Stout Sport Performance

I get asked often if “I should do more flexibility training or stretching”.

My response is to ask another question. Why?

If we have mobility restrictions which are inhibiting our movement quality and our ability to access good positions then of course we need to perform mobilization exercises to give us a window to train for better movement. Most people would see these exercises as “flexibility training”. And of course, most people should include some form of mobility work into their daily routine to help maintain an ability to get into good positions which helps promote quality movement.

But I want you to stop thinking about being more flexible and start thinking about performing mobility work that will allow you to access better positions than the ones you currently can.

Example: Your pelvis is tilting forward (if it was a water bucket, water would rush out the front).

For examples sake, let’s say this is due to tight hip flexors and soft tissues on the front side of the leg which are keeping you from accessing a neutral pelvic position (if your pelvis was a water bucket no water would spill out).

In this case we need to perform mobility work to improve our hip extension or mobilize those tight front side tissues so we have access to a better pelvic position.

We would follow this mobility work with training with a focus on high movement quality.

We made up a word to convince everyday people and many trainers that healthy humans are athletic humans.

This isn’t to say we need to train office workers like professional athletes. But it does mean we need to recognize that athletic movement is just high quality human movement.

This is why when we train our clients to develop adequate mobility, dynamic stability, power, plyometric ability, strength (Bi-lateral/Uni-lateral) and cardiovascular fitness they start moving and looking like “athletes”.

We have trained professional athletes but most of our clients are just everyday people who look like athletes.

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