I don’t know if any of you are feeling the same way, but my quads, hips and glutes are feeling a bit sore after the last couple of workouts this week. After the last competition, I couldn’t be happier to have workouts programmed with more squats so that I could work on my weakness. However, soreness and tightness after good squat and deadlift work requires some extra effort on our end outside of the gym. Our trainers do a great job providing us with stretches to work on our quads, hamstrings, glutes and hips, but how often do you put them to work outside of the gym? Quads, hamstrings and glutes are pretty easy muscles to stretch, and if you’ve had good stretching habits outside of the gym, then hopefully you hit these muscles on a regular basis. The area that I inadvertently end up neglecting most of the time are my hips. They’re a bit more of a challenge to stretch and most people don’t think to work on hip mobility in their spare time. So this Sunday, I challenge you all to take a rest day + hip mobility. Kelly Starrett offers a great hip mobility exercise video that I encourage everyone to follow along with. As you’re following along with his movements, continually go back to a good squat position (no deeper than you can hold properly) and pay attention to the movements that improve your squat position the most. Hopefully these exercises will help you all to come in on Monday refreshed and limber, prepared for another week of hard work.

Hip Prep Video

04.22.12 REST DAY/Hip Mobility Day