A Philosophy of Strength and Health

I use this series of open and closed-chain movements to expose the thoracic spine and shoulder girdle to various planes of movement and weight-bearing situations. Parts of this series come from GAIN colleague Greg Thompson, who teaches elementary PE in Michigan. Greg has developed a large library of fundamental movements/skills to be practiced in 5 minute segments during the school day. The "5 in 5" program is also being piloted in the UK by Kelvin Giles.  Shoulder Series "A" is used in warm up, cool-down and on recovery days after a big volleyball tournament. It is meant for any skill-level or age. The Rise & Shine Push Ups can be modified to be Rise & Shine Pillars or Let Downs for those unable to do a solid push up. I have also used it very successfully with shoulder rehab patients.

This is one of my very favorite videos from Chip Conrad of Bodytribe . Watch it and let it soak in. There are many out there who thing mobility is a separate quality that is trained outside of the workout.  It is not.  Everything you do in your training program impacts your mobility in a positive or a negative way. So you can foam roll and wrap yourself in all types of rubber bands and never make a dent in your ability to move better because your past and present training asks your body to adapt in ways that limit your mobility. You are how you move. Your movement needs to be varied and you need to realize there are fundamental relationships between various joints, in weight-bearing, that dictate your mobility and thus your ability to move well.  You will eventually limit yourself and your strength and power development if you think mobility is something to be trained separately from strength and power.