I’ve been focusing on finding and following the best health and wellness blogs as of late, and I thought I’d share a few gems that Palmer shared with me. Unlike the major blogs that we follow (Mark Sisson, Robb Wolf, Eric Cressey), these are less well-known gurus that really know their stuff. On to the content.
Kelly Starett (Mobility WOD) — When it comes to improving mobility, posture, and moving/feeling well, this guy is as good as it gets. He has a series of videos on Youtube of “Mobility Exercises of the Day”, and the videos follow a program for a full 365 days. Basically, you get a new exercise every day for a year. And if you think these are going to be easy, you’ve got another thing coming. Palmer just started, and he didn’t come close to making it through the full duration of the first day exercise (10 minute squat). Some of these will hurt while you do them, but it’s the good kind of pain (if you’re doing it right!). Mobility is an extremely underrated component not only of good athletic performance, but general overall health, so give him a follow!
Kelly Baggett – If Kelly Starett is the Mobility Man, Kelly Baggett is the Prince of Power. He specializes in plyometrics and improving power (jumping, acceleration, general explosiveness, etc.). And if mobility is an underrated component of athletic performance, then so is explosive strength. Athletes tend to focus on absolute strength when training (I wanna bench 300, bro!), when power is what translates better to most sports. A running back needs to be able to reach top speed in a few steps. A basketball player needs to be able to explode off the floor to grab that rebound. Even more interestingly, as Eric Cressey outlines in his book Maximum Strength, recent research shows that muscular power, not strength or mass, is most conducive to longevity. Loss of muscle power correlates to a “functional decline in activities of daily living”–Eric gives the example of tripping and falling, a hallmark of old age. With increased muscular power comes the ability to adjust your balance when you trip and avoid falling.
Bret Contreras — The self-proclaimed “Glute Guy” is pretty damn smart. He focuses on glute activation, strengthening the posterior chain, as well as mobility in the hips and postural issues. This is a big problem nowadays, since most of us sit on our ass for a large portion of the day and generally avoid lower body training like the dickens, patterning your body to tighten the hip flexors and weaken the posterior chain.
