Upper East Side

CrossFit is all about functional movements, and as we progress in our individual CrossFit journeys, we find ourselves striving to be faster, stronger, more powerful and more efficient. We need mobility, especially hip mobility to reach these goals. Whether we’re lifting the barbell, swinging a kettlebell, doing box jumps, doing pull-ups or just moving our body weight, we need the hip extension for max power output.

We are all born with joint mobility – ever watch a kid do a perfect squat while playing in the sandbox? As children, our bodies naturally move well, but as we get older, we spend less time playing and more time studying or working, which typically puts us in a chair. It’s been said that sitting is the new smoking. Sitting causes poor hip mobility by weakening the glutes and shortening the hip flexors. If your glutes and hip flexors are tight, you won’t be able to activate your hips or get full hip extension, which leads to inefficient movement patterns, compensation and injury.

In last month’s article I talked about how the inefficient use of the thoracic spine leads to overuse of the lower back. The same compensation occurs with tight hips. When our hips are tight or short, glutes are not firing, other muscles and areas of the body need to work overtime like the hamstrings and the lower back.

Other side effects to sitting include:
– High blood pressure
– Greater risk of diabetes
– Obesity
– Depression
– Shortness of major muscles (i.e. psoas, liliaceous)
– Lower back pain/neck pain

So now take the 6+ hours we’ve been sitting per day and throw us in the gym for 1 to 2 hours. We’re asking our bodies to perform at max capacity in a short amount of time with limited effort spent on mobility. I get it — we’re busy and life moves fast, but as athletes we need to give our bodies a fighting chance.

Here are a couple of my favorite Kelly Starrett hip openers. I try to do a hip opener at least once a day whether I’m going for a max lift or taking a rest day.
2 Position Couch Stretch: Episode 2
Desk Athlete Rescue: Episode 88

There are thousands of hip openers and stretches out there on the web. I urge you to explore them. Other tips for better hips:
– If you’re a desk sitter, get up every 20 minutes and take a quick stroll or at least realign your spine. If 20 minutes isn’t possible, shoot for every hour.
– Take advantage of the bands and mobility toys in the gym. Feel free to ask any of the coaches how to use them.
Be sure to stretch and mobilize after long periods of sitting and before working out. If you can’t fit in time before class, stretch between work sets and definitely incorporate mobility into your cool down.

For any questions, feel free to contact Coach Alicia at: alicia.mazurek@gmail.com