strength, stability and mobility to move better overall, rather than training flexibility to get into a particular position.???? . That’s also why I love incorporating @sklz Court Slidez into my own and my athlete clients’ training. This video shows three examples of how I used them in my #garagegym session yesterday. 1️⃣Slideback Lunges with a 20kg kettlebell during my lift. 2️⃣”Van Damme” Slide Outs 3️⃣Pistol Squat Variation with a 10lb Plate Overhead . Between these three exercises, we cover a controlled range of hip motion in extension, flexion, abduction, and adduction. . If the full version of these exercises isn’t for you yet, no worries. It took me a while to build up to them as well. Try these more accessible regressions for each????: 1️⃣Bodyweight or lighter KB or dumbbell reverse lunge. 2️⃣Slide-out lateral lunge. 3️⃣Pistol Squat Variation holding TRX handles (no weight) . If you don’t already have them, you can get a set of SLIDEZ from my friends at @perform_better ????.


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Movement 4















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Looking through video of our #garagegym training session yesterday, I found this clip of @donovan.santas & I doing some post-lift pistol squat play. . Thought it would be good to share as a reminder that training sessions should be fun. Don’t be afraid to add some playtime to your programming. I’m currently doing @coachdanjohn ‘s Easy Strength (one of my favorite programs). After my programmed training, I do whatever I want as a fun finisher—sometimes arm balances (flying practice), parallette work, pistol squat play, yoga swing or rings, etc. . We’ve all been blessed with these awesome meatsuits, so don’t be afraid to play around (safely) with ways to express your strength & mobility that might be outside your norm! And don’t worry about perfection. Practice and play with a focus on getting to know your body better; you’ll uncover lots of different strengths & weaknesses that you can then better address in your overall training.???? . What are your “fun finishers?” Feel free to share in the comments.????


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Movement 5















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After sharing a throw-back video a couple weeks ago of me doing this hip mobility flow with a med ball at Phillies spring training, quite a few of you posted videos of yourselves giving it a try. I LOVED????❤️ them…but I did notice that many of you missed the external hip rotation and dorsi flexion at the bottom of each cossack squat variation. Also, it seemed like some of you would be better served by perfecting the movement without a med ball before progressing to the weighted version. This is especially true if you don’t have the dorsi flexion, calf flexibility and/or hip mobility to allow you to come all the way down without lifting your heel. . So I made this new video recently at the Blue Jays to slow the movements down and share what the #MoFlow looks like both without (1st half of video) and with a med ball (2nd half of video).???? . Remember that the focus is on strengthening your hip range of motion and ability to transfer your center of mass (and the med-ball mass) from hip to hip with fluid control. I say “strengthen” because, as I mentioned in my last post on this, it has nothing to do with increasing flexibility (my least favorite “f” word); in order to carry the weight and be able to transfer COM back and forth, you need to maintain stability throughout the full range and depth of this exercise. That’s MOBILITY—the ability to own the range of motion without “sinking, pushing or forcing” like too many people do in stretches to “enhance flexibility.” Focus on mobility and you’ll be able to move better and perform better. Focus on flexibility and you might be able to contort yourself into positions that get lots of Instagram likes…until you rip a hamstring, tear an ACL or need a hip replacement.????


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Thank you for reading and keep ditching your shoes!


Much Love,


Brendan



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