You know what I love? Progress. Getting Better. Performing Better. Being More All-Around Awesome!

You know what I hate most of the time? People selling me some short cut secret to getting to my goals.

So...There...I...Was... Thumbing through The FaceBooks and one of my friends has posted a How To video on mobility for the back and hips. Now, I honestly do respect the person that posted the video clip and in his defense he is big, he is strong, he is knowledgeable, and he has done several sports just like me. In the video he has a guy demonstrating a mobility exercise and most everyone is bashing him because "people shouldn't be doing forced stretching or stretching with weights" or "that looks horrible for your back" or "his spine is going to shoot across the room" type of stuff.

I saw it and thought "Freaking - A! This could be a GREAT exercise for me to do on my off days to help open up my lower back and my hips!" My back is normally pretty sore after a heavy training session and a lot of it will stem from pressure in my hips, hamstrings, and simply tight spinal erectors. If I can warm these up and get moving around, BAM, Pain Freaking Free! Remember, the faster that we can recover, the more frequently we can train and the more frequently we can progress!

So...There...I...Was... Right smack dab in the gym all ready to go and perform this exercise. It involved putting your shin and knee up on a box that is about even with your waist. Now, I wasn't really thinking this through BUT I knew that I didn't want to adjust my box that I squat on, I don't squat THAT HIGH, and that if anything bad was going to happen I wanted to get it on video. So the box was about mid thigh height and I put foam on top for a "cushion".

What could go wrong really?

And then it hit me... People who make Mobility Videos are almost always guys (or gals) well under 200 lbs, thin looking, so small that they haven't even broken a sweat getting the squat bar on their back, normal blood pressure, no emergency halo in their gym bag, board short wearing, no recent major injury having...people. They didn't even lube up their lower back with Blue Heat or Equiblock before they touched the bar! And that is where I get into trouble. I see someone doing a mobility exercise and I forget that they are not me! THEY are not the people that NEED mobility work! They need a multi-ply squat suit and a buffet line!

Now, there are some real exceptions. This is probably why I like Donnie Thompson so much. He has been there and beyond and he teaches SHW lifters who are beat up...how not to be AS BEAT UP! NO promises, no frills, no taking credit for inventing the square circle.

So this is my call for help. Please...we need mobility videos for broken down, beaten up, multi-ply wearing, blood shot eye having, nose torque before breakfast sniffing, headbutting the bar loving, smelly briefs wearing, overweight, trying to get StrongER lifters. Real mobility.

In the mean time...have a good laugh.