Flexibility Basics Manual

Flexibility Basics www.Yourstrengthsource.com/blog

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Flexibility and Mobility: Prerequisite to Strength

When I was younger I saw no point in flexibility training. Since I didnt understand the value of it, it wasnot worth the discomfort or time. But tight muscles compound as we age and lift and sit.

After spending time at numerous strength workshops over the years with Pavel and Andrea and finallylearning the biggest bang for you buck stretches and experiencing it the context of lifting andbodyweight strength training applications, I now understand it as an indispensable practice for strength,speed, power, and more graceful and easier movement. Im not talking becoming a human pretzel, justa baseline of hip flexibility that will make leg raises and deadlifts and squatting easier and moremechanically sound.

It is worth a little time and initial discomfort.

If youve read the main program, you see that I advise a simple deadlift set up that requires the hipmobility to bend down and grab the bar with no or little knee bend (from coach Mark Rippetoe). Thisflexibility acts as a bow which loads your posterior chain (your butt being the most important part) ina very powerful way that also steers the force away from your spine. You need to have slightly moremobility and flexibility than this, you should be able to bend down and touch your toes without bendingyour knees.

The later ab flexion progressions (and any leg raise dynamic or static) require flexible hamstrings.Tight hamstrings effectively pull your legs down, so that you are fighting against the pull of your tightmuscles combined with the weight of your heavy legs. The only strategy is loosen up your hamstringsand get stronger.

For sprinting, there is no question suburb hip mobility (no tight hamstrings or hip flexors) is aprerequisite to powerful running mechanics. If these muscles are tight, you end up fighting against yourown body. You won't be able to left your legs high enough to step over your knee (Thank you to Primal



Speed Inventor and Sprinting Coach Franz Snideman for pointing this out to me) and your torso willbend forward instead of upright.

And dont forget the kettlebell ballistics: swings, cleans and snatches. Hip mobility from flexibilitypractice will make your hip snap deeper and more powerful. The feeling of doing swings before andafter curing tight hamstrings is night and day. Some with any kind of squat.

You can see from this brief overview that flexibility is absolutely essential for strength, whetherbodyweight or lifting and also for common athletic activities like running.

Leg Raise Screen

This is a good "screen" for you to use to access your flexibility and ab strength prior to starting theSimple Strength Program:

This screen is used to access ab strength and hip mobility simultaneously - prerequisites for deadlftingand the ab flexion progressions in Simple Strength. In fact, this basically is one of the progressions (the



straight leg L-Sit) except it uses only one leg and the arms/lats arent loaded. It requires some strengthand flexibility (active stretching, some call it).The two important things here are:Are your abs strong enough to keep your torso upright?Are your hamstrings and hip flexors sufficiently stretched?

Actually, there is a third. Strong lats and upper back muscles and good neck posture keep the neck fromprotruding forward.If you lack ab strength and/or your hamstrings and/or hip flexors are tight, your screen will look morelike this:

This is a body that doesnt want to extend the hips. It has been trained into flexion. The core is weak, itcan't hold itself up.We need to strengthen your abs and stretch out your hamstrings and hip flexors.

To strength your abs, just do the beginning Simple Strength progressions.



To make your hammies and hip flexors more flexible, do these:

Hip Flexor Stretch

This is the classic hip flexor stretch. You've likely seen it before. It is important. Pavel talks about tighthip flexors being the "parking brakes" that come on when you try to load up your glutes for lifting.Unlocking the hip flexors "turns off" the parking breaks.The important point is that your hips are fully extended. If your torso is bending forward, then youaren't doing the stretch correctly no matter how deep you go down to the floor. This stretch will trainyour body OUT of flexion, the opposite of what your hips do when you sit and do your ab flexionexercise progressions from Simple Strength.So start by putting your knee, hip, and head in a straight line.Then start to tilt your pelvis forward. You should already feel a stretch. I'm getting a nice stretch in thispicture even though it doesn't look like much (I have a desk job).



Then slowly start to move forward into the stretch. Check your neck posture to make sure your neckisn't jutting forward (ie "chicken neck").

This is a more advanced position, just grab the back leg or prop it against a wall. Brace yourself for someserious action down there.



Kick Backs: The Glute Cramper and Hip Flexor Opener

Im a big fan of active flexibility. This is a great way to open up the hip flexors by firing the gluteusmaximus. This will really help your leg drive with pulls:

Drive your leg backward, trying to keep the leg straight and being attentive to increase the distancebetween your heel and glute.

If you have uber tight hip flexors from sitting, this will be very difficult at first. Just keep hitting itconsistently and you will be amazed how your hips will open up after a few days of practice.

To increase opening the psoas and hip flexors, raise your arms overhead and breathe slowly.

Once that becomes comfortable, start walking kicking left leg back then right. This disassociates thehips, the right hip from the left hip. There should be space between the hips but this can disappear overtime and sitting. Walking kick backs or whatever they are called separates the hips.



Hamstring

Here is one of, if not the most effective hamstring stretch:

This is the passive straight leg raise. Notice that it is basically the same position as the screen at the top,except that you are laying down on a rug. If your active leg raise screen isn't happening, get therepassively.Take a belt or a band and flex your hip as far as it will go. Flex your muscles in your leg as hard as youcan, push down on your belt like you want to force your leg back down but can't because of the restraintof the belt.Take a deep breathe through your nose and release as you pull your leg further back into the stretch.Make sure your abs are engaged somewhat so your back stays plastered onto the ground.



Your goal is to get your legs beyond perpendicular easily (no serious grimacing or discomfort):

Program

If you're tight in your hips from sitting and not enough attention to your hammies, just do this:Hip Flexor Stretch:10 slow breathes Left10 slow breathes RightGlute Cramper10 slow breathes left (raise arms once ROM increases)10 slow breathes right (raise arms once ROM increases)Passive Straight Leg Raise:10 slow breathes Left10 slow breathes RightFor two sets. Rest as needed between each side.



Finish with 30 prone rockers to mobilize everything in unison.

This is from Tim Andersons excellent Becoming Bulletproof program. I love this exercisebecause it feels like pure unloaded hip movement, i.e. squatting underwater. It greases up yourhips.



Just get one all fours like a baby and keep your torso upright (by that I mean parallel to theground) while you bring your hips to your calves as if pulling your hips down into a squat. Getall the mobility benefits of squatting without the loadfeels great and you get a little core firingaction.Do this every day after your simple strength workout if you feel tight and/or cant pass the legraise screen.Test the screen every few days or so. Once you can hold the standing active straight leg screenposition on both sides for 10 seconds each, then just do this flexibility routine once every twodays for one set, i.e. one minute hip flexor stretch right, one minute left, one minute passivestraight leg raise right, one minute left, one minute rocking.Enjoy your fresh hips, posture, and strength and I'll see you over in the Simple Strength Bookwhere we will take your bodyweight and lifting strength to another level.

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Flexibility Basics Manual