Full Mobility Program

How I Became more mobile than ever...

Author

josh gessner
October 13, 2024

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Athletter

How I Became More Mobile Than Ever Before (EXACT Mobility Program):

The Athletter is brought to you by ThePitcherLab.

The PitcherLab is a program specializing in helping high school and college players increase pitching velocity.

  • A fully customized throwing, lifting and mobility program 

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Last week I ran a giveaway on Twitter for a mobility guide and program. It’s the exact methods that made me more mobile than ever - despite having multiple surgeries.

For you guys as an Email Subscriber - its free.

Let’s dive in:

If you’d prefer the video version, you can listen to it below.

My whole career I underestimated the importance of mobility. I focused all my energy on throwing and lifting and never worked on my mobility. This eventually caught up to me.

In 2021 I badly herniated my disk back-squatting. The herniated disk pressed on my sciatica nerve - sending shockwaves of pain down my leg. The pain was so bad, I was bed-bound until I got surgery. The surgery relieved 99% of the pain… But I had lost a significant amount of mobility. 

The Problem: Even after 2 years of following my rehab exercises, the mobility didn't come back. I was less mobile than I had ever been before. I was prescribed exercises to strengthen my core and stretch my back. But even as I completed them, my mobility never improved.I remember not being able to touch my knees with straight legs. I was stretching everyday, and it felt like I was making backwards progress. 

Yet now, I can get my knuckles to the floor and am more mobile than I’ve ever been. Since I’ve implemented a new style of training into my program, I’ve gained the most amount of mobility I’ve ever had. What’s this style of training?

Stretch Strength Training.

Stretch Strength is when you train your muscles through a full range of motion, with weight. An example is the ATG split squat:It trains the knee on the front leg through a full range of motion. On the back leg, it stretches the hip flexor. This strengthens your muscles and through full ranges of motion and also pushes you into deeper ranges, allowing you to stretch more than if you didn’t have any weight.

Let’s break down some more movements:

Note: These exercises are best with a 1-5 second pause at the bottom. The goal of these exercises isn’t to go heavy - but to pull you into deeper ranges of motion. Start light and work yourself up. If you feel your muscles resisting the stretch instead of relaxing into it - you’re going too heavy. I’ve attached some of my favorite videos explaining each movement:

  • ATG split squat

  • Cossack squat

  • Jefferson curl

(DO NOT GO HEAVY. I’ve been doing these for a couple months now, and still don’t go heavier than the bar itself.)

  • QL Raise

  • DB Pullover

  • Full Range RDL

  • Seated Good Morning

Putting it all together, here is a mobility program I would recommend to start with:

(This is a mobility program and should be used in conjunction with a lifting program, not replace it.)

Mobility Program:

The general concept is to work from the ground up. Open up your feet, calves, hamstrings… And work yourself up the body from there. I use lighter weight just enough to push me into a deep stretch, but not enough to take away from the main lift.

Calf Raise 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

Light RDL 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

Seated Good Morning 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

Jefferson Curl 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

ATG Split Squat 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

Cossack Squat 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

DB Pullover 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

QL Raise 2-3 sets x 10 reps, 5 second pause at stretch

This is the bulk of the things I did to become more mobile than I’ve ever been before.

Mobility is just of the things covered in ThePitcherLab.

  • Full Stack Programming (throwing, lifting, mobility, sprinting, med ball, warm up)

  • Daily Mechanical Analysis

  • Unlimited access to 2 coaches who played Professional Baseball and trained themselves to throw in the upper 90s

You can apply here: ThePitcherLab.com

That’s it for today, thanks for reading!