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Mobility Log November 27, 2018 Warm-Up 50 bodyweight squats Slight discomfort in right knee and some tenderness in right groin area (DOMS from sumo squat work, no doubt). Overall, feels good. Daily 5 (3) Since I’m focusing a lot on hip flexors with the Master The Squat routine, I’m leaving them out of the “Daily 5” for now. Also, the groin/hip flexor area is a bit sensitive from sumo squats, so I want to take it easy. The side bends and twists I’m also leaving out, as they are covered to some extent during some of the limbering movements in Master The Squat (e.g. Baby Flop) Floor Upper & Middle back stretch Felt pretty good. I have an old injury in my right lower thoracic spine area..probably the right extensor. In flexion, I can feel it hanging on tighter than the surrounding muscles. It’s hard to know what a good amount of stretch is for this particular problem area, because it’s hard to distinguish between existing protective tension and tension coming on as an automatic danger response to any movement. Elbow Back Bend It’s always a bit tricky to know where to place my elbows in setup. I have a hunch (literally) that I am holding them a bit too close to my abdomen. It’s become a lot easy to feel my bodyweight resting on the arms, though, and I have to acknowledge the generally more spacious feeling I have in my lower back. It used to be that any sort of extension would immediately bring on a pinching sensation. Floor Piriformis Stretch A bit of a mystery. As with many piriformis stretches, I feel this in the front of the groin. If I add a contract and push my stretched side against my bracing arm, I can feel the muscles in the outer hip activate, and momentarily, I don’t feel restriction in the groin area, but the moment I release that contraction, the tightness in the groin returns. The seated piriformis stretch is one of the few that seems to target the muscles its supposed to. I’m not sure why this particular stretch sidesteps the groin impingement I feel. Better not to ask questions? Master The Squat L1: Sumo Squat A limbering movement I’ll be sure to do every day. It feels great. I noticed that my arches tend to collapse, allowing my knees to come in and reducing the effectiveness of the stretch. So, that’s something I have to focus on. L3: Boxing the Compass Almost all positions feel a primary restriction in the groin area. However, with the right leg “back,” in the “6 O’Clock” position (as seen from above...legs in line with one another), I do feel the stretch going further up the adductor. L4: Baby Flop Using a bolster at the moment to make sure that I am keeping my core supported, even when I allow the spine to round into flexion. Moving over either leg in the forward position elicits a very strong stretch in the side back muscles (don’t know their names...gotta check an anatomy chart). At the moment, it feels like a good stretch! The important thing for me is to move into it carefully. I feel like I’m approaching the limits of my body’s “safe zone” and that I need to move in and out of it carefully. L7: Seated Figure 4 Tried doing this on a bolster today. Still feeling it in the adductors primarily. However, after a few days of doing them “goal free,” the movement feels a bit freer. Will continue to work with my hips on a bolster for the time being. E6: Standing Knee Lift I thought I’d include this as a kind of benchmark to see where I’m at. Left knee can go comfortably 30 degrees past horizontal. Right knee gets stuck at about horizontal. Other Cool-Down Spinal Waves - 5 Minutes