Hello! I'm a long time lurker on the deeper blue forums and a recreational freediver stranded in the middle of Texas. Some of my other hobbies include weight lifting, biology, meditation and learning everything I can. This cluster of interests, lots of free time and the spirit of self-improvement has lead me to the humble website: MobilityWOD
Let me say now: I'm in no way affiliated with the site or the people behind it. In fact, I've never commented on their videos and I've only been mobilizing myself for a couple days now. It's a free resource, I'm not trying to sell you anything other than free knowledge and health. I'm posting here partly because I know freedivers are often very performance oriented, but mostly because freedivers are very self-aware and likely to really use this resource to great personal success. Don't keep going if you're feeling numb!
"Mobility? Is that like stretching?"
Mobility is best understood as half the job of using your musculature safely and efficiently - getting into positions through full range of motion in the critical joints of the body (the largest being the shoulder and hips, but elements like ankles, knees, neck and spinal curve are equally important). Yes, mobility includes stretching muscles, but that's really the smallest portion of mobility. To quote the websites' FAQ -
"Does this apply to me?"
Here are some mobility questions: Do you experience low back pain? Upper back pain? Is your upper back rounded and your neck position forward? Do you feel tight in your hip flexors or the external rotators of your hips? If you ever do yoga and try downward dog, is it difficult to place your heel firmly on the ground? Are you curious about correct posture but unable to sit relaxed without some tightness along your spine somewhere? Can you stick your arms straight up behind your head without raising your rib cage? Do you experience knee pain in any form?
If you feel any of these problems I have good news: you can fix 98% of your own problems using minimal equipment through video instruction from a sport-centric doctor of physical therapy (licensed to practice in California), on this one website. And it's free! Kelly Starrett, aka Kstar aka the man himself says that these mobilization exercises work at about 90% effectiveness compared to the costly professional work you can pay him for.
"What investments will I have to make?"
Time - The idea of the site began as one post a day that can be completed in 10 minutes or less. As Kstar says, you need to hold a mob for at least 2 minutes to get a change in the tissue that will stick. If you're like me, you could probably mobilize for 30 minutes (of real pain, let's be honest) before you've hit all the key spots once, especially just starting off. The feeling after a mob is so incredible that you may find yourself addicted to the results. To sum it up, the time investment is minimal but extremely rewarding. Expect to keep working on your gross bits more that just once - eventually you'll be clean and beautiful.
Monetary cost - The entire library of mob videos, 400+, are entirely free and are an exhaustive guide to your whole body. Kstar asks that you buy a few things to be able to do the exercises - 3 lacrosse balls, one used alone and two taped together to move as a block and around the spine; and a 25$ jumpflex band (I don't have one yet but I'm getting one ASAP to realign my knee). You can improvise! Grab a coconut, a tennis ball, racquetball, small child's head (just kidding - too soft and prone to crying) and start smashing! The earlier WODs use less equipment but you can find one on any given topic that is suitable for you.
"Where do I start??"
There is no required order and the videos are fairly recursive, but the first 10 videos or so will familiarize you with the terminology and concepts employed. Plus they require no equipment, so you can power a whole weeks worth of mobs right away! I'll list some videos specific to freediving, but you can search the whole site by joint name or movement (you'll get the hang of it quickly).
*These videos come from the perspective of a crossfit gym owner who is also a DPT and former high level paddle sport athlete. Please understand that a lot of this will be be related directly to squat positions, overhead presses, deadlifts etc. Your breathing mechanics probably don't suck like the athletes he refers to in the diaphragm workout. Yes, a lot of the people in these videos are very muscular and are easily identified as Californians. I can't demand anything but I'd like to make a request that we don't get bogged down making fun of gym / performance weightlifter culture, and especially that we don't judge the body types of the men and women featured in the videos. That's all.
The beginning - A good place to start to learn the terminology. I HIGHLY recommend watching the first video of each movement / joint to learn correct positioning. Don't skip the first external rotation shoulder video or first shoulder internal rotation because he explains the correct position that all future shoulder mobilizations require.
Diaphragm mobility part 1, part 2, part 3
Thoracic spine (do this and other T-spine before moving up to shoulders)
Neck mobility - After doing this my Eustachian tubes we're 1000x easier to open, someone who isn't in a drought-ridden wasteland of a state should see if this is critical for freedivers trying to learn hands free equalization
Hip extension - critical for all of us who spend a lot of time seated, shortening our hip flexors. May improve your finning range of motion.
Pillow and sleeping position, why not
I need to go to sleep but this is just a jumping off point - share any other videos that are helpful. Check out the FAQ on the site if you have questions or I'll try to respond to the best of my novice ability.
