I recently watched a light hearted programme about the history of exercise in the UK and was pretty impressed by the various movements and organisations through the decades, that brought fitness to the masses. Great clips of hundreds of people all doing synchronised routines and exercises. In a similar vein I have a book called "My System" by JP Muller from 1939 (but written earlier) that is supposed to give you "15 minutes exercise a day for health's sake". In martial arts we have Joon Rhee (the pioneer of TKD in the US) that did his "Daily dozen" for basic health. There's also the Yoga sun-salutation that is a short routine meant to be done in the morning. Grapplers have mobility drills that do similar things. I wondered if the people of MAP could come up with a modern variation on this idea? Pool our ideas of mobility drills and such that we like? Some basic criteria.. It should be a fairly simple, but still comprehensive, system of movements and exercises that aren't crazy strenuous but covers all the major muscle groups and take the joints through a good ROM? Something suitable to do daily that will help maintain basic fitness and function? Something that might be used as a warm up for a more strenuous workout or a stand-alone routine to get you goling in the mornings or on rest days. Something that doesn't take much space and is done in 15-20 minutes? Somethingt that won't leave you in a sweaty heap on the floor. Something that doesn't involve much rolling about on the ground so you can do it in different locations? Stuff like that. It's something I've tried to do (largely unsuccessfully) for years. Anyone wanna start off with a movement or exercise they like? Any basic ideas?
Yep I've got a ton of them I run people through outdoors on a daily basis. They fit much of your criteria... full range of motion... ability to progressed for those in need of more of a challenge.... a lot of bang for the buck eg. don't take any kit to set up and are streamlined in terms of time. I'll come back and post up some vids of them... should get some of them filmed on Sunday (tomorrow).
As I've got older I have reached the conclusion that you don't need to train like a pro boxer to maintain health and good movement. What you do need is to keep moving and make those movements similar to that of a young child. Squat, roll, twist and turn, jump, climb and so on. Great idea for a thread.
I knew you guys wouldn't disappoint! For me the Sun salutation has always been a component of my warm-ups and mobility drills. I've got a weak back and so feel maintaining the forward and backward mobility in the spine is useful.
Couldn't agree more. Things change with age. You can't train at 40 with the same protocol you did at 25 or even 30. The body changes. Fact. I deal with this more and more... not only with myself... but also with my clients. Many of them are not exactly young. There are a whole host of considerations... which is why I tend to cringe any time I see anyone under 30 hand out a training regimen... they are usually so myopic and forget that not everyone can hit plyometrics straight out of the box. They also forget that people must crawl before they can walk... and you must be able to design a program that takes that into account. A great many people have really poorly wired movement patters.... ok for getting by in life... but not all that great when it comes to explosive movement drills. So it's always best to assess instead of guess. Jeebus I could go on forever... I see it sooooooo much in trainers under 30... they haven't quite hit that crux yet where they've had to really change up their own training so in many ways it hasn't sunk in for them.
i actually tried to do this ages ago in the videos thread, almost no one participated here's a thingy i did as a mobility routine for myself, which i ended up doing only twice because i'm a lazy bugger. maybe it'll give someone some ideas as to different exercises (all unequipped except a few with tennis balls and one with a stick or similar): [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDtyIT47tjg"]mobility workout - YouTube[/ame] (turn the annotations on, every move has a short descriptive title) i think i had a few more that i didn't put into the clip, though. need to check my notes.
Nice topic! Too many people forget about general joint health in favour of just doing intense cardio or heavy weights. IMO for the majority of the desk job bound population mobility and postural corrective exercises are as important (if not more important) as pounding a way on the treadmill or benching 2x your bodyweight. I have 4 mobility drills that I try to do regularly, either as a warm up, a cool down or active recovery on rest days. They take about 20 minutes and work on taking my joints through a natural range of motion, correcting imbalances and loosening up tight muscles. They come from Eric Cressey's, Mike Robertson's and Bill Hartman's DVDs 'Magnificent Mobility' and 'Inside Out' with a couple of other exercises added in. Joe Defranco also has some good mobility drills that can be found online 'Agile 8' and 'Simple 6' [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgxr6xAB5ZM"]DeFrancosGym.com - Joe DeFranco's Upper body warm-up routine - YouTube[/ame] http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask_joe/archives/ask_joe_08-10-03.html#question04 My current drills are: Mobility Drill 1: Cat/camel x12 Bird dog x10 each side (es) Side lying trunk twist x8 es Calf stretch x10 es Fire hydrant x 10 es Supine bridge x12 Side to side leg swing x10 es Anterior posterior leg swing x10 es Supine scorpion x8 es Pull back butt kick x5 es Squat to stand x8 es Foam roller parallel x10 Side lying rotation extension x10 es Scapular pushups x10 Shoulder circles big/little x10 forward and backwards Scapular wall slides x10 (minimal range due to shoulder issue) PNF diagonals with lunge x10 es Active wrist mobilization x10 up/down/side to side/round and round Clams Side leg lifts Mobility drill 2: Yoga twist x8 es Bird dog x10 es Calf stretch x10es Fire hydrant x10es Side to side leg swing x 10es Windmills x8es Single leg supine bridge x8es Prone scorpion x8es Cradle walks x5es Miniband side step x10es Deep wideout drops x 10 Foam roller perpendicular Quadruped thoracic extension rotation x10es Scapular pushups x10 Dynamic blackburns x10 Reach roll and lift x10 es Posterior lunge with posterolateral reach x10 es Wrist rotations x10 each direction Clams Side leg lifts Mobility Drill 3: Side twist x10 (es) Bird dog x10 each side (es) Side lying trunk twist x8 es Calf stretch x10 es Fire hydrant x 10 es Supine bridge x12 Side to side leg swing x10 es Hip corrections x10 es Supine scorpion x8 es Squat to stand x8 es Walking spiderman x5 es Reverse warrior lunge with twist x10 es Foam roller segmental x10 Side lying rotation extension x10 es Closed cain extention/rotation x10 es PNF diagonal x10 es Side lying rotation with clenohumeral internal rotation x10es Split stance rotation x10 es Closed chain kinetic mobilization x10 Clams Side leg lifts Mobility drill 4: Bent knee twist x8 es Bird dog x10 es Calf stretch x10es Fire hydrant x10es Anterior posterior leg swing x 10es Windmills x8es Single leg supine bridge x8es Miniband side step x10es Deep wideout drops x 10 Alternating lateral lunges x10es Crossover overhead reverse lunges x10es High knee walks x5 es Foam roller perpendicular Quadruped thoracic extension rotation x10es T-pushups with external rotation x10 Shoulder circles big/little x10 Scapular wall slides x10 High step with rotation x10 es Closed chain extention mobilisation x10 Clams Side leg lifts Plus I try to do some foam rolling at the end of each training session. I work on 1 body part a day and often do a full body session on rest days. I also try to do shoulder mobility work a couple of times a day.
