Icecold's mobility thread

Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
i spoke to a therapist and they told me it's best to have all 3 rollers

a foam roller to start off with, then work your way up to the blue rumble roller then use the black rumble roller.

or you can use 2 at a time on places like your back so your weight is evenly distributed (less painful), and work your way up to using one on it's own, etc.
Nah that's rubbish. I use a PVC pipe to get some parts of my back and attack my thoracic spine, but the firmest rumble roller for everything else. It really isn't that painful, and if it is, just man up and get it done.

Someone accidentally ordered the blue one at my gym, it's basically completely pointless.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Which one do you already have? But it's probably fine, with the rumble roller you'll have all the bases covered.

I can't vouch for the quality of the bands (this is definitely a potential concern), but it is useful to have a variety and that price seems pretty good. The smaller ones are really useful for shoulder warm ups.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Updated this post:

Dealing with flat feet/collapsed arches/over pronation


This is a pretty common problem, but if you don't address it, it's quite likely for this to cause lower back and knee problems. Not to mention it completely compromising your athletic performance.

This explains it quite well, but he does talk about some advanced concepts. Understanding what's going on will make working on the various areas easier, so google or ask if you have any questions:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/08/episode-07-bro-your-navicular-bone-dropped/


Fixing the issue involves addressing two aspects:

1) Flexibility and general tissue quality.

2) Strength and activation of the muscles that support the foot.

First step to fixing your feet is easy, just stand on your ball and abuse the tissues of the bottom of your foot. A golf ball is preferable here.

Details here:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-279-mob-those-lower-leg-bits/

He also mentions attacking your posterior tibialis, which is responsible for maintaining your arch.

More details here:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/12/episode-115-lower-leg-sliding-surfaces/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-293-haiku-winner-travel-ideas-and-your-feet/

Everything mentioned is relevant. Also try hitting your anterior tibialis, which is on the outside of your shin bone.

Flat feet are also associated with tight Achilles, fix it!
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/12/episode-350-tack-and-floss-heel-cord-edition/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/09/episode-319-protect-those-heel-cords-man/

These videos explains some concepts fairly well, and I also like the exercises they're suggesting. It's very important to develop the intrinsic muscles of the foot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AwRK3js5dg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUDjgdl5eOQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2cHPeX-xU8
There are lots of other videos and articles regarding this, most foot exercises will be useful.

Also important is walking correctly:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/11/episode-343-stop-walking-like-the-duck-you-arent/

Here are some other videos from Starrett:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/08/rebuilding-your-feet-with-brian-mackenzie/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/08/rebuilding-the-feet-part-2/
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Work on both ends (proximal quad/hip flexor, distal quad) of the couch stretch separately and then put them together. Forcing the position before you can, for example, maintain lumbar position won't really help you in the long run.

Kelly isn't against smashing parallel to muscle fibres, he just wants people to be aware of the efficacy of doing it perpendicularly too.

Whilst it's always good to question things and keep an open mind, Kelly is currently one of the most well rounded and knowledgeable guys in the world when it comes to mobility/fixing yo ****. If he says something, it's always good to understand why he's saying it.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
There is a video where Kelly talks about what I'm suggesting. Essentially, doing the lunge portion of the couch stretch without your knee flexed is a good way to kit the high (proximal) quad and hip flexor bits, and working on a similar position with less hip extension and working on knee flexion is a good way to hit lower quad around your knee.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Fixing flat feet is a lot more than just rolling your feet. Make sure you're doing everything in the post.

It's also worth doing general glute and glute medius strengthening exercises, as well as general hip mobility.


Indie, how is your hamstring strength? If you're answer is "I don't know", get working on it ;)

These (with no weight):

and:
GHRs
RDLs
Deficit bulgarian split squats
Hamstring curls

Also, buy a foam roller and attack your quad. Go and see a graston practitioner for your tendonitis.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
I added some bits to this version too.

Updated this post:

Dealing with flat feet/collapsed arches/over pronation


This is a pretty common problem, but if you don't address it, it's quite likely for this to cause lower back and knee problems. Not to mention it completely compromising your athletic performance.

This explains it quite well, but he does talk about some advanced concepts. Understanding what's going on will make working on the various areas easier, so google or ask if you have any questions:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/08/episode-07-bro-your-navicular-bone-dropped/


Fixing the issue involves addressing two aspects:

1) Flexibility and general tissue quality.

2) Strength and activation of the muscles that support the foot.

First step to fixing your feet is easy, just stand on your ball and abuse the tissues of the bottom of your foot. A golf ball is preferable here.

Details here:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-279-mob-those-lower-leg-bits/

He also mentions attacking your posterior tibialis, which is responsible for maintaining your arch.

More details here:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/12/episode-115-lower-leg-sliding-surfaces/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-293-haiku-winner-travel-ideas-and-your-feet/

Everything mentioned is relevant. Also try hitting your anterior tibialis, which is on the outside of your shin bone.

