The Truth About Mobility (That No One Is Telling You)
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2022
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There’s something you need to know about mobility that no one’s talking about. But if I just tell you now you won’t believe me. So I’m going to use the oldest and best form of education: a story.
In 2013 I started following Ido Portal, who hugely emphasizes the importance of the resting squat. I quickly realized I had a horrible squat, I could barely hold it for 30 seconds and couldn’t get low at all. I got kelly starrett’s book, because I too, wanted to become a supple leopard. Kelly’s book made it clear The problem was my ankles were too tight- I didn’t have the range of motion necessary to squat with my feet in the proper, parallel position that I needed to have. And I needed to have this mobility to start doing real olympic weightlifting.
I tried stretching for months, that didn’t work. I tried Kelly’s banded distractions and foam rolling and this crazy compression thing, months later- still no change. Then I went to physical therapy, they were sure I had had some traumatic ankle injury because of how immobile my right ankle was, they had me do all these exercises and did graston technique on my calves more stretches- still months later, no change.
Then I talked to a family friend physical therapist. He told me this may all be because of something called a bone spur. Basically, I could have this growth, or spur, of bone that was blocking the proper articulation of my ankle and preventing me from having the range of motion and squat of my dreams. I asked him what I could do about it, and he told me the solution, and the only solution, was a small and minor surgery to remove it.
I go get the MRI, sure enough there’s the bone spur. I talk to the surgeon, and he confirms, there’s nothing else I can do that would work, So we do the surgery. I rehab like crazy, But months, then years go by and I never got any more range of motion than I had before the surgery.
Summer 2014. I’m working at Stanford, and I had just started training handstands. I go to the gym, and I see this huge guy working on one arm handstands. I’m like hey that’s really cool you’re incredible! We start talking, and I tell him, you know I wish I could handstand, but I don’t have enough wrist mobility for it, see it only goes this far, and that’s causing this pain in my wrists that’s really holding me back.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been proven wrong so instantly and dramatically in my entire life, but he just goes- oh- I don’t have that much wrist mobility either- and his wrists look exactly like mine.
Since then I’ve gotten all the way to a freestanding one arm handstand for a 30 second average. Do you know how much my wrist mobility improved since that day 8 years ago, when I could barely hold a 2 arm handstand against the wall? None. It’s exactly the same.
I’ve also snatched 215, and squatted 400 pounds at a bodyweight of 170. Do you know how much my ankle mobility had to improve to allow these feats? None. I just rotated my feet out, allowed my knees to cave in a bit, and then developed strength and comfort in the position.
Trying to solve a movement task with brute mobility development is like trying to get a girlfriend by just throwing money at women. If you throw enough at the problem, it could potentially work, but it really isn’t an effective way of doing things, and let’s be honest things are going to go ok at best.
But what about more general sports? I’m gonna drop a quote on you guys that was eye opening for me a few years ago, from Todd Hargrove’s book, A guide to better movement. He says: "The best athletes, the best dancers, the best martial artists and yogis are not just those who are the strongest, fastest or most flexible. (Although all those things help!) The best are those with the highest quality of movement, the best coordination, the best organization of the body. What sets them apart - people like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Leo Messi, and Mia Hamm - is not their size, strength and speed, but their movement intelligence.”
Now Probably most of you are thinking: isn’t mobility good for injury prevention? Indeed, it is possible. But you’ll then have to explain to me why one of, if not THE best and most studied mobility & muscular balance assessment, the functional movement screen, has shown pretty much no predictive power when it comes to injury in the bulk of the literature. Hyper mobility has generally shown no association with injury, and actually a fair chunk of the literature on stretching shows a negative effect or no association with performance and injury risk.
...
Whenever you find yourself thinking that you can’t do something because you’re not mobile enough- check yourself. See if there’s a better way to do things for your body- and I promise you 9/10 times, you’ll find something.
Im actually really happy you started this. Thank you for this. I want you to make more do more and make this accessible for all. Please. Love ido but he hasnt done anything.
True words here. Thanks for your serious words.
That’s why I love movements where you find some kind of stretching “inside”. For example bear crawls. So good for your posterior chain…. Also calfs … same time good for shoulder strength and so on.
