Not Just a Man's World

I have a system to get things done in the morning, and usually it serves me well.  It involves a series of mobility drills that I do as I head downstairs in the morning.  It’s a program that I adjust depending on what is needed most at the time, but it currently looks like this:

1. Full hip flexor stretch for 10-15 secs on each side - next to the bed.
2. 5 x plate squats (to tucking point) for proprioception with a 5kg plate – on the landing where I keep a small pile of plates for such things.
3. 10 x resistance band static lunges (on each leg) – using an old bicycle inner tube tied to the bannister post at the bottom of the stairs.
4. Make tea and do fasted cardio if it’s one of those days.
5. Thoracic extensions – off the top step  of the stairs (on my way back up with the tea).
6. Internal shoulder rotation remedial work – lying on my back on the upstairs landing with a big foam roller down my spine.
7. Soft tissue massage on relevant parts of back/legs (depending on recent workouts) – again on the landing.

Although my tea is almost cold by the time I get back to the bedroom, I have built the mobility drills into my passage down and up the stairs to make it as difficult as possible to miss them.  It guarantees that I’ve set myself up for any injustices that I might do to my body during the day and ensures that they get done at least once a day (see my 15 tips for surviving a desk job…).

With the commencement of my fat-stripping fasted cardio in the morning, the system went wrong a few weeks ago and static lunges (I’m not sure that’s the right name for them) and soft tissue work were missed for a week.

At the end of the week I went into the gym for a heavy split squats workout and suffered knee pain.  It only stopped when I concentrated hard on keeping my knees in alignment for each repetition.  Needless to say, it wasn’t the best workout I’ve ever done.

The next day, I did my pull up and elevated feet press up workout and woke with severe shoulder pain the day after.

Coincidence?  I think not.

I immediately went back to doing my static lunges and soft tissue work.  Thanks to a well-timed post from Chris on The Garage Gym Online, I also started using hot and cold contrast pads on my shoulder (which was aggravated for several days but has now calmed down – it probably wasn’t helped by the desk job and by the daily violin practice I’m doing at the moment for a concert). You’d think Chris would have mentioned it since he lives with me, but I listened better seeing it written in a post!

The neighbour’s cat, Jake, who seems to sleep instead of doing mobility drills

This week I’ve put the weight up on the split squats and they felt (almost) effortless and totally pain free.  I also came out of my pull up workout without a hint of an ache.

The week’s lesson for me?  Never leave out your mobility drills or you may regret it.

Related posts:

1. Lessons learned this week: developing mobility drills
2. Lessons learned this week: stress and lifting
3. Lessons learned this week: injuries and basic anatomy
4. Lessons learned this week: the menstrual cycle and making workouts more challenging