CrossFit and Mobility: A Match Made in Heaven
CrossFit and mobility are just like peanut butter and jelly – they're a perfect pair. Without proper mobility, it can be difficult to achieve optimal performance in your CrossFit workouts. In this article, we will break it all down and tell how CrossFit and mobility are truly a match made in heaven.
What Is CrossFit?
You’ve probably heard of CrossFit’s rising popularity in the past couple of decades. Some people consider it a fitness cult, for others, it’s a transformative lifestyle. But what exactly is CrossFit?
For those of you reading who are unfamiliar, CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout that is made up of functional movement performed at a high intensity level (or HIIT). It’s self description in six words is - "Constantly varied functional movement at high intensity". It unites traditional fitness movements such as squatting, pushing and pulling with weight lifting and gymnastics skills. What is unique about CrossFit is that everyone participates in the same “workout of the day” (WOD) and adjusts it to where they are at with their skill, strength and capacity. Each WOD will test a different part of your functioning health with the ultimate goal of building a body that’s capable of practicing anything and everything.
With promises to improve physical well-being in a hardcore yet community-building environment, it’s no surprise that CrossFit’s popularity has grown exponentially.
How to Excel at CrossFit
You may wonder how you can excel in a fitness style such as CrossFit. If you put in the hours at the gym and eat right, yet still do not see results, or if you feel like you have plateaued after a few months (or even years,) it can be frustrating.
Each person's body is different, and progress takes time. In 4 months, one person might achieve what another person might take 8 months to accomplish. Be kind to yourself.
Having said that, you may be missing a vital piece from your routine that could help you reach your goals. Mobility is the key!
Mobility and Range of Motion (ROM) can help
As part of your CrossFit training, you should perform mobility and stretching exercises. Mobility is the perfect match for CrossFit enthusiasts, because CrossFit depends on a high level of joint range of motion and stability. CrossFit participants who want to excel at the sport (and even those doing it to improve their health) must focus on extending their range of motion.
Think about doing an overhead squat (OHS) - if you aren't performing the exercise correctly, you aren't going to engage the right areas of your body and/or compensating with other. If anything, you could risk getting injured and hurt your upper or lower back (thoracic or lumbar spine) or shoulders in the process. A lack of range of motion in any joint in your body can make it difficult to complete a proper repetition.
When Crossfitters go into their workout, they often think of increasing their weight. If this is the case, consider whether your body has the full range of motion required for you to reach your new weight goal. Let's not ignore our bodies' natural safety mechanisms - we need to get the foundations right first! Developing new patterns will be difficult if you continue to move poorly month after month. This may slow down your progress over time and increase your risk of injury.
Once you begin incorporating stretching and mobility exercises into your workout routine, you may also see other unexpected benefits, such as increased calmness and new coping mechanisms that will benefit you not only on your CrossFit journey but in general as well. Work on your mobility so that your body is powerful and your mind is calm.
Here're a few easy ways to add more mobility to your CrossFit workouts:
Foam roller: relieves soreness and facilitates muscle recovery
Resistance Bands - bands for stretching and warming up the muscles can offer assistance in injury recovery
Lacrosse Ball: using a lacrosse ball as a trigger to engage smaller muscles
Join The MVMNT
We have a few tricks up our sleeves when it comes to mobility. After all, it's in the name. We have spent years at the CrossFit box while perfecting our approach to mobility, so that you can excel at both!
At Mobility MVMNT, we go beyond providing instructions on stretching; we help you become aware of your body through mindful practices and enriching breathing techniques. Our mobility program was formulated to create a place of healing on both the inside and outside of your body. We are here to bridge the gap between body and mind for maximum performance and improved health.
You can learn more about our curated mobility program by subscribing to our newsletter (below) or downloading our app and trying our FREE 7 day FREE trial to experience Mobility MVMNT for yourself!