Since I've made a post about shoulder restrictions , I've received a few requests about how to loosen up stubborn hips. This is my dad, unintentionally showing off his perfect bottom position and impressive ankle dorsiflexion. One thing I'd like to mention, which has been not…
If you Google "mobility," you can find pages upon pages of articles about how to improve your mobility at any given joint. Thoracic mobility, shoulder mobility, ankle mobility, and the like are central themes on fitness blogs all over the internet (mine included). As a trainer, …
I'd say nearly every person I've trained has, during an assessment, mentioned a previous shoulder injury. Even I have suffered from the plague that is shoulder pain in the past. The shoulder (glenohumeral) joint is the most mobile joint in the body. The ball and socket architectur…
"Ankle mobility" seems to be a buzzword these days. Coaches often tell their athletes that the limiting factor in their squats is the lack of range of motion in the ankles. Everyone claims to have poor ankle mobility, and they're all looking for the magical way to improve it…
If your shoulder hurts, you've probably assumed something with your shoulder is inherently dysfunctional. While that may not be false, you also have to consider what's going on around your shoulder. Ida Rolf, a famous Structural Integration practitioner said it perfectly, "Wh…
What's wrong with this picture? Yes, this model has an incredibly impressive physique, but I'm referring specifically to her posture. Her ribs, in particular, are the first thing I notice. Rib flaring is an extremely common postural fault. I mainly see this in women, but there are…
The knees are the largest joints in the human body. Unfortunately, these large joints also seem to be an even bigger area for pain and injury. In the U.S. alone, surgeons perform around 700,000 knee replacements annually--that's a lot of bionic knees! Other knee-related injuries inclu…
In the prequel to this post , I explained why so many of us carry a lot of tension in the neck. Stress, poor posture, and breathing can all contribute to elevated shoulders and a heavy head. I taught you a few quick movements that will strengthen the muscles of the chest, back and shoulde…
If you had to pick one place where you regularly carry the most tension in your body, what would you choose? I'm willing to bet you chose your upper trapezius muscles. The upper trapezius muscles seem to be (in my experience) some of the most overused and abused muscles in the human b…
For every exercise, there's an equal and opposite, behind-the-neck variation. Behind-the-neck lat pull-downs, pull-ups, push presses, strict presses, are just a few examples of exercises I've seen people try to do behind their necks. Perhaps they're trying to hit the same musc…
The squat, lunge, bench press and overhead press are all great exercises--they are compound movements that will help improve strength, power, and stability. Unfortunately, I see many people performing this movement on a machine that limits the benefits of these movements: the Smith machin…
"The human body is a machine which winds its own springs." -Julien Offray You've taken the first step and bought yourself a gym membership. Now you think to yourself, "okay, what the heck do I do with all of this equipment??" Some of the machines in there look like…
Having a big butt is certainly preferable for models twerking in rap videos, but it's also extremely important in athletic performance. Weather you're a soccer player, a running back or just simply working out to maintain a healthy lifestyle, you need to make sure you're givin…