My Big Mobility Fail
In the summer of 2013 I was starting to learn about mobility and taking it very seriously. I was spending far more time on the floor rolling and stretching than actually training. I had a full schedule of clients too, and I would be sure to sneak some mobility work in any chance I could.
Back then I was relentlessly attacking my adductor muscles. These are commonly know as the groin muscles. Many hockey players experience tight adductors due to the position of your feet when skating. A well-known stretch is call a straddle stretch, and you can do it while laying on the floor and your legs in a V position on the wall.
My straddle game was pathetic, and like I preach to you all, I knew I needed to spend more time in that position to unlock all the stiffness. I decided for 15 minutes between clients I was going to lay on the floor, get my legs up on the wall and push through the pain to see if I could get them to unlock. I had the great idea to throw a band around one foot, across my lower back and around the other foot to help pull my legs wider.
After a few minutes I was relived to find I could move my heels closer to the floor. After several more minutes I thought I was crushing it. I was winning mobility! There was this worsening pull on the inside of my left knee, but I figured it was all part of the process. I got up, coached the rest of the evening and didn’t think much of it.
That night I had a men’s league hockey game. My hips felt nice out on the ice and there wasn’t any of the usual back pain I had while skating. In the final minute of the last period I had the puck around center ice and when I crossed the blue line I cut hard to the right to get past a defender. When I pushed off my left foot my knee collapsed inward , leaving on my back and in a lot of pain.
It was obvious something was wrong. I found out a couple days later I strained the MCL ligament in my knee. It wasn’t serious enough to need surgery of anything like that, but I spent a few weeks hobbling around and a couple of months being cautious of it.
While I had the right idea with mobilizing my hips, I made some critical mistakes. I was too passive, and not in control of that range of motion. I wasn’t turning on, or squeezing, other muscle groups to help keep the stretch in the right spot and the pulling in the knee was my signal to move into a different position but I ignored it. The length of time I was holding was quite aggressive and all of that combined with playing hockey was the perfect storm for something bad to happen.
Luckily for you, you don’t need to make all the mobility mistakes I did. And you can learn all about how to properly mobilize your hip this weekend. On Sunday at 8:30, we’re going to take you on a deep dive into all things hips. You’re not going to want to miss this one. Get involved HERE.
Justin Miner
@justinminergain