Also stretching doesn’t work if you don’t get the movement and information for the body and the muscles to stay flexible … many things which depend on other parts.
🤗 thanks for sharing
I have thoughts about physical limitations all the time when I go climbing and I'm constantly being disproven. I love it when I think I'm too short to climb a particular route, see someone shorter than me climb it, and then magically I am able to do it also!
wonderful channel you have here, thank you
outstanding, you deserve way more subscribers. keep going
I keep teaching exactly this to my students
Great points! Thanks for sharing your exp. Very helpful!
Bren, first of all thank you so much for the content you're putting out. It's really amazing quality and I've basically devoured every one of your videos in the past month. I have commented on virtually no youtube videos despite this being my main form of entertainment consumption. However I feel compelled to comment on this video because I am going through what seems to be an exact copy of your situation with your right ankle. I recently started working out around 10 months ago and have been enjoying the journey, however my right ankle is horribly immobile. My squat form is decent but the lack of dorsiflexion on the right side is a stark contrast from the left. I am able to do a pistol squat perfectly on the left side for reps, yet unable to do a single eccentric on the right without falling over. I have followed your same path it seems where I stretched for a couple months, then turned to banded mobilizations and some forms of lacrosse ball mobilizations like in 'How to become a supple leopard'. Yet still nothing. Are you able to do a pistol squat on your right side? Whenever I try my femur and tibia rotate internally as my foot caves inwards. This causes my hips to jut out to the right side drastically and it's almost impossible to generate force from this position. Maybe someone else in the comments is having a similar issue, but I feel like my next step is some form of PT. Not sure if you read comments but if this finds you, thanks for your time. -Seth
Keep working on your squats and explore. you will find a way. Maybe you just need a good heel lift?
@@eveziroglu Yes I currently squat with my olympic lifting shoes, the form is great but I would like to be able to do a pistol squat barefoot on each leg. I've been researching foot and ankle anatomy/physiology like a fiend. My thought is that if I know everything there is to know about how movement happens in the foot and ankle then I must be able to solve it.
@@FrozenTill2013 you could be barefoot and still heel elevated, just have your feet do the work instead of a shoe?
@@eveziroglu Yes I've been thinking about that also, I recently started adding Hindu squats and sissy squats to get my joints used to being on my toes and such. Honestly my knees have never felt better these past few weeks. Thanks for the input
I'm a yoga teacher and I discovered with a great physical therapist that my bone structure does not allow to put my body in the lotus position. That is because the shape and the deepness os of my hip-femur joint. The only thing I would achieve was to physically destroy the articulation. That knowledge saved my body from myself for being stubborn and to stop forcing. Some things are not for some bodies. Sometimes the only healthy option is to accept it.
So what did you end up doing?
awesome. id love to hear about your diet and daily training regiment. a day in the life vlog could be super cool?!
Its great that u put it like that. Made it super clear, I had simular thoughts regarding this subject:)
Thanks man! Yeah I think this isn't such an unknown or controversial viewpoint, it's just that no one is really talking about it publicly because the most people think mobility is really important and like to use it as a scapegoat for various movement/pain/injury problems.
This video talks to me so much, having bad ankle mobility (dorsiflexion) myself. I also wanted to improve my resting squat (and horse stance, lunges, etc).
I tried the same stretches from S.University, no change but wierd sensations (appreciate his content though, no blame here). Thank you so much for this video Bren, now I am sure that even if I get surgery, I will probably get the same result as you ! I will continue pointing the toes outwards when I squat and keep having a wide horse stance so my body gets stronger in that range of movement.
Cheers from France 🙏
Thank you!
vin disel as the family doctor is hilarious. great video
This is a game changer. Another reason why movement is something not be explored not enforced ! Awesome teaching bren !
oooh. gettin some wisdom in here in these comments eshaan, love it ;)
@@BrenVez learned from you 🤩
Great video mate.👍
*For anyone who suffers from ankle impingements* You also have the option of squatting (A2G) with shins near to vertical, this can be achieved by concentrating on hip and spine mobility (posture / spinal wave patterns / and spinal rotation as well as hip internal / external rotation will be especially helpful)…Good luck…Sam✌️
What an incredible channel i don't even know how to thank you enough.
