23/02/2022
I used the massage ball, foam roller and mobility routine for the first 15 mins of group sessions for the last 10yrs that I was in the origin studio. I found that it benefited all my clients and gave them a great opportunity to get to know their body.
The outdoor coaching environment is not as ideal to get down on the ground on the ball and roller. I transport DB's Rings and Bands every day for coaching so adding multiple rollers would result in extra trips to the car. I still take a couple of balls and a roller but some mornings it is wet so since being outside so for the last 6 months I have switched to a 2-4 min backwards hill walk and a series of long sustained stretches using the picnic benches.
Deep lunge stretch: this mobilises the front ankle, knee and hip at the same time as opening up the hip flexor of the back leg.
Deep glute stretch: this mobilises the front hip. Multiple angles can be used. the bench provides a good platform to support the knee and a foundation to pull on for improved loading of the hip.
Deep squat stretch: this mobilises the groin, glutes, ankles, lats and lower back. Holding on to the bench allows for a deeper loaded stretch plus it stops those that do not have adequate deep squat mobility from falling backwards.
Back lever quad stretch: This stretch works well to improve shoulder flexion and deep knee flexion. You can see that I have some room for improvement with maintaining hip extension.
Deep hamstring, calf and lat stretch: This is great as it allows for the weight of the body to provide some good load into the calves and Achilles tendon. The weight falling back also opens up the lats, activating the hip flexors increased the load onto the hamstrings. I prefer the underhand grip for this stretch but only one of the picnic benches allow for this this spot only allows for a decent grip with the pronated grip.
For over 25 yrs I have personally witnessed positive results from mobility training utilising the massage ball, foam roller and mobility routines. The key is to build and maintain mobility stability strength and coordination as an integrated method.
