Strength

What is one of the most under utilized lift or exercise in your opinion for swimmers?

Unleash Underused Upper Body Exercise for Swimmers

Squeeze elbows back, squeeze shoulder blades back, lift hands independently, don't let them touch. Straighten out your elbows without losing any shoulder extension all the way back and up. Lock out your elbows, feel the squeezing, and feel your upper back work. Slowly rotate around and end up in a big Y, just like you guys would do Y's on the ground. Try to rotate all the way back. From here, we're going to go ahead and reverse it just like a shoulder car, slowly rotating, reaching back for that back corner, ending up here, triceps lockout, elbows bent, slowly return but not to your lower back, and then down.

Squeeze elbows and shoulder blades back, lift hands independently, rotate around to a big Y, reverse it back to where you started, and then slowly return your arms down.

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In my opinion, one of the most underutilized exercises for swimmers is the Y-raise. To perform this exercise, start by squeezing your elbows back and shoulder blades together. Lift your hands independently, making sure they don't touch. Straighten your elbows without losing any shoulder extension, lifting them all the way back and up. Lock out your elbows and feel the squeezing sensation in your upper back. Slowly rotate around and end up in a big Y shape, similar to doing Y's on the ground. Try to rotate as far back as possible. 

To reverse the movement, slowly rotate back, reaching for the back corner. End with your triceps locked out and elbows bent. Then, slowly return without lowering your hands to your lower back, and bring them back down.

This exercise targets the upper back and helps improve shoulder mobility and stability, which are crucial for swimmers. Incorporating the Y-raise into your training routine can be highly beneficial for enhancing your swimming performance.

What are the best ways to increase mobility?

Unlock Mobility: The Overlooked Breathing Technique for Optimal Results

Optimizing your breathing is the most overlooked aspect of improving your mobility. Restoring expansion throughout the rib cage and learning how to fully exhale will do so much for your mobility, working from the middle out. Continuing working from the middle out, you want to get your spine moving, getting your rib cage moving. Rotation is really key at all the major joints. And you can see here, from working from the middle out, we can really make a lot of gains. When the ribs move, the shoulders tend to move better and same with the hips and the pelvis. Starting from the middle out is no secret. It's a great idea. And then the other thing to really consider is actually just getting daily movement and maintaining your joints, which can be done with like a Cars routine here. You find this on YouTube, Ian Marco Cars and we're just taking our joints through this safe range of motion every single day, maintaining them, exactly as you would think.

Optimizing your breathing is the most overlooked aspect of improving your mobility. Restoring expansion throughout the rib cage and learning how to fully exhale will do wonders for your body. Additionally, getting daily movement and maintaining your joints with a CARs routine can help you maintain your gains.

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The most overlooked aspect of improving mobility is optimizing your breathing. Focus on restoring expansion throughout the rib cage and learning how to fully exhale. This will have a significant impact on your mobility, starting from the middle and working outward.

Another key approach is to prioritize movement in your spine and rib cage. Rotation is particularly important for all major joints. By working from the middle out, you can make substantial gains. When the ribs move, the shoulders and hips tend to move better as well.

Additionally, it's crucial to incorporate daily movement and joint maintenance into your routine. Consider following a Cars (Controlled Articular Rotations) routine, which involves taking your joints through a safe range of motion every day to maintain their mobility.

By focusing on optimizing breathing, working from the middle out, and maintaining joint mobility through daily movement, you can effectively increase your overall mobility.

What are the best exercises to improve explosive strength?

Unleash Explosive Power with Plyometrics & Sport-Specific Training

Basic Plyometrics are definitely in, must things as simple as pogos. Driving forward, back side to side eventually traveling or even staying in place the Rhythm. And then that's going to develop this ankle stiffness that we're looking for an athletic things. So the sprinting is obvious one and then we're talking about doing strength training, using bands, using lighter weight moving. The weight at a faster pace. Is there some things that really work very well moving in all planes of motion is very important, you don't have to necessarily get It's specific but playing your sport is one of the best ways to be explosive in any strength and against printing is a huge one rotational movements, anything with lighter way they move inside.

Plyometrics, such as pogos, can help improve ankle stiffness, sprinting, strength training, using bands and lighter weights quickly, moving in all planes of motion, playing sport, rotational movements, and lighter weight exercise are great ways to be explosive.

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To improve explosive strength, incorporating basic plyometric exercises is highly recommended. Simple exercises like pogos, which involve driving forward, backward, and side to side, can be effective. Developing ankle stiffness through rhythmic movements is important for athletic performance. Sprinting is an obvious choice for explosive strength training.

In addition to plyometrics, incorporating strength training exercises using bands or lighter weights can be beneficial. Moving the weight at a faster pace helps improve explosiveness. It's important to incorporate movements in all planes of motion for a well-rounded training approach.

While specific sport-specific exercises can be helpful, engaging in your sport itself is one of the best ways to develop explosiveness and overall strength. Rotational movements and exercises with lighter weights can also contribute to improving explosive strength.

What advice could you give someone in their 50s for improving mobility?