Let me say now: I'm in no way affiliated with the site or the people behind it. In fact, I've never commented on their videos and I've only been mobilizing myself for a couple days now. It's a free resource, I'm not trying to sell you anything other than free knowledge and health. I'm posting here partly because I know freedivers are often very performance oriented, but mostly because freedivers are very self-aware and likely to really use this resource to great personal success. Don't keep going if you're feeling numb!
"Mobility? Is that like stretching?" Mobility is best understood as half the job of using your musculature safely and efficiently - getting into positions through full range of motion in the critical joints of the body (the largest being the shoulder and hips, but elements like ankles, knees, neck and spinal curve are equally important). Yes, mobility includes stretching muscles, but that's really the smallest portion of mobility. To quote the websites' FAQ -
The WOD in the title refers to Workout Of the Day - though the website has departed from that format after the initial 365 videos. The other half of the work is stability. These two are interdependent and I'm frankly not qualified to describe the relationship between their development accurately. What I do know is, if you're anything like me, your mobility sucks!
"Does this apply to me?" Here are some mobility questions: Do you experience low back pain? Upper back pain? Is your upper back rounded and your neck position forward? Do you feel tight in your hip flexors or the external rotators of your hips? If you ever do yoga and try downward dog, is it difficult to place your heel firmly on the ground? Are you curious about correct posture but unable to sit relaxed without some tightness along your spine somewhere? Can you stick your arms straight up behind your head without raising your rib cage? Do you experience knee pain in any form?
If you feel any of these problems I have good news: you can fix 98% of your own problems using minimal equipment through video instruction from a sport-centric doctor of physical therapy (licensed to practice in California), on this one website. And it's free! Kelly Starrett, aka Kstar aka the man himself says that these mobilization exercises work at about 90% effectiveness compared to the costly professional work you can pay him for.
"What investments will I have to make?" Time - The idea of the site began as one post a day that can be completed in 10 minutes or less. As Kstar says, you need to hold a mob for at least 2 minutes to get a change in the tissue that will stick. If you're like me, you could probably mobilize for 30 minutes (of real pain, let's be honest) before you've hit all the key spots once, especially just starting off. The feeling after a mob is so incredible that you may find yourself addicted to the results. To sum it up, the time investment is minimal but extremely rewarding. Expect to keep working on your gross bits more that just once - eventually you'll be clean and beautiful.
Monetary cost - The entire library of mob videos, 400+, are entirely free and are an exhaustive guide to your whole body. Kstar asks that you buy a few things to be able to do the exercises - 3 lacrosse balls, one used alone and two taped together to move as a block and around the spine; and a 25$ jumpflex band (I don't have one yet but I'm getting one ASAP to realign my knee). You can improvise! Grab a coconut, a tennis ball, racquetball, small child's head (just kidding - too soft and prone to crying) and start smashing! The earlier WODs use less equipment but you can find one on any given topic that is suitable for you.
"Where do I start??" There is no required order and the videos are fairly recursive, but the first 10 videos or so will familiarize you with the terminology and concepts employed. Plus they require no equipment, so you can power a whole weeks worth of mobs right away! I'll list some videos specific to freediving, but you can search the whole site by joint name or movement (you'll get the hang of it quickly).
*These videos come from the perspective of a crossfit gym owner who is also a DPT and former high level paddle sport athlete. Please understand that a lot of this will be be related directly to squat positions, overhead presses, deadlifts etc. Your breathing mechanics probably don't suck like the athletes he refers to in the diaphragm workout. Yes, a lot of the people in these videos are very muscular and are easily identified as Californians. I can't demand anything but I'd like to make a request that we don't get bogged down making fun of gym / performance weightlifter culture, and especially that we don't judge the body types of the men and women featured in the videos. That's all.
The beginning - A good place to start to learn the terminology. I HIGHLY recommend watching the first video of each movement / joint to learn correct positioning. Don't skip the first external rotation shoulder video or first shoulder internal rotation because he explains the correct position that all future shoulder mobilizations require.
Diaphragm mobility part 1, part 2, part 3
Thoracic spine (do this and other T-spine before moving up to shoulders)
Neck mobility - After doing this my Eustachian tubes we're 1000x easier to open, someone who isn't in a drought-ridden wasteland of a state should see if this is critical for freedivers trying to learn hands free equalization
Hip extension - critical for all of us who spend a lot of time seated, shortening our hip flexors. May improve your finning range of motion.
Pillow and sleeping position, why not
I need to go to sleep but this is just a jumping off point - share any other videos that are helpful. Check out the FAQ on the site if you have questions or I'll try to respond to the best of my novice ability.
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