(btw are you turkish ?)
Great video
A great video as always. I get the external rotation of the feet to do deep loaded squats. My question is: What was the secret of the big handstand guy?
I struggle with the same problem.
I tried many hand positions but i couldnt get it. Now I am only doing headstand. Thats alright, but I am always leering when I see a good one.
I needed to hear this. I've got tight ankles also and my dream is deep squatting.
Great vídeo man
Thank you :)
Thanks for sharing!
You got it!
I'm worried you've now given me an excuse to slack off on mobility training. I agree in your case where mobility isn't improving, you're wasting time and it's better to find a work around. But the average person (like me 2 years ago) is so stiff and immobile from years of inactivity, mobility training is crucial. I think the key is if your mobility training is paying dividends, keep doing it. If it's not, stop wasting your time.
I think mobility should be taylored for your specific needs and goals. If your goals require high levels of flexibility, than training it quite a bit is probably very interesting. But if they don't, than a basic minimum of training would be probably sufficient too ensure a good foundation for general movement and make sure you don't get stiffer over time.
We all don't have the same body type, what works for one may not necessarily work for another, but don't allow it to stop you from moving or discovering what your body type can do.
@ienjoyapples Fair point. But my point is not that where mobility isn't improving that you're wasting your time and that you should find a workaround. That was just a story of how dramatic this hyper focus on mobility can get and how much more effective movement intelligence can be. I'm a bit worried that many of you missed or don't get the exact point I'm trying to make here.
You are ALWAYS better off, from a movement perspective, finding a more intelligent solution to the movement task at hand, than to brute force attempt to get the skill through mobility development (other than mobility skills, though sometimes including them as well). Many if not most of the best athletes don't have great or even good mobility, and many of the most flexible yogi's are terrible movers.
Mobility is important and worthwhile, yes, especially if you're 'stiff and immobile' but crucial is a bit of a strong word and the counter examples to that idea in the movement world are many.
Again, I say this working on my mobility everyday, and my students do the same.
wow, learnt so much from this video and gained so much inspiration. Where can we find the 10 minute daily stretching routine?
czcams.com/video/rEqm425Bv24/video.html
Thanks Rain! Awesome- that's always my goal :). Video is here czcams.com/video/rEqm425Bv24/video.html
Bren! Haha I love that you made me Shaq 💪 my fiancé’s dad rather hilariously calls me “Shaq but pale” (which makes sense due to English being his second language and him loving the Lakers).
I thought that was you 😂
@@eveziroglu Eren! How is it going man?
@@lordnickname doing well and medical training taking up most of my time these days!
Thanks for sharing your experience. I feel like you, I was pursuing my dorsiflexion for years until I realised that the important thing was what I was capable to do with my feet not the ROM in my ankle. (As Physiotherapist I can add that your tibia/femur proportion is very important too)
Thanks!
thank you. I've always felt there has been something wrong. I am very athletic, graceful,attuned to my body yet have been told by yoga folks and body workers my mobility sucks. Ive done all kinds of stretching, still can't even sit cross legged without my knees being 8 feet off the floor!!
Are you having any persistent pain or feelings of discomfort where your ligaments and muscles are tight?
It's taken me near a decade to get here but I now only move the way I move, I'm not going to squat the way anyone tells me to squat because that isn't how I move. And now all of a sudden I can do deep squats, handstands, muscle ups, odd lifts of all kinds, Olympic lifts, powerlifts, tricking, parkour etc. and can pick up new movements in matter of days because I'll just do it the way I can do it.
Where is the paid membership sign-up?
You can access from CZcams desktop version easily. There’s a join button right on the channel home page.
What do you recommend for getting into the squat with ankle mobility like you had?
where is your online coaching video library
:o thank you!
Thanks for watching Jimmy!
really interesting ! thank you for sharing your point of view. Definitely I'm throwing money on women ( my hips 🤣). will try to find a different way to move and use my body intelligently 🙏.
thanks again !
