A Solid Goal For The End Of Every Workout
The ability to full extend your joints from head to toe is essential to staying healthy, but also increasing performance. In this article, we outline a few simple exercises you can do at the very end of every training session that can help improve mobility and athletic performance.More
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Ok, so your workout is done and you’re exhausted. You think there is nothing left to give but there’s a finishing touch that could help solidify the strength gains. This finishing touch on your workout can lead to powerful, long-lasting benefits, unlocking your body’s full range of motion and potential.
What is it?
Finish each session by challenging your body to fully extend every major joint from head to toe and hold it for time. This includes your shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles, and even your toes. Once you can’t hold it any more you are finished for the day.
One set — solidifying strength and improving flexibility, mobility, balance, and control.
This is essentially an isometric hold in the most extreme end range positions. By holding these positions, you reinforce your strength at the extreme ends of your range of motion, which can translate to better stability, strength, and power during future workouts.Reaching your maximum range through every joint in your body—trains these muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, and importantly your central nervous system to be prepared for high-demand situations like athletic performance or intense lifting.
So, how do you do it?
Start with your shoulders.
1. Dead hangs (from various angles)
Dead hangs are a powerful way to release tension in the shoulders, spine, and lower back, promoting alignment and decompressing the body. They are also a great exercise to strengthen your shoulder joints and grip strength.
Here are a few variations to try:
- Standard double-arm dead hang: Find a bar high enough that it forces you do a calf raise to reach for it. Extend both arms, grab the bar and let your body hang, keeping shoulders relaxed. Focus on feeling your shoulder joints open up and your spine lengthen. Hold this position until it starts to burn (about 20 seconds for most people) and when it does, use your lats to perform and scapular pull-up and hold that position fro as long as possible.
- Single-arm dead hang: With one arm hanging, this requires more grip strength and core stabilization. The shoulder joint is a rotational joint so you may find that you spin once you pull your feet off the ground. This is a good thing because it is exactly what your shoulder is supposed to do, and you are doing it with a completely natural load, which is your body weight. The key here is to try and keep your lat engaged so that your shoulder does not extend (ie. you end up close to the ground). Switch arms after 20-30 seconds, and repeat. It’s a great way to challenge each side of the body independently. If you find you need a little assistance, use your legs to provide it.
- Angle dead hangs using the Smith Machine (TRX strap or any stationary bar): Stand next to a bar that is about shoulder height and use your foot position to adjust the depth and angle at which you lean. If you are able to use a Smith Machine it gives you more opportunity to adjust. By adjusting the angle, you can target specific areas—experiment with a slight forward lean or even twisting slightly for deeper stretches in your lats and shoulders. If you were to picture this in your head, it would look similar to a side plank position, except the bar is in the opposite hand that would be on the floor in side plank.
PRO TIP: Dead hangs are a great way to begin your training session. They are as much about holding as they are about breathing. Focus on taking deep, controlled breaths, expanding your chest, and using your core to stay stable.Ok, you’ve got your upper body taken care of, now it’s time to move to your lower body.
2. Exercises for full ankle, knee, hip, and toe extension
Going beyond a static stretch, the following exercises encourage the full range of motion from your ankles up to your hips, helping with everything from improved running mechanics to injury-proofing your lower body.
- Big toe push-offs: Stand about arms length from a wall and lean into it as if you were at the bottom of a pushup. You can do these with both feet at the same time or, pull the non-working knee close to your chest (as if you were running). As you push into the wall, push into the ball of the foot, isolating the big toe and flex your calf. Now fully extend your knee and your hip, and engage your glute to hold for as long as possible few seconds, then lower (repeat on the other side if you did single leg). This often-overlooked movement helps your gait and ankle stability while strengthening your foot.
- Calf raises with full toe extension: Stand on a raised platform or a step, pressing down on the balls of your feet and extending your toes as high as possible. Hold the extended position for a few seconds before lowering slowly. Hold something to maintain balance if necessary. DO NOT USE WEIGHT AND DO NOT DO REPS. Simply hold it at the top with your glutes, hips, quads, and calves fully engaged and your toes full extended, pressing through the base of your big toe. This movement works your calves and encourages strength in your toes and ankles. You’ll surprised at how quickly you fatigue once engage all of those muscles at once.
- Yogi squat: Drop into a full squat position, keeping your heels grounded and knees aligned over toes. Get as deep as possible and place your hands in prayer position using your elbows to push against your knees to improve your hip mobility. Try to keep your back extended (flat) and reach the crown of you head to ward the ceiling. You should feel this stretch from your lower back to your ankles. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds. You can learn to do a proper Yogi squat here.
PRO TIP: You can also bend your working knee to change the angle of your ankle and hold it any position where you would like to strengthen your foot position.These lower body exercises are used by some of the most explosive sprinters in the world to strengthen their legs, ankles, and feet. The good news is they can also enhance your body’s mobility and resilience, and they only take a few minutes at the end of your workout! Challenge yourself to hold each position longer each time. You'll be amazed at how this small addition can impact every other part of your training.
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