Welcome to this eight-week video series brought to you exclusively by Whole Life Challenge in partnership with MobilityWOD. Each week, physical therapist Dr. Kelly Starrett will present you with a simple concept regarding anatomy and movement — as well as some techniques you can incorporate into your daily mobility practice. Note: These techniques are optional and are simply one of the many ways you can accomplish your ten daily minutes of mobility.
If a position is important to you, then you need to spend time in that position. The root language of strength and conditioning involves pulling, pushing, hip hinging, and squatting. So whatever your movement practice is, these exercises and the associated positions should be part of your movement foundation.
In addition, our bodies are ruled by the simple concept of “use it or lose it.” So if you want to be able to achieve a certain position at any given time, then you need to be in the regular practice of being in or moving through that position.
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With that in mind, our first MobilityWOD homework assignment is the 10-Minute Squat Test. The goal each day this week is to accumulate ten minutes of time spent in the bottom of your squat. For details on foot position, posture, and how to scale this to your squat ability, watch the video above.
Note: You are not expected to be able to spend ten straight minutes in this position at first or to have perfect posture. But we are going to work toward those goals as we develop your positional competence and tissue tolerance.
Kelly is the co-author of two New York Times bestselling books Becoming A Supple Leopard and Ready to Run. He created the wildly popular CrossFit Movement & Mobility Trainer course and has worked with and lectured for every branch of the military, the NBA, NFL, NHL, professional soccer, ballet dancers, cyclists, Olympians, and more.
Kelly’s background as an athlete and coach includes paddling whitewater slalom canoe on the US Canoe and Kayak Teams, and leading the Men’s Extreme Whitewater Team to two national titles and competition in two World Championships. In his free time, Kelly enjoys spending time with his wife, Juliet, and two daughters, Georgia and Caroline, surfing, paddling, CrossFitting, and dancing.
