To someone who has never done CrossFit before, walking into a CrossFit box can be an interesting experience.
As Coach Joshua says, “Most people look at CrossFit movements and think, ‘That is so unnatural. Who moves like that?’ But truth be told, these movements that we use in CrossFit are some of the most functional, basic movements to the human body. People for centuries have been pulling, lifting, squatting, and running. The body is made for it in fact.”
The problem is that in the past couple of decades our society has changed a lot and you’re seeing a lot more sedentary lifestyles and desk jobs which means that you’re not seeing all these movements in daily life much anymore.
Coach Joshua says, “As human beings we are not designed to be all slumped over with stiff backs and bad posture. We’re not designed to be unable to squat normally. CrossFit takes basic, functional movements that we should be doing in everyday life and uses that as the basis of it’s philosophy. But often times because we aren’t accustom to doing these types of movements, we lack the mobility and flexibility to do them properly.
As CrossFitters, we have to be able to move well and achieve every position that we’re required to, like squatting, pressing, running, jumping, lifting, etc… And each of those movement will require our bodies to be both limber and well supported so we can make the most of our body’s natural mechanical advantage and be able to move through the range of motion required by each movement. In a lot of way, we’re just learning how to move our bodies the way they were made to.”
So how do you know if your mobility needs work?
Here are Coach Joshua’s three main indicators:
1. You do CrossFit. Enough said.
2. You have joint pain. Joint pain should not be something that we consider normal and unavoidable. There’s a lot that can be solved through mobility. Take knee problem’s for instance… Many times that can be solved through simply mobilizing your IT band.
3. You can’t achieve a mechanically sound position that is required for a CrossFit movement. Take overhead squats… one of the CrossFit movements that requires a lot mobility. If you struggle with it, it’s a pretty safe bet that your mobility needs work.
Coach Joshua says, “Often times you see people start CrossFit and see instant results in things like muscle gain and weight loss. But then after a little while you see a big stall. They slow down and stop making progress. A lot of that is because you’re not pushing your body to achieve greater mobility to be able to push to the next level.
The reason why the mobility is a good accessory to just doing CrossFit itself, is because it allows you to not be limited by your structure and makeup. If you have proper mobility, then the only thing standing in the way of your next big athletic achievement or PR is simply skill and gaining strength. And developing that is much easier when your body is mobile and able to move wherever and however you need it to.”
What are the primary parts of the body that need mobility?
Coach Joshua says, “Shoulders, hips, and low back are three that often times need work. One of the main areas to focus on is your anterior (the front portion of your body). The biggest reasons why our anterior often times needs work is simply because we sit for long periods of time.
Because of that, our hip flexors are in a very glued position, so when we go to open our hips it becomes hard to stand up and get our pelvis rotated back to a neutral position which puts stress in your lower back and inhibits your glutes from firing properly. And that makes for a lot of problems when we try to do functional movements like running, rowing, kettle bell swings, and overhead squats.
As part of being not only a CrossFitter but a competitive athlete, I have to spend an hour to an hour and a half a day on my mobility. That may seem like a lot to some people, but trusts me, it makes a huge difference in being able to do what I do and sustain it long-term.”
Mobility is a very important (and often overlooked) part of being a CrossFitter. So make sure you’re pushing yourself to get the most out of the mobility portion of the WOD and also…
Stay tuned: There will be more posts to come that will go into specific movements and tools to help you increase your mobility in targeted areas so that you can start integrating them your routine either at home or at the gym.
Also be watching for upcoming, all-new, mobility classes that you won’t want miss! They will be specifically designed to help you loosen up and increase mobility in very specific areas of the body.