Mobility – The Stick 2

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Last week we started talking generally about mobility and then focused on “The Stick” as a tool that can help with soft tissue work. To fully maximize the use out of The Stick, or any other tool used for soft tissue work, it helps to have an understanding of how and why they work.

First, you would need a decent understanding of musculoskeletal anatomy. Knowing how and where muscles attach to bones and how they function in movement lays the foundation for what we work on. For example, knowing where muscles attach would help us figure out why a person has poor overhead position or why they have pain when racking a low bar squat.

Second, knowing the structure and positioning of muscle fibers would help us understand where and how to apply force on the tissues. In most cases the force will be applied along the muscle belly instead of across it, but there are some instances where the latter is used.

Third, given all of these specifics, we can look at the musculoskeletal system as a whole. If a muscle or a collection of muscles are tight, then they are shortened. If they are shortened, then there is more tension at their attachment sites. Attachment sites are almost always joints, and therefore joint pain is prevalent when muscle bellies are tight. Doing mobility exercises helps alleviate tension on these muscles to relieve the multi-angled tension at joints. This, in turn, will decrease pain at the joint or along a chain of attachments (e.g. relieving tension at the hip from all angles will decrease lower back and sacral pain).

This is why The Stick is an effective tool because it allows for a more pin pointed application of greater force. The following video is the second half of the video I made with Mike Hom in showing how The Stick can be used. We focus on serratus anterior, the posterior shoulder, calves/achilles, and hamstrings but allude to other ways The Stick can be used. Notice that the stick is used on segments to alleviate tension in the muscle to lessen tension at joints, as described above.


16 thoughts on “Mobility – The Stick 2”

  3. Looks like you must have put a dime on the counter when you entered this massage parlor.

    Woman and I have done intense calf work like this with a foam roller for like 15 minutes/leg. I might have almost cried while it happened, but afterwards I noticed a HUGE improvement including a reduction in plantar fasciitis pain. The foam roller is too bulky and a little too soft for some body parts. I’m going to get one of these torture sticks.

  4. Cool video. I’m slowly adding to my mobility “tool box”, but I don’t have a stick yet.

    Is there much utility for a strength athlete in doing accessory work for the calves?

    Absolutely. If you have crappy dorsi flexion, it’ll inhibit your bottom position in a squat, especially in vertical torso styles of squatting (high bar, front squat, overhead, clean recovery, and snatch recovery).

    Here are some links that mention ankle stuff, specifically dorsiflexion.

    http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/04/female-mobility-case-study/
    http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/03/mike-recap/
    http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/05/recap-prfriday/
    http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/03/qa-22/

    Ctrl+F “dorsiflexion” if you want to skip the other stuff.

    –Justin

  5. I feel like i need to delete my browsing history and temp files after watching that… but I also want to buy one of those sticks now. I could really use some calf, ham, and neck work and i feel like my pregger wife would also benefit from some soft/light work with it. As always, thank you Sir Justin.

  6. Justin – what if you don’t have a superfriend to attack your hammies? In other words, is the Stick still useful if you’re solo-mobbin’?

    I could see how to hit my calves or even hamstrings by myself, but I’m not sure about traps, serratus, lats, etc.

    You’ll need a friend. Good luck.

    –Justin

  7. Gumbo: I was just thinking that the stick is DISCRIMINATORY toward those of us who are foreveralone.jpg.

    ::collapses in a puddle of tears::

    I was gonna make a meme about this earlier. Been busy.

    –Justin

  16. Pingback: World On My Shoulders | Cannon Crossfit

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