MEOW - Mobility Exercise Of the Week - Thoracic Rotation

"MEOW"

Twisty Child's Pose:  

This is a mobility exercise to increase thoracic rotation.  With a band anchored to something solid and wrapped around your outside shoulder, sit into child's pose.  Place your hand behind your head and begin to rotate towards the anchor point, keeping your hips down to lock out the lumbar spine. You are looking for 50+ degrees of rotation.  If you cannot get 50 degrees without using the band for assistance, this is a great exercise for you...

Spartan Race 30 Day Training Plan

WOW - Workout Of the Week...Obstacle Training

"WOW"

1 - Rope Climb

2 - Sled Pulls

3 - Army Crawls (20 feet = 1)

4 - Atlas Carries (20 feet = 1)

5 - Sand Bag Lunge Walks (20 feet = 1)

6 - Tire Flips

7 - Box Jump Overs (30 inch)

8 - Monkey Bars (If you only have one bar, do 8 pullups and reverse your grip at the top each time)

9 - Burpees

1000 Meter Row/Run

Sprint = Repeat 3x
Super = Repeat 5x
Beast = Repeat 8x

Have fun!!!

MEOW - Mobility Exercise Of the Week

"MEOW"

Below is an exercise to improve ankle dorsiflexion.  If ankle range of motion is limited, which is fairly common, it can cause major problems up the kinetic chain (i.e. plantar fasciitis, tight calves/achilles, sore knees, hip pain, back pain, etc.).  

• Place a stick in front of your big toe.
• In a lunge position, push your knee to the outside of the stick until you feel your heel wanting to come off the ground.
• Move back and forth 20-30 times, gradually pushing further into your end range. 
• Do this 2-3x daily if range of motion is limited. 

This is also a good way to assess dorsiflexion.  You should be able to place the stick a fist's distance from your big toe, and be able to touch your knee to it without your heel coming off the ground.  As you can see, my ankle range of motion is limited (because of a major ankle injury in Mexico, but that is another story), so I have work to do...