The Jefferson Curl

Spinal Mobility for baseball players

Author

josh gessner
November 26, 2024

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Athletter

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Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is today’s edition of TheAthletter, exploring stories, ideas, and frameworks to be the best athlete you can be —and how you can apply them to your career.

Today, we’re exploring the Jefferson Curl, one of my favorite mobility exercises.

If you enjoy this, forward it along to a friend who might too.

What you’ll learn:

What the Jefferson Curl is

Why it works

How you can apply this to your own career

P.S. Send me feedback on how I can improve. I want to be worthy of your time. I respond to every email.

The Jefferson Curl is an Incredible Exercise.

I've trained it for 6 months after my herniated disk, and I'm the most mobile I've ever been.

How I'm training the Jefferson Curl (and its incredible benefits):

3 reasons why I love the Jefferson Curl:

1) Increases Mobility in each segment of the spine.

2) Decompression for the Spine.

3) Strengthens the deep muscles in the spine to increase resilience.

Unlike most exercises that keep the spine in a straight, neutral position:

The Jefferson Curl allows you to bend each part of your spine individually, from the neck to the lower back.

This is important because it helps mobilize each segment of the spine:

The "segmental flexion" helps stretch the deep spinal muscles:

Which can become extremely tight from things like heavy lifting and sitting.

This stretch effect also leads to the decompression of the spine:

The Jefferson Curl sequentially moves the spine through a full range of flexion.

This sequential movement creates a lengthening effect on the vertebrae, gently increasing the space between them.

The use of a light load helps to enhance the stretch.

This is key to achieving a decompressive effect.

I've seen the results of Jefferson Curls first hand:

Moving the spine through a full range of motion is so important for mobility.

When I had a badly herniated disk:

I was told to keep my spine straight at all times and brace my core.

Absolutely no rounding of the spine with load...

This led to a cycle of reinjuries, and the least mobility I ever had.

It was only when I started to move my spine, that I saw progress in my mobility.

In hindsight it made sense:

Stretch and move the spine for better spinal mobility:

Rather than avoiding it.

So how do you incorporate the Jefferson Curl?

First off, the load.

DO NOT GO HEAVY.

Going heavy with this exercise can be extremely dangerous.

I've been training this exercise everyday for 6 months:

And don't go heavier than the bar itself.

I would start with doing this movement 2xweek.

Then slowly add frequency.

The key is for it to feel like a stretch, not a strength exercise.

You want to feel all your muscles relax into end range:

Not resist the load.

If you feel your muscles tensing and resisting the load - you're going way too heavy.

Main Lesson:

If you struggle with back tightness, start lightly incorporating the Jefferson Curl.

Move your spine, rather than avoiding it.

Hope it helps.

If you want to see how I incorporate the Jefferson Curl into my workouts:

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