My training volume has increased quite a bit including both martial arts and strength training. And so I am finding that sometimes I'm not quite as limber as I could be. Plus I've already had enough injuries so it would be awesome to prevent any more. So I'm wanting to focus on keeping what mobility I have, especially when I see some poor examples around the place. I can't afford regular massages, so I'm looking at getting into some sort of regular program or something similar. however I don't really know where to start. I've seen some of Kelly Starret's stuff and it looks good but I'm not really sure how to implement it. I'm thinking perhaps 5-10 minute sessions tacked onto other activities and maybe a longer session once a week might a good place to start. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Have you considered doing some yoga? Sun salutations is a good general stretching routine, also there are lots of modifications of it out there by various instructors for more specialized needs.
Those foam rollers are a good way to utilize a sort of self massage. My massage therapist has been trying to get me to do this, but I haven't been very diligent. Truth is, I can handle the pain of massage therapy, but doing that to myself is something I have difficulty with. Still, they are effective if you have the will.
Other people to look up are Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. They have a couple of good DVDs out (Inside Out and Magnificent Mobility) and Joe Defranco's mobility routines (Agile 8 and Simple 6) are also great. Foam rolling is good, both on a recovery day or at the beginning or end of a workout. I tend to try to do a mobility warm up before lifting and foam rolling on a rest day. In the past I have also done foam rolling of specific body parts at the end of a session and made sure to cover the whole body in sessions each week.