2:07 i want pants like this too!!! Can't find them anywhere.... I just call them Goku pants 😂😂😂
Here ya go :) www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E1BAEU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1
From my own experience with things like handstands. I did both methods both stretching and building strength in the movement pattern. Plus body understanding = Technique coordination then the mobility came indirectly to me. This guy says if one is having adjustments depending on their different strength weakness like flexibility. One can compensate. While to some point he is right about it. But i may from my own experience kinda disagree with him to a little degree. If one is training progressively objectively measurable way of monitor progress. Then there will be some mobility/flexibility build up over time. Of course there are some genetic limits due to different body types in terms of how flexible each single individual can get even though they countless of time does stretches like myself my hamstrings are way less stiff then they were years ago. There is some difference but main point is there is a genetic limit in terms of flexibility rather than muscle size/strength building
I dont understand why you said what you said at 3:43. Are you implying that mobility exercises are useless for postural issues? If so what is there to do in your opinion? I'm asking this cuz u got me real concerned as I have some postural problems that I really want to solve and I'm trying to do it with mobility exercises mostly.
This really connects with me.
Every since staring BJJ I always wanted to be able to play rubber guard like Ben Eddy.
So I stated practicing the Lotus position. Stretched so much that I almost blew my left knee out. Then I went to a lot of physio therapist etc. Didn't helped me either. After MRI my. Orthopedic told me I have minor impingement in my left hip and if I ever want to come to this position I would need surgery. This year a met a black belt on vacation in Spain. 60 year old guy who was sitting in a lotus before class. Obviously I asked him for advice because of my left hip.
His answer: Ohh really? I also have bad impingement on both hips and stage 3 arthrosis.
Opened my eyes 👀
What’s the takeaway though? It sounds like you just went too hard and therefore injured yourself.
There is no way to get to the Lotus position without stretching/mobility training.
I just managed to sit in the Lotus position for the first time a few days ago. I did it by doing standing pigeon stretches and progressively make the harder.
@@MrSpaenk first of, awesome that you actually achieved the lotus!
My takeaway was that a certain circumstance does not mean that you can never achieved it. Obviously I need to work an the position constantly with adequate volume but before I thought that the position was anatomically impossible to reach for me. What kind of standing pegeon stretch did you do?
@@MrSpaenk Thank you!
I will start to include it in my routine.
Didn't even know that the kneesovertoesguy had a progression for that. 🙏
Would you consider indoor bouldering to be good movement practice? Or is it deficient in relation to the lower body by being predominantly based around upper body pulling movements?
I would like to hear you thoughts on parkour. I have heard Ido Portal state that bboy and tricking (street/urban sports similar to parkour) suffer from poor process, lack of structured, knowledgable training.
I think of climbing, parkour, etc, as great to pursue but just specializations or subsets of a movement practice.
Is there a way for someone to contact you. I have a few questions would love to see what you think?
Instagram and discord group !
You are missing a lot here. Check out Kit Laughlin's youtube channel. No cult, no position being espoused over exploration, and the work of an older man looking back with no agenda. Mobility can change fast, YOU can build a more comprehensive tool bag, as you have with other elements of your training.
Wait, so what did you do for your ankles? :D Thank you in advance!
He positions it in a way that creates a work-around, hence - movement intelligence. Ultimately, he didn't gain much if any mobility in the ankle.
Fucking gold. Thanks for this Bren 👏🏾🙏🏾
You got it! :)
As a fellow handbalancing enthusiast do you besides handstands train planche? sometimes
sometimes
❤❤❤
the point is if you can get the muscle to relax. this is usually done under load. but it can be a small load. resist your wrist flexion in the stretched position for like 10-30 seconds, then youll be able to go further. blew your mind.
I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't watched many of my videos.
Check out my stretching routines if you're interested in mobility, or just think I'm completely unaware of isometric stretching, But the point of this video was not that you can't gain mobility, or even that there aren't effective ways to do it. Rather, to question: is gaining mobility REALLY the most effective way to accomplish your goals?
@@BrenVez Gaining mobility is a side effect of muscle use. Once the muscle contracts, it then relaxes. Simply statically stretching misses that contraction element.
You are gaining mobility by simply doing the movement. It's just not passive mobility, right?
