If traffic's bad (and when is it not?), my daily commute can take up to an hour-and-a-half each way. When I'm not on work-related calls in the car, I pass my time listening to Terry Gross, satellite radio (baseball and bababooey!), and Robb Wolf's podcasts -- but by the time I get where I'm going, my body's all stiff and achy.
I'm getting much better at keeping my elbows up -- way up! -- in rack position, which was a huge problem for me early on.
It's weird. I haven't done yoga for ages, and my stretching is limited to warming up for my CrossFit classes, but my shoulder mobility has improved significantly. I'd like to chalk it up to doing some Mobility WODs, but frankly, I haven't been able to keep up with Kelly Starrett's daily videos. (Talk about prolific -- that guy's produced a ridiculous amount of content -- for free! -- in just a couple of months.)
Metcon:
"Helen" -- 3 rounds for time:
400 meter run
21 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg, or for us dumb Americans whose heads explode at the mere mention of the metric system, 53 pounds)
12 pull-ups
Result: 11:25. I'm disappointed -- I should have (and could have) run faster, but stupidly tried to conserve energy. Kettlebell swings and pull-ups, though, don't take much out of me, and I really didn't need to pace myself. I should have gone balls-out, but I didn't, and for that, I'm kicking myself.
I can't believe it took me until now to stumble across Paul Chek's excellent three-part 2004 article on the importance and mechanics of the squat. (Check 'em out here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3.) I'm convinced that squats -- with or without a barbell -- are among the handful of the best exercises one can do.
So if you're P90Xing: SQUAT!
Or if CrossFit's more your thing: SQUAT!
Want to hang out on a street corner in Asia like the locals? SQUAT!
Stiff and sore? SQUAT!
A disciple of the Primal Blueprint? SQUAT (to poop and stretch and exercise)!
The best thing about squatting? It's easy -- all it takes is a little practice.
Mobility WOD is only four days old, but if Kelly Starrett keeps posting videos every day, it's going to quickly become one of the most popular blogs among CrossFit enthusiasts.
Starrett -- a.k.a. K-Star -- is the founder of San Francisco CrossFit, and one of CrossFit's most popular coaches and sought-after speakers. He has a doctorate in physical therapy, and teaches CrossFit's Mobility Certification program. And according to his web bio, Starrett's clients include "Olympic gold medalists, world-class extreme skiers and X-Games medalists, dancers with Smuin, San Francisco and Sacramento Ballet Companies, military personnel, and competitive age-division athletes." As a whitewater rafter, Starrett also led his team to "to two national titles and competition in two world Championships."
More importantly (to me, anyway), he's able to be entertaining while imparting a wealth of good information, which is what keeps me coming back to the short videos he's been posting on his new blog. Mobility WOD's daily mission is to prescribe a different sub-10 minute routine that helps you stretch and treat your aching body parts. Or, as Starrett puts it: "This blog is intended as a jump off point for athletes to systematically begin to address their nasty tissues and grody joint mobility."
Here's an example of one of Starrett's casually breezy but oh-so-awesomely educational videos:
I, for one, woke up this morning with soreness in my hammies, shoulders and hip flexors. Instead of diving into yet another workout (smell you later, deadlifts), I opted to spend some quality time with Mobility WOD on my iPad, working my way through this week's videos.
Surf on over to Starrett's site and check out the videos. There's a good chance you'll get hooked on a new daily stretching routine.
