Nobody will argue that a strong core is bad for you. But I think what most of us mean to say is that the stability that comes along with core strength can prevent and even heal some back injuries, while building a foundation for overall athleticism.

Core Mobility Comes From the Hips

Stability requires mobility to be useful, and for the core, mobility comes from the hips and upper thoracic spine. This is especially true now that many athletes have expanded their fitness paradigms to include gymnastics, hand balancing, crawling, and natural movement. If you want to crawl, practice MMA, or do yoga, you need good movement through your thoracic spine and hips. If you are locked up in these areas, your access to those movements will be limited. 

I’ve discussed twice before (here and here) how to open the upper spine. Now I will provide ways for you to open your hips and quadriceps. Most people are tight in these areas because they sit too much, which shortens the muscles that actuate the hip. If you’re not sure if you’re tight in your hips, try doing the Thomas test. Or you can try this simple test to see if your quads are the culprit.

For your core to be athletically useful, it can’t just be strong and stable. It must also be mobile.

Immobile Hips Are Ruining Your Squats

3 Stretches to Open Your Hips and Quads

In this video I will give you three ways to stretch your hips and quads: 

1. A basic lunge that you can modify with blocks on either side of the body as a starting point.
2. An intense partner stretch I learned from Stretch Therapy. If this stretch is too challenging, back up and start with the first lunge sequence with blocks. Stay with this stretch until you feel more comfortable and can go deeper. You can also add this gentle quad stretch to further your progress.
3. If these are both too difficult, try doing the last one.

Want Deep Squats? Spend Time Getting Mobile

Take your time with these stretches. The quads are large muscles, and it will take a few weeks for some of you to see the difference. Getting deeper in your squat requires an open thoracic spine, mobile hips, and length in the quadriceps. Perform the drills from each of the three videos in this series every day to increase your flexibility, and you will feel the difference.

More Mobility to Enhance Your Strength:

• Squats and Hip Dysfunction: 2 Common Problems and How to Fix Them
• Are Your Weak Neck Muscles Making Your Hamstrings Tight?
• Pimp Your Strength Program with Movement and Mobility
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of CrossFit.

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When I ask new clients what they do most of the day, the answer is almost always “sit in front of a computer.” And it doesn’t stop there. They spend up to nine hours sitting at work. After work, they go home to sit for dinner and television. All sitting. All day.

If I ask them to lift heavy objects over their heads without addressing their immobility first, we will have a problem.

Increase Range of Motion With PNF

Our joints are designed to primarily provide either mobility or stability (though, of course, all joints perform both functions to a degree). Moving from the cervical spine down towards the ankles, the major joint segments alternate between a primary function of stability and mobility. Looking at the diagram below, you can see that the upper thoracic spine generates mobility in flexion/extension and rotation, while the cervical and lumbar spine stabilize around it.

The joint areas of the body alternate in purpose between mobility and stability.

Since most of us basically live in thoracic flexion (think hunched or collapsed posture), our thoracic spine mobility will be severely hindered because we never employ our full range of motion. The joints below and/or above the thoracic spine will be forced to compensate for the lack of movement.

PNF, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, is one of my favorite ways to increase range of motion. The concept is simple: contract the muscle you are trying to stretch, then release for greater range of movement. This works both the active and passive side of stretching and yields great results.

In the video below, I have given some simple and advanced ways to open the thoracic spine. I suggest working a few of these drills into your daily routine to get the best results. Pick a few that are best suited for you, and slowly work your way into increased range of motion.

Why It Works

In the proper backbend photo below, you can see how upper spine extension and shoulder flexion allow for an even curve. In the other photo, the inability to open the shoulders and upper spine move the extension to the low back and pushes the knees forward. The same thing holds true for overhead lifts. If the spine and shoulders (and/or hips) are not flexible enough, the compensation has to come from above or below the area of restricted mobility.

A proper back bend requires you to open up your thoracic spine, as on the left.

How many times have you heard of someone getting hurt in the low back, shoulders, or neck due to lifting overhead? Overcompensation for a frozen thoracic spine is a major reason why so many people have low back or neck pain and injuries in the gym or on a daily basis. Commit to the drills I showed you above for a period of a few months, and you’ll see dramatic improvement in your overhead lifts.

More Ways to Fight the Hunch:

• Banish Pain Permanently: Basic Drills to Repair your Posture
• Train Your Body to Love Holding Heavy Weights Overhead
• Let’s End the Mobility Versus Stability Debate
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Teaser photo courtesy of Keira Newton.

Other photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 3 More Mobility Drills for Solid Overhead Lifts appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the video below I will go over three exercises to help you increase range of motion in your spine and shoulders. Most of you will benefit from these mobility and stretching drills, especially if you sit in front of a computer or behind a steering wheel for too many hours in the day. This pattern begins in kindergarten when we start sitting for many hours, and it leads to us living slumped in chronic flexion. This causes flexion in the thoracic spine (t-spine), shoulders, and lumbar spine in teens and adults.

Your thoracic spine and shoulders build the foundation for a rock-solid overhead position.

Alignment Basics for Overhead Lifts

Remember, weight drives straight down from the overhead position. Ideally, the weight is over the shoulders and bearing down through the hips and feet, which should all be aligned. In this optimal position, the force of the weight passes down through the body, out through the feet, and into the floor.

If the t-spine is not able to fully extend while pressing or jerking, the shoulder cannot go into full flexion. This will cause you to push the weight in front of your head rather than overhead (or back for a jerk), adding stress to the shoulders. The stress from the weight will bottleneck in the shoulders (and/or low back) instead of traveling down through the feet.

Since many people tend to hyperextend their low backs to compensate for shoulder immobility, the low back often receives load stress generated by poor mechanics. As you can imagine, these negative effects are amplified by increased load or repetitions.

Assess Your Mobility

You can quickly check your mobility by using Grey Cook’s overhead squat drill from FMS. If you cannot keep your arms over your head with this screen, you do not have enough flexion in the shoulder to perform a jerk or a double weighted press with two kettlebells, two dumbbells, or a barbell. However, you can perform a one arm press or jerk with a kettlebell or dumbbell. This exercise requires less flexibility and can help groove the movement pattern.

Another great test for shoulder mobility is Grey Cook’s wall slide. If you cannot slide your arms along the wall without pushing forward or extending in the mid to low back, you need to work on mobility and flexibility of the shoulder. If you are unable to perform this drill because your upper t-spine is fixed in a flexion pattern, you should not perform overhead presses or jerks, as your risk of injury is high.

If either of these drills causes you trouble, get the issues fixed before you get injured. Watch the video, perform the drills carefully and regularly, and let me know if you have any questions along the way.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• The Safest and Smartest Progression for Building Your Overhead Lifts
• Understanding the Shoulder and Bulletproofing It From Injury
• How to Crawl Your Way Back to Shoulder Health
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of CrossFit, Inc.

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