If one truly wants passive mobility, one needs to patiently change the very matrix of the tissue. It needs to over a very long time -- so that the tissues actually lengthen!!
@@BrenVez you have to work on whatever movements you do to get better. But stretching/mobility drills do help with recovery and to open up the hips or shoulders for example to then allow more fluidity with said movements. Do you disagree?
@@BrenVez you need to get the muscle to relax under load
So how did you manage to squat properly ?
Go back to around the 3 min mark
Yo bro... How do I get in contact with you?
join the discord server!
What to do when a person has a CMT disease, high instep/ankles (hollow feet) and maximum ankle extension (dorsiflextion) is about 5-10 degrees?
Do you mean Charcot Marie tooth?
@@eveziroglu yes
@@abuk95 I would guess it's no different than any other limitation. You have to modify your movements according to what is available to you and may have to change over time depending on the disease progression.
High feet arches is my bug bear.
Wow I have the exact same ankle problem, in both ankles none the less. Bone spurs. Only way to remove them is surgery. I'm *shocked and disappointed* that removing the bone spurs didn't have any changes in your ankle/squat mobility. I squat at the gym using olympic shoes which works fine, but I wish I could just sit in a resting squat at anytime. But I can't unfortunately
It seems that science just doesn't really have a good answer for permanent increases in ROM in joints, especially the smaller ones. Becuase I have seen people get good gains in large joints like hips and shoulders but it's very often people say they seem to never be able to get much change in ankles or wrists, especially permanent change
Pointing your toes out doesn't help?
Is a bone spur something your born with? I'm sure as a 2 yr old you could squat deep.
So if you stretch your ankles and calfs lightly prior to squatting, you still don’t get any increase in range of motion?
@@justbreathe8835 it does help, but I have to point them out really far, and then my knees track perfect forward. So not in line with my feet. I can't rotate my knees to be in line with my feet as I go down
@@MrSpaenk I get an increase, but not enough. And it's not permanent
Hey Bren I’ve just come across your channel and i noticed you have what looks like Gyno on your left pec?
I have some theories and experience with what i believe causes it and would be happy to share with you here in this thread if you happen to read this just respond to me and ill try to give you a run down.
In short, i also have Gyno on and off and am able to actually induce or remove it (pretty damn quickly aswell) based on movements that i do which change the ratio of muscular strength through the muscles of my shoulder girdle. I see in this video that you are maybe not a believer in muscle imbalances such as upper and lower cross, but it’s actually relevant.
Let me know if you’re interested and I’d be happy to share my experience and theory on it. Cheers
Do you have evidence of it working in anyone besides yourself? Because I'm pretty sure it has more to do with tissue aromatization of testosterone rather than any kind of muscle imbalance. I am still interested in hearing your theory though.
@@eveziroglu no just in myself, but I don’t think I’m an anomaly. I’ve been going through severe postural problems for most of my life but in particular in the past 10 years. Ive had chronic pain and all sorts of organ/musculoskeletal issues because of it. I think there’s likely many reasons people get gyno, particularly overweight people, but i am not overweight and am quite fit and muscular and always have been, yet have been suffering from gyno and various puffy glands throughout my body such as in my groin and armpits (lymph nodes).
In short, i think if muscles are out of balance and are also pushed to their limits, they can constrict the flow of fluids such as the lymphatic system. I think there may be a hormonal component to it aswell, but regardless, fixing the muscles fixes the restriction of flow. Maybe the body is intentionally causing this restriction of flow, I don’t know, but thats the long and short of it.
What´s your opinion of PRI (postural restoration institute)? I recently discover some youtube channels about PRI and their aproach to chronic pain and ways to fix them is so so uncommon. I don´t know if PRI works or not, but maybe they have something true. If you want to know more about look the channels "Conor Harris" and "Pri trainer-neal hallinan". Maybe you can do a video about it someday.
