Yesterday, we hit day 1 of the new track! And a huge emphasis was on what we call "range of motion" on the squat. But R.O.M. doesn't just get applied to the squat! It's applied to ALL movements we do! Such as the push-up (bringing chest all the way down to the ground and pushing your body all the way up), pressing overhead (pressing bar/DBs right overhead extending elbows and pushing slightly behind the shoulders), the pull-up (extending all the way in the bottom position as opposed to seeing those old school pull-ups where people go halfway down and back up), etc etc!
But what is ROM??
When you hear the coaches talk about Range of Motion, we are referring to your body, and more specifically your joints getting through FULL movement patterns. There's nothing wrong with doing a 1/4 squat. But if you do that consistently over training, you will start to create stiffness in the joint (because it never gets into those deep positions), and you might start to create imbalances in your muscles since only your quads will do the work...which can lead to tighter hamstrings which causes poor flexibility, lack of mobility in the joints, and this can then later cause potential injuries. And this again, can be applied to all exercises we do, push-ups, pull-ups, pressing, hinging, and hanging. I'm sure many of you (including myself) already know where your weaknesses are. We also develop stiffness from lifestyle as well. For example: if you sit down a lot throughout the day...upper back gets rounded, hamstrings are in a flexed position as opposed to lengthen, or maybe you had injuries growing up and they still affect you today.
So next time you hear a coach queue you to go lower, or to press all the way up... its NOT to "make the movement harder"... it's so we can establish a bunch of healthy athletes who are working on strength, mobility, and building resilience in your body! The lower you go in a squat, the stronger your muscles will be around your whole body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core/ lower back, ankles, knees,etc!), the greater your mobility will become, the better results you will get, you'll see an increase in performance, and the healthier your body will become!
Understanding and prioritizing gut health can lead to better overall health and quality of life!
- Coach B -
Want to boost your mobility, strength, and resilience? Book a free Semi-Sweat Intro session today! Learn how working through full range of motion in your movements, like squats, can help build a stronger, healthier body and improve your performance in and out of the gym!