Courtesy of N1NJ4
9-5 desk jobs.
Epic back and forth commutes that are longer than a Lord of the Rings movie.
A never-ending stream of emails and messages.
Keeping up with the relationships that matter most to us.
With all that’s going on, we’re all busier than a one-armed man in a 5-on-1 boxing match – I totally get it
BUT! *waves finger in the air with much zest and vigor* that doesn’t mean we should sacrifice our health in the process.
Just a few years ago I was “that guy.” My days consisted of sitting in class for several hours, sitting at the library desk where I worked for several more hours, walking to the gym and doing a light jog on the treadmill before hammering my body, all before heading home to sit around more until bed time.
It’s no wonder that I moved like a tin man, my form on some exercises suffered, and I had the random aches to go along with it.
If this story sounds familiar and you’re finding yourself moving down the same path of movement lameness, consider this your intervention.
Movement Intervention
Below you’ll find a series of mobility drills to do at the beginning and end of each day. Simply pick one exercise from each category and perform 5-10 reps, cycling through them for 5 minutes.
If that seems overwhelming at first, just start by picking one of those times and a few less exercises. Set an alarm, turn on a movie/music, write yourself a note, or have a friend come by and slap you in the face as a reminder, whatever you need to do to make sure it gets done.
Many of these are mobility drills that I’ve added into my clients pre-workout warm up, and their experiences have been fantastic. Their form has improved, they’re moving better throughout the day and they’ve drop kicked nagging pains in the chest, all from doing them a few times a week – imagine what you’d gain from just 5-10 minutes a day (or more awesomely put, 35-70 minutes a week). The cumulative effect is oh so sweet.
Ankles
Rocking Ankle Mobilization (1:11)
Upper Back/Shoulders
Quadruped Thoracic Rotation (beginning of video)
Foam roller extension (1:47)
Wall Slides (2:13)
Band Pullaparts (2:28)
Sleeper Stretch (2:43) – 15 to 30 second hold earh arm
X-Band Walk (2:52)
Scap Pushups (3:50)
Band Shoulder Dislocations (4:05)
Hips
Spidermans (0:11)
Hip Flexor Mobilization (0:22)
Rear Foot Elevated Hip Mobilization (0:35)
Reverse Lunge (0:49)
Knee to Knee Stretch (1:35) – this can also be a 15-30 second hold if necessary
Quadruped Hip Extension (1:04 – targets the glutes very well)
Full Body
Squat to Stand (1:22)
Bodyweight/Assisted Squats (3:25)
Bonus: Static Stretching
*Hip Hinge Hold (3:06)
*Hip Flexor Stretch (3:17)
*Quad Stretch (3:21)
* 30-60 second holds
You can also order the red resistance band (and others) here.
Did I miss anything? Want more mobility drills?
Let me know in the comment section or e-mail and I’ll film some more exercises, because I love you more than a unicorn loves rainbows.
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Great stuff Rog, that warmup would even make a ninja blush!
A ninja blushing is a surefire way of getting killed!
Ninjas don’t blush, they kill!
Ninja’s don’t blush, their cheeks only get rosy with the blood of the slain!
True, very true!
Wow. I love the comprehensiveness. Activation work, mobility, and in different planes — awesome stuff. Being more ninja-like is the dream. What else do you use in your client warmups? And how long does it take for them to warmup?
Hey Anthony,
A ton of stuff actually – it all depends on how much some areas need work vs others, current limitations, etc. Foam rolling and all, I’d say the warm up takes about 5-7 minutes max, or 10 if they really want to get involved with the foam roller.
Awesome variety! This is a great list to keep handy, and thanks for the video demo’s
Thanks as always, Matthew. Is there anything else that you’d like to see?
Rog: I just shared this with the whole internet. You’ve done the world of desk jockeys a great service today.
THE WHOLE INTERNET?! Your check is in the mail, sir!
I wish you had this on a poster (or flash cards!). This is great though 🙂
How good are your drawing skills? =)
As a current client of Roger’s, and I’d like to give a personal testimonial to just how well this works. I’m a 9-5 desk jockey myself, and I have suffered from many of the flexibility issues that go along with that. My most notable issues have always been in the shoulder/chest/scapular area. Prior to working with Roger, I had only worked with shoulder dislocations and doorway pec stretches, and I was seeing enough improvement to (mistakenly) believe that was enough.
Since I began Roger’s protocol, I have followed his mobility work to the letter, and I’ve seen a marked improvement in my flexibility. Not only do my lifts feel more natural, but my strength has increased as well. More importantly, this newfound limberness is carrying over into my everyday activities and has improved my overall quality of life.
Almost every movement I go through is on this list, although I do not do all of the above. Including the pre-mobility foam rolling that Roger described, I usually allow for 15 minutes to complete my warm up, making sure not to cheat myself by rushing through. I tend to err on the side of a longer warm up period since I’m an early morning lifter and try to factor in the effects any lingering grogginess before I start lifting, but I can usually finish in less time unless it’s a really rough morning.
You’re the man, Sean!
This right here is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Everything (well, mostly everything) in one video! Good stuff Rog.
By the way, call me weird, but for some reason I found it funny how you kept the part where your glasses fell off. Took me by surprise haha
Thanks, Von!
I figured I’d leave it on lol, part of the blooper real.
AND I muted the volume for the entire video because one of the exercises made me fart pretty loudly – now you know all my sekretz.
HAHA you should put up an un-edited version.
Great stuff. I do many of these mobility drills pre-wo, and on off days . I see some new ones to try. Thx for this.
You’ve got it, Kujo!
I’m adding this to my Summer of Sexification Challenge (that’s me challenging myself to maximize the sexy this summer). Two sessions of mobility drills every day to get me past the hip and shoulder problems. Can you post some more drills, especially for the hips and ankles? I want to move like an agile ninja-ette and I got work to do!
Thanks for sharing this! I do mobility work pre-workout only but I should probably incorporate this into my off days as well, just 10 min. each morning. Great list!
Thanks for this, Rog! I will definitely be adding many of these in throughout the week. My favourite part of the video is when his glasses fell off, because this happens to me all the time. And because us nerds are hot. :p 🙂 😀
Nerds unite!
The glasses blooper was a little easter egg for those awesome enough to make it to the end of the video haha. I also hate water fountains for this very reason.
Would it be possible to get a printout that I can take to the gym?
Susan
Hey Susan,
I’ll definitely see what I can do!
Ditto!
you think you could come up with one of these for people in wheelchairs who have no other option but to sit all day?
I noticed a lot of knee movement when doing these exercises. Would these be tough on the knees at all?
Hey Ryan,
Not if done correctly (as shown in the video). If you have some pre-existing knee pains then it might be best to avoid the lunge and squat exercises shown or find a variation that doesn’t cause you any pain.
The video is gone! can you re-post?
Found this via Lifehacker story. Great idea! I’ve always had horrible mobility, flexibility, balance, rhythm, endurance, posture… I could go on.
I’ll be adding that 5 minutes in the morning and evening!
Glad to hear it, Lando!
Thanks for these exercises; am desk bound for at least 10 hrs a day, so these are really good. Could not do the lunges and unassisted squat because of ankle / knee injuries (doc says should be able to do those too in about a couple of weeks). Do you have any exercises for the wrists, would really appreciate some tips for those.
Hey Kay,
Here are some great wrist stretches!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfat8z_tX1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LHC3vyxZc
Do you have to wear shoes when doing this or can you also do it barefoot?
You can do this without shoes as well – feels pretty good, too!