Very interesting video ... but why are professional dancers or gymnasts stretching so freaking much?
because it is their job to achieve hyper mobility
I suffer too from ankle welded at 90° syndrome. All exercises I found wouldn't work at all for me. I couldn't feel anything happening in my ankles. There is this one by kit laughlin that seems quite promising though. I can feel it working in a way no other has made me feel. I couldn't train it regularly until now because it puts a bit of stress on the knees and I had knee problems last year. But here it is: czcams.com/video/hDUVp2nUk7Q/video.html
And I totally agree that we shouldn't let lack of mobility be a excuse for not doing stuff. But I do thing there are good methods for even the most stiff people out there to develop good flexibility if they really want to. It's just often quite hard to find what works for each individual. As people often respond differently to stimulus and will have very specific problems that can be very tough to overcome
I am searching medical databases for "ankle welded at 90 syndrome" 😂
To say that stretching and working on your mobility wont help you is pure bullshit. Not being able to squat,touch your toes,or reach over your head for a few examples is hindered movement. If you have stiff hamstrings or a tight lower back,your more liable to injury yourself. Now potentially learning the splits wont turn you into MJ,but it can help with recovery and feeling better.
Holding unhealthy posture,lack of movement,and stiffness is all unhealthy. So working to improve that which you can,is stepping towards being healthier.
Would you rather be the 40,60,or 80 yr who can barely walk or get out of bed? Or fluid and mobile your whole life,tonthe best of your ability?
it's not to say that stretching or having more mobility helps, but rather that you shouldn't let mobility limit what you do.
Did your stiff ancle cause you pain?
Do your methods translate to people who have posture issues and pain? It seems your journey was less about fixing pain and poor posture, and more about achieving movement goals. Like you fixed your squat by moving your foot positioning, and you achieved a one armed handstand. I spent a lot of time being very senditary. Years. my knees feel fragile, my joints feel fragile, and especially my lower back is incredibly tight.
My flexibility is absolutely pathetic in quite a few areas. everything i've read and researched suggest that my weak abdominals, my tight hip flexors, my lack of hip flexibility/mobility can cause poor posture, mobility issues and back pain which can be resolved through increasing my flexibility in the necessary areas. But finding your channel has mindf***d me and honestly is making me lose hope at this point lol. Because now the answers to my problems feel even more complicated and further away than ever from achieving.
I might be mistaken but it sounds like you're saying becoming more flexible, and frequently stretching these areas won't do much good and will not lengthen tendons.
You also seem to suggest there's no/little importance to postural imbalances or muscular imbalances. Well what if you have "postural imbalances or muscular imbalances? Are you saying there's not a correlation between these things and pain? I could see how one bicep being a bit weaker than other might not be of detriment, but there seems to be a lot of ways in which muscles can be imbalanced.
Your answers are a lot more simple than you think or perhaps want to think. Address your general knee and general joint fragility by developing knee and general joint strength. Address your back pain directly by directly addressing your back pain. And if you feel tightness is an issue for you, it certainly can be in extreme and sedentary cases, address this by directly addressing the movements where you feel stiff, and generally moving more.
@@BrenVez I don't want to think it's overcomplicated, I want things to be very simple and easy to understand. I think I just have a fear of doing the incorrect things to help myself. Imagine you were trying to learn to build a house and you don't want to mess it up, and just when you feel like you have a starting point, you learn the math you were taught was potentially pointless. Maybe if I came in with a completely fresh mind I would feel differently.
So it is nice to hear that it is simple, do you have any good videos discussing how to target and heal common areas of pain in people? I was going to ask about "movements to fix posture" but it's not clear if you don't believe in posture issues entirely, or if you don't believe in common methods to resolve posture issues.
I'm following some knees over toes exersises to strengthen my knees, but my back I still gotta figure something out. I just cleared a space in my room, and did a bunch of very random movements to see how my body felt. Some of them had zero tension, but I isolated certain movements where I felt the tight/sore area target. For example straight legs, letting my upper body flop down then swaying back and forth like a pendulum in a controlled motion, except I'd continue momentum to clear a much greater distance on each sway.
Hahahah I don't know wtf I'm doing, but I'm taking your words seriously that the answers to my issues are simple. is this a good starting point for my back?
Chigety check yourself before you rigety wreck yourself
ahahahah yesss
Have you followed any of kneesovertoesguy content. What are your thoughts?
I believe there is a video in the pipeline on exactly this