CrossFit Kells

All, see below for Coach Eric’s blog and video. Click on the link at the very end entitled “frontrack”

Hi all! This is the first of many blogs I will be writing for CFK. My hope is to educate you how to improve your longevity for activity by optimizing mobility and stability of various joints and muscle groups.

We will also focus on movement correction to decrease risk of injury and improve your form with various CrossFit exercises. For those who still have not met me, I am the newest coach at CFK. I have been coaching Crossfit for about 5 years. Before becoming a coach I had been using the Crossfit method for training for about 4 years, first in my parents garage then at my first official Box in Charlestown on the 7^th floor of an old warehouse building. I have also had the pleasure of working as a personal trainer when I was in college. I also interned at Boston College as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and worked with all of their athletes. Currently, I am a coach and also a physical therapist working with various populations. I am really hoping my experience and education can help the community at CFK.

This week I want to give you a few tips on how to improve your front rack position. The front rack position is used when front squatting and when catching a clean. This position can be very challenging for most because it is not a position the body has to assume very often in everyday life. Our jobs and lives can often put our bodies in less than desirable positions causing our posture to suffer and our range of motion to decrease. These posture and range of motion limitations can seriously affect our ability to assume proper positions when hanging with your peeps at CFK.

The front rack requires a lot of mobility in the thoracic spine, shoulder, elbow and wrist to perform correctly and without pain. I am sure many of you have experienced the pain and frustration of trying to get in this position during a workout. I hope the following mobility exercises can be used by you to help improve this position and make front squats and cleans more enjoyable. Please remember to make body tissue changes; these exercises must be performed consistently to see a long-term change. If the front rack position is difficult for you, I recommend performing the following before any days with front rack position exercises. Come into the gym early to perform them, but also ensure that you are performing them at least three times per week to produce significant change. I recommend holding these positions for one minute each side for multiple reps if you can, but also test and retest your position to ensure you are making changes.

Please enjoy the following video with a description of how to perform two of my favorite mobility exercises. Last bit of information, this will be uncomfortable but if at anytime you feel numbness or tingling stop immediately!

If you are interested in some personalized mobility, stability, skill training or a good old-fashioned goal oriented program, I am available for one-on-one sessions to help you meet your goals. Email me at doclitalien@gmail.com.

frontrack