Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - W1/D3 Mobility
Uploaded: 2023-11-08T15:55:23.412Z
Duration: 30 min
Description: W1/D3 Mobility

Oton

Parker

Mobility drills can be done outside of dedicated mobility days whenever needed. 

Mobility work trains our ability to move. You will see less passive holds and more active work done through a full range of motion. We focus on the shoulders, spine, hips and ankles as these areas are often limited and can greatly affect efficiency and technique for swing throughs in Tricking.

The reps are a guideline. The hallmark of a good warmup is that you feel prepared to move!

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hamstring length and to reduce lower back tension. 

Lead with a straight leg and hinge from the hips while sitting your butt back. Arch your lower back when doing this. 

Another tip is to imagine that you are "scooping water" with your hands.

You should feel a stretch in your hamstring without feeling pain at the lower back, calf or feet.

Hamstring Walks

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hip flexor and quad length.  

Grab your knee with the same side hand, and with core engagement, hinge forward. 

You should feel a stretch in the quad and hip flexors, without feeling compression at the lower back.

Dynamic Quad Pulls

Piriformis walks are excellent for opening up the hips during a dynamic warmup or mobility session. Support your ankle and knee joints as shown.

Piriformis Walks

The sumo squat is an awesome lower body exercise often used to improve foot, ankle and hip mobility. 

By turning our feet out and squatting down as low as possible, we open up the hips and ankles, which helps us above (lumbar spine) and below (knees) as well. 

You can also use your elbows to push your knees out a bit further, while maintaining a neutral pelvis and engaging your core. 

Stand tall and push your chest forward a bit to encourage good thoracic extension. This is amazing movement prep before squatting exercises.

Tight hips not only affect our comfort in daily life, but our tricks as well. Poor hip mobility and stabilization can lead to inefficient technique and pain or tightness due to the additional stress.

Sumo Squats

The T Bridge is amazing at improving our thoracic, shoulder, wrist and hip mobility needed for swings and transitional skills (TDR, masterscoot, cartwheel).

1) Begin seated on the ground with one hand in between your legs.

2) Prop your other hand directly behind you with fingers facing away from you. 

3) Raise up to a one arm "T" bridge by engaging your core and glutes. Push through your hips to rise. 

4) Extend through your grounded shoulder by pushing it through the ground. 

5) Practice spotting the ground at the top of this movement. This improves neck mobility and mimics what you will be doing in handed setups.

T Bridge

Warmup

Bridge walks are awesome for shoulder, spine and hip mobility - all things we need as tricking athletes! This drill forces us to activate the muscles required to keep us there, making it a great drill for arching.

Simply walk yourself down to a challenging position as shown. Push against the wall to extend your body away from it at all times. 

Stay at the bottom for 3-5 seconds before rising. 

Switch initial arm for your second set.


Use a sturdy wall with grip. Don't fall! 

Remember to share the load between all of your joints. Ideally, we are moving through our shoulders, every spinal segment and our hips. 

Some of you may find that you get all of your motion from your lower back, for example. This can lead to wear and tear in this area. Instead, focus on pushing through your shoulders, chest and hips equally. If you lack mobility in one area, you can stress it to get it up to speed.

Bridge Walks (Wall)

Start on your back while holding a foam roller or pillow in front of you as shown. Engage your core by pressing the small of your low back against the ground. 

This exercise begins with both legs up in an L position. If this is too tight on the hamstrings, either lower your legs slightly or include a soft knee bend. If you feel any numbness or tingling, try pointing your toes. You should not exercise through a numb or tingling sensation. 

Lower one leg at a time with control. You should feel your core and quads working, while your up hamstring and down hip flexors are lengthening.   

Lower your leg as low as possible without compromising form. One rep is both sides lowering.

Supine Pendulums

A great drill to improve your hip mobility! Perform both types of liftoff drills on both sides for 3 sets. Rest 30-60 seconds between sets.

The hip 9090 stretch is called this because of the 90 degree angles your hip will make. 

The hip is a ball and socket joint. This means that in order to train our mobility in an effective way, we will want to explore and be less linear with this stretch. 

Liftoffs are a great way to improve hip strength, mobility and coordination as it is ACTIVE. Think of getting your hip to a hover while keeping your shin parallel to the ground. Lean your upper body way or towards the working leg to make it easier or harder.

You should not be feeling any pain in your lower back, hips or knees.

Hip 90/90 - External Rotation Liftoffs

Hip 90/90 - Internal Rotation Liftoffs

Hip 90/90 Liftoffs

If you haven't been doing single leg calf raises, you will feel the difference not only in your calf, but in your foot and hip muscles as well. This is excellent for functional carryover to athletics as we are often pushing off on one leg.

Lower slowly (5 sec) in the eccentric calf raise. 

Stress the negative by lowering slowly and past neutral by using a step, stair or slant board. 

This is great for injury prevention because it begins to mimic controlling landings and decelerating from cuts and pivots. 

Research shows eccentric exercises are extremely beneficial for improving mobility and in rehabbing tendon issues. This can be a great exercise for those with achilles tendon pain provided it is progressed appropriately.

Early on, using the minimum necessary hand assistance is a good way to build up to doing it without support.

Modifications: weighted

Single Leg Calf Raise (Eccentric)

The anterior tibialis muscle is important for foot and ankle stability. It has a massive role in decelerating us so we can convert our momentum from a horizontal run to a jump. We do this a lot in tricking during pivots. 

When contacting heel first, the anterior tibialis must slow the foot down so it can hit the floor with control. If its weak, we have "no brakes" and tend to get excess stress on the knees and hips to control that momentum.

For this exercise, try to raise your toes as high as possible and actively squeeze your shin muscles at the top of each rep. Stress the lowering phase by descending for 5 seconds. This will also improve your toe point. 

If kettlebells aren't an option, do them standing against a wall. You can also try to (safely!) tie a dumbbell or plate to the bottom of your foot.

Anterior Tibialis Raise (Eccentric)

Wall Thoracic Rotations are a challenging way to improve your mid-back and hip mobility. 

1) Start in a half kneeling position with the wall to your side. Your front leg should be closest to the wall.

3) Windmill your hand closest to the wall behind you without touching the wall. 

4) Reach your other hand forward to rotate you further. 

5) Finish your circle with the first hand to return to the starting position. 

Be sure not to overly arch through the lower back. In addition to the mid-back, shoulders and neck, you should be feeling a stretch in the front of the back hip. Engage your back leg glute if you are having trouble feeling this.

Wall Thoracic Rotations

Thoracic extension mobility is often restricted due to the forward head, rounded shoulder posture we often assume in the modern day. 

This can not only make the muscles tight in this region, but the joints of our spine get used to being in a flexed posture as well. 

If this is you, you will feel closed off in the front and tight in the neck and upper back. Tightness in this region can sometimes feel like a stiffness or pinch when we try to extend through the thoracic spine, or upper to mid back. 

For this mobilization, simply kneel in front of a box, chair or bench, put your elbows up and actively pull your chest through your arms using your back muscles. You can use your hands for feedback. 

Note that we limit lower back arch here to focus on the upper spine.

Thoracic Extension Mobilization (Bench)

W1/D3 Mobility

Keith

Swing Strong Program [Watch this first!]

Wow, I never expected the banded lifts to be that hard!

Jérémy

Feels like it need’s a bit of heavy lifting but other than that it’s amazing!

Royi

so simple yet so effective, in love with this.

Landen

W1/D1 Strength & Stability

Ended up getting distracted with the swings at the end and had a full concrete session lol

W1/D3 Mobility

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