this is a pretty good hip thingy: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY"]Super Squat Hip Sequence pre-workout - YouTube[/ame] and this for shoulders: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDd6fwUgJIE"]Shoulder rehab exercises - YouTube[/ame] also: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AetPlaG_-Qs"]Mobility warmup - YouTube[/ame] indicentally, one thing i've found is very good for neck muscles is unilateral overhead pressing (particularly the 1-arm kettlebell jerk. should work with DBs too, haven't tried with two weights at once), which is logical, since the shoulder and neck muscles are related. in tai chi we used to do a similar exercises where we'd stand in the relaxed, straight-spined posture, palms facing each other in front of the chest, and each rep we'd look up (without compressing the cervicals), press one hand upwards (without raising the shoulder), press the other hand downwards, relax, go back to the start point, and repeat to the other side. that one always did quite a number on my neck as well.
Good, good stuff. Loving it. With joint mobility do people favour starting with the feet and going up or starting at the neck and going down? Or doesn't it make much difference? One thing I've noticed about my drills is how the arts I've done over the years have flavoured what I do. For example as a pulse raiser I often do a Capoeira "ginga" move rather than jogging on the spot or skipping. It's fairly low impact and whole body and you can do it in a small space. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-Sf5-aCcc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-Sf5-aCcc[/ame] For arm/shoulder mobility I do an exaggerated "mawashi uke" from the karate kata Sanchin (or Tensho). [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O9wIkIbFy4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O9wIkIbFy4[/ame] Stuff like that gives my warm-ups a "martial" feel that I like.
i prefer starting from the feet, since it's my legs that are going to hold me up (and move me, depending on what i'm doing) during the rest of the routine, so i like having them limbered up first of all. at points where i've helped my dad and brother exercise with joint mobility warm-ups, they've preferred to limber up the spine first. i can see merits for both approaches, but i prefer legs first. i also do shoulders and arms before neck, but can also see uses for mobilizing the neck before the shoulder girdle.
I start with hip rotations and side bends because for me it eases and back problems. I can also really feel where any stiff points are that may need working on. From there it is trunk twists and shoulder rotations, the usual stuff. Once the upper body has woken up I move to jogging on the spot. I add ittle half punches that go at the same speed as the feet. I really like this movement and use it a lot. it gets heat into the body before doing any leg raises. It also helps with fluid punching. here I demonstrate the movement for a slightly different reason, but the movement is the same. I just don't use resistance when warming up. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejQdvMsVLwY&list=UUCEvC8J27lX6ns2hNgY3zUQ&index=9&feature=plcp"]100 Punch Challenge.wmv - YouTube[/ame] Once this is done and there is heat in the muscles I do the usual leg raises, bodyweight squats and so on.
Speaking of cap and cap-related thingies... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPwG2hqnOx0"]Ido's Squat Clinic Routine - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufAUAYrxfIY"]Locomotion Conditioning Routine Beginner - YouTube[/ame]
I just stumbled on this one but it contains a lot of what I've done for warmups, and I still do some of these, just not all [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaR72bpjSa4&feature=g-vrec&context=G22397f2RVAAAAAAAADg"]20 Awesome Warm-up Exercises, Shawn Phillips AMPED Warm-up, How to Warm-up - YouTube[/ame] This one I bookmarked from a Slip post recently, gotta get me a roller for home use, just too eager to skip things in warmup and post workout at the gym [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnEiYxbzM4Q&feature=relmfu"]Post-Workout Routine- Corrective Stretching and Self-Massage - YouTube[/ame]
Good idea, things I'd consider nessisary. Must loosen/stretch the hip flexors Must activate the upper back and teach scapular tracking Loosen the pec and pec minor Increase ROM in foot dorsiflexion Effectively undo the damage that a few years in front of a computer or behind a wheel has done. I'm thinking things like 'mobo walk', Cuban press, some yoga, BW squats etc. as well as some form of SMR and stretch I'll be giving this some thought, really cool thread. I tend to play around with a Light kettle bell for recovery/restorative work when I'm a bit tight or bored, although I'm in no doubt that it'll need to become lighter and easier when I get a bit older.
speaking about dorsiflexion, i've found that explosive overhead kettlebell movements seem to help with mine, or at least it feels like it. i know i feel pressure (and sometimes get DOMS) on the soles of my feet when i do stuff like heavy swings, snatches, etc, and my single-KB overhead squat feels a lot more mobile than my barbell back squat, for some reason (haven't tried with two yet).