Pillar 1: Flexibility/Mobility

Years of crazy hard work

In my 35 years of living I have heard many of my friends, peers, and family members say “my knee is acting up again”, “oh there goes that lower back again”, so on and so forth.  Joint pains and aches are very common grievances that I hear about regularly, especially as we age and navigate through our tumultuous lives.  Life is crazy, my life has been very crazy in my own right.  I’ve experienced loss of family members, friends, pets, and consequently of my own mind.  But the foundational pieces that I’ve established in my life have been paramount in making my bounce back game extra tough.  Now that I’m in my mid 30’s these pieces become more and more important to create resiliency so I can deal with the unpredictability of the world.  What are those pieces you ask? For me personally (and it certainly may differ from person to person) I like to call these qualities “The 4 Pillars of Supreme Sexiness”: Flexibility/mobility, strength, endurance, and mental wellness.  Today I will be focusing on flexibility/mobility and share with you guys how this pillar has been instrumental in carving out my own path towards feeling secure and happy.

I started training in the martial arts Tae Kwon Do at the age of 14 (over 20 years ago, god damn I’m old af lol).  In about 4 months I was promoted to the orange belt level and decided to enter a tournament for both forms and sparring.  After winning the forms competition I went into the sparring portion of the tournament with an overly inflated heir of confidence.  I proceed to get my ass kicked because I was physically unable to kick above the waste due to my extreme lack of flexibility (and consequently I received a few kicks to the dome for my efforts lol).  In Tae Kwon Do head kicks are scored much higher than kicks to the body so I really handicapped myself by being super stiff.  I was shattered, defeated, in tears, and just broken.  Luckily my dad jumped in, wiped my tears, and shared with me his sage-like wisdom.  In his efforts to bring me back he bought be a stretching DVD made by the OG American kick boxing legend (who is also has his Master’s in Kinesiology) Bill “Superfoot” Wallace and a stretching machine that looked like something out of an S&M magazine.  Little did I know this well of wisdom would change the course of my life forever.

The man, the myth, the legend, the sensei: Lord Bill “Superfoot” Wallace

The DVD started out with some dynamic hip warm-ups such as hip circles, toe touches etc.  Then the meat and potatoes of the DVD consisted of 20 straight minutes of sitting in the torture rack and splitting my legs at different angles like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.  The end portion consisted of isometric holds where you would hold out your leg for a few seconds at a time, which creates a crazy delicious burning sensation in your hip flexor and glute medius.  I used the stretching machine and DVD everyday religiously for several months which led me to being able to do the splits in every direction.  The results were insane, especially considering how stiff and immobile my hips were at the time.  Before I knew it I was kicking heads effortlessly in sparring and knocking out a few teeth here and there (lol).

Anyways, where was I going with this? Oh yeah!  Flexibility and mobility are Uber important for overall health. Why? As we age our muscles get less pliable and become more stuck in unfavorable positions, especially if you are sedentary and/or have poor posture.  Being able to move in larger ranges of motion without pain is a priceless quality to have, and certainly one that is attainable at any age.  It’s not enough to be jacked, ripped, with infinite cardio (though those traits are important).  Movement= freedom, and the greater ways in which you can move your body through huge ranges and planes of motion the more resilient you will become physically and mentally. By no means in this a “cure all” however I believe you are at a lesser risk of injury if you have a greater capacity to move freely with little to no pain.

I’ve been doing marital arts forever.  With the sparring and fighting I definitely have accumulated my share of injures: broken noses, torn quad, separated shoulder, fractured foot etc.  But one of the qualities that helped me recover from those injuries was my foundation rooted in flexibility and mobility training.  For beginners I recommend saving about 10-15 minutes everyday stretching as many joints as possible for 30-60 seconds.  Making this a habit will not only make you feel young, but you can also work up to doing quirky shit like putting your leg behind your head lol.  Anyways, thanks for reading and below are a few stretches you can do today, right now that if incorporated into your daily routine will go a long way. Cheers!

Pec/shoulder stretch: Find a wall or corner and place your forearm against it. Turn your torso until you feel a juicy stretch in the target muscles. Facial expressions optional.

Couch stretch (I’m using a door lol): Same duration guidelines apply. You can use the seat of a couch or chair, or even a door. If you want to emphasis more quad sit your butt closer to the rear foot, to emphasis hip flexor more shift your weight forward.

Banded hamstring stretch: You can use a belt or a towel if you don’t have a band. Lay flat on your back (floor or bed) and start off at a light angle that you can handle. Hold for roughly 30-60 seconds, and if you’re more advanced get to a 9/10 pain level. Having a small cat coach you is highly recommended.