The first thing a desk-bound athlete needs to be aware of is
how
sitting affects athletic performance. Not “if” only “how.” When humans
sit in a chair, car, or airplane seat for an extended period of time, we
do not have the advantage of having our butt (gluteus) engaged to help
maintain position. As a result of prolonged sitting, the front of the
hip gets short and tight, and an otherwise healthy person often develops
low back pain.
Low back pain in an otherwise healthy athlete is often a symptom of
tight anterior/front of the hip, tight and short posterior chain (A.K.A.
the butt and hamstrings), or a combination of the two.
So work on restoring full, normal, range of motion to the hips – and
alleviate lower back pain in the process – we need to “stretch” the
front of the hips.
How much of every day at work do you spend scanning Facebook,
downloading songs on itunes, or discussing college football? I rest my
case. So it’s shouldn’t be difficult to sneak in 5 minutes of mobility.
You just have to decide to do it. You can even get in your mobility
behind your desk or in your cubicle when nobody’s watching. Maybe even
put that conference call on speaker phone, and knock it out then.
Whenever you decide to make some improvement in your athletic ability,
all you need is five minutes.
"The Mountain Climber"
Have you ever wondered why we do them all the time?
To stretch the front of the hip, the
athlete is going to get into a lunge position, with the front knee
stacked directly above the front ankle, and both hands down to inside of
your forward foot. Keeping your back leg straight as possible, squeeze
your butt and drive your hips toward the ground. You should feel a
serious stretch in the front of the hip corresponding to your back leg,
as well as a good hamstring stretch in the forward leg.
Once established in that position, work to accumulate two minutes per
side. If having both hands on the ground with arms extended is easy,
the athlete can add tension to the stretch by working to get your elbows
and forearms down on the ground.
Once you have accumulated two minutes in
the stretch with each foot forward, return to the side that felt tighter
for one more minute. That’s two minutes right foot forward, two minutes
left foot forward, followed by one minute with the tighter side.
Other stretch: SUPER QUAD
