Lesser Known Mobility Exercises Every CrossFit Athlete Should Utilise

CHILD’S POSE ARM LIFTS (GOOD)

This exercise will target the muscles in the mid & upper back to help improve thoracic extension and challenge the control that you have over your shoulder blades. Use the following cues:

• Get into child’s pose with your arms extended overhead and your palms facing down
• Slowly lift one arm off the ground, externally rotate the shoulder, and extend the arm over your head.

Be sure the keep your shoulders square and not let that upper body rotate. Hold the end range of each rep for 3-5 seconds.

• Slowly bring the arm back down to the ground and repeat on the other side

CHILD’S POSE ARM LIFTS (BAD)

As you do these, do your best to limit rotating coming from the thoracic spine and/or hips. This takes the emphasis away from those mid to upper back muscles and allows other areas to help out.

OVERHEAD SQUAT (GOOD)

This exercise will target the muscles in the back that support the spine, the muscles used to extend the thoracic spine, and those used to rotate the shoulder blades into good position. Use the following cues:

• Get into a comfortable OHS stance with a PVC pipe or other stick overhead
• Have the arches of the feet and the core engaged around a neutral pelvis
• Rotate the shoulder blades down, out, and around the rib cage into a strong position

Start going into the OHS maintaining these positions

Be sure to keep the knees out and tracking over the middle of the toes

Activate the mid-back muscles to extend the thoracic spine and keep the chest up and arms extending overhead without them touching the wall.

OVERHEAD SQUAT (BAD)

Letting the shoulders shrug upwards and roll forwards places the shoulder into a less stable position. Having the chest fall forward with the arms extended behind the head is also a less stable position for the body.

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