The last thing I’ll ask them to do is squat with their arms locked overhead, which is essentially an unweighted overhead squat. And this is where people start defaulting into some pretty wonky positions to keep their torsos upright, shins vertical, and arms overhead. Obviously, you can still tilt your torso forward while keeping your hands overhead. However, to get the most out of this exercise, you need to increase the verticality of your torso with each subsequent squat. This three-squat series turns into a really simple category 1 movement template for spotting problems and challenging the athlete with higher degrees of motor-control and mobility. Whether you’re layering on exercises to rehab an athlete post-injury or after surgery, or trying to expose restrictions in a beginner or elite athlete’s mobility and technique, skill progressions and movement complexity become easy if you understand the upright-torso demands principle and the movement hierarchy. You should be able to identify basic universal shapes of stability. You should also be able to spot movement faults and understand what it is happening and know how to fix it. Finally, you should be able to teach and incorporate transferable, full-range strength-and-conditioning movements in a way that instills good movement patterning for athletes of all ability levels.
MWOD FIGHT CLUB DRILL The goal is to equip you with the knowledge to correct movement faults and address your own rangeof-motion problems. However, that doesn’t mean you do it alone; having someone analyze your movement and keep you honest is key. You’re way more likely to pay attention to your foot position when you stand and your posture when you sit if someone else is holding you accountable. You need a coach, and you need a training partner, people who understand this material and will call you out when you’re hanging out in lousy positions or moving poorly. You need someone who will offer tips on how to correct the problem and help prescribe specific mobility remedies based on your issues. I call this the MWOD Fight Club Drill. The idea is to make an agreement—whether it is with your coach, training partner, kid, significant other, etc.—to always be in a good position. You can’t run, and you can’t hide.