Imagine a sweaty, dirty, grimy hole-in-the-wall gym in a small town deep in the hills of Central Pennsylvania. If you know me, knock about 13 years off of my age and place a 24-year-old Todd in your mind’s eye. I’ll help you. He’s about the same size, but there’s no red beard on his face. His left arm only has one tattoo instead of a sleeve, and all he cares about is lifting, listening to metal, caffeinating himself near to death, and reading classic novels. He was a weird dude. But he was also a strong dude. The problem was he ignored his mobility limitations while building strength.

 

Back then, I loved to squat, like, heavy. I’d typically squat twice per week – following a Westside Barbell type powerlifting program. I’d do a dynamic day with lighter weight and more speed, and a max effort day, which load several hundred pounds of iron across my shoulders. It was all fun, until it wasn’t. After a while, my low-back constantly ached. My left hip hurt. At first, the pain wasn’t bad, but then something gnarly happened right before I boarded a plane for St. Louis.

 

I was headed out to visit my friend Josh, he was a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams. We had plans to workout, shoot sporting clays, and fish. But as I drove my stylish, 2004 Saturn Vue to the airport, I got the sensation that someone dumped a cup of hot coffee on the outside of my left leg. Like, hot freakin’ coffee! It freaked me out. I saw visions of being stuck inside nursing my hip while being the lamest guest in the history of the world. Luckily, the weekend went on without a problem. But I knew something was up and I had to address it.

 

Smart friends in the rehab world told me what was up. I didn’t have the t-spine or ankle mobility to do all the squatting I was doing. Since those joints weren’t moving as well as they should for squatting, my hips and low-back were disproportionately stressed. That caused the nerve issue that felt like hot freakin’ coffee on my leg. So, even while being a 22-year-old meatstick, I made a smart decision to stop squatting and start working on my ankle and t-spine mobility. 

 

Had I done the right mobility tests ahead of time, I’d have known that bilateral squatting wasn’t the right strength movement for me. I’m going to teach you some tests that will help you nail down whether or not you have mobility concerns.

 

But first, let’s talk about joints.

 

 

Mobility: Joint-By-Joint

Some joints in your body require more range of motion than others. For example, your hips and shoulders need way more range of motion than your knees. (You have a real problem on your hands if your knees move as much as your hips and shoulders do.) Each joint in the body has a range of motion it should achieve without taking range of motion from other joints. One hip, for instance, should be able to rotate, flex, extend, adduct, and abduct without taking range of motion from the other hip or from the spine. If that hip can’t achieve healthy range of motion in all the ways described, some exercises will “steal” movement from the opposite hip or from the back. If you keep doing that movement stealing exercise, the stress accumulates and you can end up with a problem. My hot-coffee-on-the-leg experience is a prime example.

 

There’s a big question at the foundation of strength training exercise selection: Do your joints have the requisite mobility to do what you’re asking them to do?

 

Let’s use the barbell overhead press as an example. I’ve used some official joint names because I know you’re bright and you’ll understand them. And if you don’t right away, here’s a chance to expand your knowledge of the body! 

 

A successful overhead press that evenly distributes joint stress requires good thoracic (spine in the upper back) extension, good glenohumeral (shoulder joint) flexion and external rotation, and good upward and downward rotation of the scapulae (shoulder blades). Without good thoracic extension, the shoulder blades don’t rotate as they should. The low-back also must compensate for the lack of extension up the chain. If the glenohumeral joints don’t flex and externally rotate as they should, the upper-back, posterior shoulder, and neck all take too much stress. When the scapulae don’t rotate like they’re supposed to, the glenohumeral joints don’t move like they should – and you know what happens when that’s the case.

 

This illustration with the overhead press is just one example. The process applies to every strength movement in the gym. That’s why it’s so important to assess your joint mobility and select exercises based on your current abilities. You’ll be able to train harder, recover better, and stay healthier if you screen your mobility and abide by the findings. 

 

In the next section we’ll cover two, simple tests you can do on your own to assess your hip and shoulder mobility.

 

 

Test Your Hip and Shoulder Mobility

I’m giving you one shoulder mobility test and one hip mobility test you can do on your own at home. (New members go through a comprehensive mobility assessment when they join Beyond Strength that includes more tests as well as ones that involve strength exercises. So, if you’d rather have certainty, click the link and schedule a Free Intro. If you sign up for membership during the free intro, your first session includes a comprehensive mobility assessment.) Soon, we’re releasing an e-book that includes a comprehensive mobility assessment, as well as power, strength, and conditioning assessments. Keep your eyes peeled for that, but these tests get you started in the meantime.

 

Apley’s Scratch Test

This test measures how well your scapulae and glenohumeral joints function in concert. It’s simple to do and you can measure it on your own.

 

Here’s how to do it:

• Reach one arm behind your head and try to touch the top of the opposite shoulder blade without moving your head, crawling your fingers on your shoulder, or shrugging
• With the same arm, reach behind your back and try to touch the bottom of your opposite shoulder blade without pushing your chest out, crawling your fingers on your back, or rotating towards your reaching hand
• Repeat the process on the other side

 

 

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If you can easily touch, your shoulder mobility is good. If you struggle at all, you likely have some shoulder mobility deficits and should avoid overhead pressing and pulling until you’re assessed by a knowledgeable coach. 

 

Active Straight Leg Raise

This test measures how well one hip remains extended while the other hip flexes.

 

Here’s how to do it:

• Lie on your back with both legs straight and both feet pointed at the ceiling
• Raise one leg slowly as far as you can while keeping it straight and not moving the other leg at all. You can do a few reps on that side.
• Repeat the process on the other side

 

 

If you can raise both legs individually until your ankle is even with or past your knee without the opposite leg turning out or bending at the knee, your hip mobility is good. If your opposite leg turns out or bends, you likely have a mobility or stability deficit and should avoid full-range deadlifts until you’re assessed by a knowledgeable coach.

 

 

More is Coming!

It’s important to know your mobility limitations before doing strength exercises, as evidenced by mid-20’s squat fiasco. Get started by doing the Apley’s Scratch test and the Active Straight Leg Raise. But hang tight, we have a more comprehensive testing guide coming your way soon. It includes more mobility tests for the hips and shoulders, as well as power, strength, and conditioning tests. If you don’t feel like waiting, and want the certainty of working with a coach, schedule your free intro below. When you sign up for membership, your first session is a Certainty Session that includes mobility, strength, and conditioning testing conducted by one of our coaches.

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