Flat feet are also associated with tight Achilles, fix it!
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/12/episode-350-tack-and-floss-heel-cord-edition/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/09/episode-319-protect-those-heel-cords-man/

These videos explains some concepts fairly well, and I also like the exercises they're suggesting. It's very important to develop the intrinsic muscles of the foot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AwRK3js5dg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUDjgdl5eOQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2cHPeX-xU8
There are lots of other videos and articles regarding this, most foot exercises will be useful.

Also important is walking correctly:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/11/episode-343-stop-walking-like-the-duck-you-arent/

Here are some other videos from Starrett:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/08/rebuilding-your-feet-with-brian-mackenzie/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/08/rebuilding-the-feet-part-2/
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
No worries :)

Would you mind editing your posts here to avoid confusion? There's currently a whole bunch of guides on this page :p
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Thanks for that. I actually have no idea so I do need to work on these, tonights gym session will most likely focus on just legs!

Just had a quick run through those hamstring workouts, never even seen a Bulgarian Split Squat before so that should be interesting. I have a feeling i'll be falling all over the gym :)

Any specific roller I should get? I've seen the rumble rollers which look awesome, but have no idea which one would be best. Price doesn't really make much difference as I have a birthday coming up \o/

Will probably have to search for a Graston Practitioner. found on in Solihull but thats quite a way away from where I live!
Rumble roller. It will hurt, but that's kind of the point. Make sure you get the hard one.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trigger-Poi...F8&qid=1389266173&sr=8-1&keywords=foam+roller

the rumble is great, but not as a main roller. I have the grid and the rumble, after previously having a 66Fit one.
Rumble is fine as a general roller, the protrusions actually make it more versatile.
Great! thanks :)

EDIT: Any idea on what I should be aiming for in terms of hamstring strength?
It's all relative.

The actual answer is: Strong and with good enough activation and control to balance out the other muscles inserting into the knee.

A lot of people have a significant deficit in their hamstring strength (poor movement, poor posture), and really all you need to worry about is getting them stronger rather than trying to lift a certain amount of weight (which isn't exactly the same thing as strength...).

A decent barometer for good hamstrings is your ability to do GHRs.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
FAQ entry #1

Q: I have ANY PROBLEM AT ALL in my shoulder.

A: You might have tight pecs. Proceed with soft tissue work, focussing on pec minor and along your clavical, and pec stretches. Also ensure that your shoulder internal/external rotation is good.


Tongue in cheek, but also srs.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
Any advice for Psoas mucle pain/injury?

I've always got a bad back and when it gets really bad, I start to suffer with pain around my abdomen and groin. I go to see an osteopath who sorts out my back and treats my psoas muscle and then repeat this cycle every 6 months.

Apart from posture is there any sort of mobility stuff I can do to help lower back pain and hip flexibility?

p.s - I play football and my hamstrings are seriously short and weak, I can't get within 2-3 inches of touching my toes when standing up. Seems a common theme for footballers.
There are forms of soft tissue work you can attack your psoas with (searching the thread might bring them up). Variations include lying on your back with a kettlebell digging into the area while you move the leg on that side around, and lying face down with medicine ball under one side of your lower abdomen and rolling around.

Also, attack terminal hip extension. This means stretching out your anterior (front of) hip, the stretches for which are scattered throughout the thread.
This thread is gold, but would be awesome if all the info from throughout the thread was on the first page. So if you're not busy can you just trawl through all 32 pages, edit the pertinent info into the first post and fix all the links.

Thanks.

:D :p
I do intend on doing this soon :)
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
I'd suggest you have more of a read of the thread.

Rollers will not get rid of DOMS (soreness).

Soft tissue work can be used as part of a warm up for tight or vulnerable muscles, but to actually improve tissue quality you will want to perform it as far away from exercise as possible.
 
Man of Honour
OP
Joined
6 Apr 2007
Posts
7,633
From the ashes...

Right chaps, I wanted to share with you what I consider to be the biggest development in the industry since everyone started bringing foam rollers and lacrosse balls to the gym. It is genuinely a game changer. This is only going to be a brief post, but feel free to add other examples and ask questions.

So, what am I talking about? Functional Range Conditioning (FRC). I'll let the article do most of the talking, but the basic concept is that there is a huge gap in stretching/mobility around actually being able to use (functionalise) your end ranges of motion in your joints. This weakness in control/activation not only means that you can't express power in these positions (and by extension, less power throughout other portions of the ROM), but it also makes you significantly more prone to injury. FRC is also great for actually holding onto range that you develop... it kind of does exactly what it says on the tin, and is similar to some of the control stimuli from yoga.

So here is an article that explains FRC:

http://www.kevinneeld.com/dispelling-the-stretching-myths/


Here are a collection of videos relating to the hip. Some of these links are repeated movements, but there is extra information.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQOscSMF3Oc/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOKzqkplPps/?taken-by=frankduffyfitness

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLWYks0F-Bw/?hl=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq4iG46hyVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtqpAh7RAkQ <-- do with reversals, don't *need* something to lift leg over

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY27x1sw_Hw <-- you will cramp, but keep doing it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agOUJ1FLkTM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fof-0rqle9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieMyemBT1Mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLuvQCTPrcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07nqShDejQ
 
Back
Top Bottom