Meathead Mobility

If you’re anything like me you probably don’t have any interest in yoga and find every excuse in the book to skip on mobility work.

“I’m mobile enough for what I do”

“I get plenty of mobility from my lifts”

These are things I tell myself regularly. To some extent they’re true, my mobility is fine for the most part but there are areas such as internal hip rotation that I can improve on. Most men in general have terrible hips.

Common Mobility Issues

• Tight Hips

• Stiff Ankles

• Kyphosis / Tight Thoracic Spine

• Overhead Restriction

  • Inability to push something fully overhead behind the head with elbows fully extended

Rather than spend 45 minutes in a yoga class doing poses that likely won’t translate at all to what you do in the gym, I’d rather spend time doing deep range isometrics. I added some of these mobility exercises for time into the everyday Athlete Program i’ll be sending out weekly so you can improve your mobility without setting foot in a yoga studio.

The Deep Squat / Yoga Squat

Hips & Ankles

Try to keep your back as vertical as possible, for any mobility exercise you do here you should be focusing on GREAT positioning, not flopping over like a wet noodle. We want MOBILITY, not just passive range of motion. By staying active at these end ranges you’ll have more carryover to any lifts or activities you do outside the gyms on a field, mat, or court.

If you have trouble getting into this position without bending over, then I recommend the variation below. Again, make sure to extend your upper spine (t-spine) the entire time. Hold this position for 2 minutes. If you’ve never done this before, it’;s much tougher than it seems! Rest if needed just accumulate the 2 minutes in this position.

Your hips will thank you.

Hanging

Shoulders, Lats, Pecs

On the hangs I recommend varying grips or finding the grip you feel the most tension. Really relax and let gravity do the work. Same deal, accumulate about 2 minutes. If your grip is awful, I'd recommend starting with accumulating 1:30 until you can do so in 3 sets or less.

If you need to rest, stop the timer, take 45-60 sec then hop back up there and start the timer where you left off. Accumulate 1:30-2:00. If you can hit 2:00 in 2 sets or less, Add weight.

You can hang weight from a dip belt, or i’ve used a 30lb weighted vest to hang with. I’ve seen rock climber use weighted hangs to build finger strength on boards as well.

Pullover Stretch

Lats & Shoulders

Accumulate 1:30-2:00 in the pullover. I’d recommend doing it on a swiss ball or bosu so you can get a deeper curve in your spine. Trust me, it’ll feel way better but you can also just do these on a bench. Reach as far back as tolerable.

Keep some tension in the shoulders and lats, don’t let the dumbbell just make you limp at the bottom. Start with a light weight and work your way up, this is a Greta way to open up your lats and shoulders if you have restricted overhead mobility.

Final Remarks

Getting more limber can take weeks, months, or even years if you’re mega stiff or have a bunch of scar tissue built up. Be patient and load weight up slowly. I also recommend focusing on breathing

Take big inhales nasally, focus on expanding your rib cage. When you exhale, sink deeper into the stretch. Repeat for the entire duration of the stretch. If possible, use this stretch in a movement that day. You could also do these stretches to end your session.

Strength Club Training

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Bodyweight Bodybuilding Week 1

• Ring Pushups & Ring Rows Alternating EMOM for 6 Total Rounds

  • Start a 75 second timer. The first 75 sec do Ring pushups to failure, rest the remainder of time left on the 75 sec clock once you reach failure. The next 75 sec do ring row to failure, rest the remainder of the time. Continue this until you’re done with 6 Total Rounds (3 each movement). Ideally, you fail after about 30-40 sec of work.

  • Perform 6 Total Rounds and note the total reps you got for Ring pushups and ring Rows, you’ll try to beat this weekly.

    6 Rounds Total:

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Pushups

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Rows

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Pushups

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Rows

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Pushups

    • 75 sec: Max Ring Rows

Use some weight for these bouncing ducks if you can, these deep tier Plyos are great for preparing the body for more intense plyometrics in the future. They’re also fantastic for the ankles and anterior tibialis, often ignored areas.

Triceps and biceps will be a giant set. Pre exhaust the triceps with french presses before moving into dips. Do modified dips (on a machine, with bands, or on a bench) if necessary. Then rest 60 seconds and hit the EZ bar curls, followed up by supinated grip chin-ups to fry the biceps. Again, modify the chin ups if necessary.