Personalized assessment and joint care for improved mobility

Start with an assessment, you are an individual, and your training should really reflect that, so identify exactly what you need. So you can save time and be efficient and avoid setbacks something as simple as looking at how well your spine, those that can be crucial from there. You can really think about just taking care of your joints, moving them every single day, to their active range of motion with something, like cars is really simple to YouTube and Marco cars, this whole routine will come up, you can start today

Begin an individual assessment to identify your training needs, then focus on taking care of your joints and spine by moving them in their active range of motion daily with a simple routine like the one found on YouTube with Marco cars.

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For someone in their 50s looking to improve mobility, my advice would be to start with a thorough assessment. Recognize that you are an individual with unique needs, and your training should reflect that. By identifying specific areas that require attention, you can save time, be efficient, and avoid setbacks.

One crucial aspect to focus on is the health of your spine. Assess its mobility and address any limitations or issues you may have. Additionally, prioritize taking care of your joints by incorporating daily movement. Engage in exercises that allow you to move your joints through their active range of motion. One simple and accessible routine you can try is called Controlled Articular Rotations (CARS). You can find instructional videos on YouTube to guide you through this routine.

By starting with an assessment and incorporating regular joint mobility exercises, you can begin improving your mobility and overall movement quality. Remember, it's never too late to prioritize your physical well-being and make positive changes.

Why do most people struggle to improve ankle mobility?

Unlocking ankle mobility: The surprising reasons it's not improving

Here's a look at why your ankle Mobility might not be improving. So the first thing we need to look at is a center of mass issues, your whole entire body in front of your heels. You are falling forward but you're not the King of Pop. So that's the first thing. Second off. A lot of people don't really need to work on Mobility for their goals depending on what they are. You might want to just pick exercises that allow you to be successful and strong now and leave Mobility for later. Improving, ankle dorsiflexion on the Internet is kind. Research. What you see is that most exercises never even have the heel on the ground. The really just jamming up the front of the ankle even if their bands pulling it back you're not getting the motion at the heel to happen which is not going to unlock the mid-foot and allow you to get good dorsiflexion. You can see it all over the Internet, the same issues. And trust me. This is my ankle. I got my own videos doing the exact same thing. It does not matter where you're toast player. A is you can work on it. It's probably not the reason that you're in coach jammed up in the front though. Even if you think that your heels on the ground, it's the action of starting with weight on it, that really changes things. Here's a little diagram of where you should be going through for most walking and you can learn more about this in extreme detail with our YouTube video here.

It might not be improving because you are not working on the right exercises for your goals. You should focus on weight bearing exercises that work on the heel and mid-foot to help unlock better ankle mobility.

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Most people struggle to improve ankle mobility due to a few reasons. Firstly, there may be issues with the center of mass, where the body is leaning forward and falling ahead of the heels. This can hinder ankle mobility.

Secondly, not everyone needs to prioritize mobility for their specific goals. It may be more beneficial to focus on exercises that allow for strength and success in the present, leaving mobility work for later.

When researching ankle dorsiflexion exercises online, it's common to find that many of them don't involve keeping the heel on the ground. This can limit the motion at the heel and prevent unlocking of the mid-foot, which is essential for achieving good dorsiflexion. This issue is prevalent across various online resources, including personal videos.

It's important to note that even if you believe your heel is on the ground, the action of starting with weight on it can significantly impact ankle mobility. Understanding the proper alignment and movement patterns for walking can be helpful in improving ankle mobility.

For more detailed information on this topic, you can refer to specific YouTube videos that delve into the subject.

Unlock ankle mobility with these simple tips

So the first thing that you can kind of think about is a you really your Center Mass, could be too far forward, maybe living on your toes so just find yourself a little bit of big toe extension. If you can't lift your big toe there's probably a reason there. This is exactly what I was talking about. You can see I'm going to bend my knee but I'm also bring my weight all the way back to my he'll keep my heel heavy as I go forward. That's going to allow my foot to pronate. Then I'm going to go ahead and go into this last one which is going to allow that pronation and then own that midstance. And now, I'm going to go into To a little bit of an isometric pushing down, just getting used to being in the end range, creation of strength, finishing off with the hardest thing, which is the slouch, Look So Easy. Guarantee, your knee comes back. This is going to also teach you hip extension before knee extension to watch The Hip go forward instead of the knee, slamming back. All these will help.

To improve your running form, start by focusing on your center of mass and making sure that it is not too far forward. Make sure to have big toe extension and keep your weight back on your heel as you go forward. Then practice pushing down into an isometric in the end range to create strength. Finally, focus on hip extension before knee extension and make sure that your knee does not slam back when you run.

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To improve ankle mobility, there are a few things you can focus on. First, check your center of mass. If it's too far forward and you find yourself leaning on your toes, try to shift your weight back and maintain a heavy heel as you move forward. This will allow your foot to pronate.

Next, work on big toe extension. If you struggle to lift your big toe, there may be an underlying issue that needs attention.

You can also incorporate isometric exercises to strengthen the ankle in its end range of motion. This will help create stability and improve mobility.

Lastly, practice the slouch exercise, which involves hip extension before knee extension. This will help prevent the knee from slamming back and encourage proper movement patterns.

By focusing on these techniques, you can gradually improve your ankle mobility.

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Ian Markow is the CEO of Markow Training Systems. He teaches coaches all over the world how to transform lives integrating mobility & strength.

Neither AnyQuestion nor its Experts provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment or otherwise provide professional healthcare services.