Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance

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After a minute or two, put your left hand into a “sprinter’s start” position (making a bridge with your thumb and forefinger on the floor) and push your torso halfway upright. We would like to preface this review with the two key notions mentioned in the book. These are the core learning criteria of what the book tries to convey. The first is that Becoming a Supple Leopard is highly informative and conceptual in nature. Unlike a Calisthenics Program, it does not deliver a ready-made training program for an end-user to follow. Instead, it teaches broader concepts about human movement and lays a theoretical foundation upon which movement patterns can be developed. Or, This comes at a slight cost of neutrality, since Dr. Kelly Starret had to choose how to express the meanings of terms and how to weave them into a coherent treatment philosophy. Most of the time he does this well. In some cases, smarter decisions could have been made here. All in all, we must understand that Becoming a Supple Leopard is very much Starret’s philosophy on Mobility exercise from his medical knowledge and expertise.

Beyond that there is an Index to diagnose stretches you can do based on a particular pain or injury you are experiencing. We are also introduced to various tools and aids like rollers and balls and how they can help or reinforce techniques.Fairly easy to read, does include terminology but refers to it, reminds of it or explains it concisely Lax, Lauryn (12 November 2013). "Q&A WITH KELLY STARRETT". BoxLife Magazine . Retrieved 17 August 2017. Mobilise 10-15 minutes a day, work on a) pain points, b) your ‘problems’ list, c) 2 mins or more per position, d) 3-4 techniques per session.

Kelly shares his approach to mobility and maintenance and gives tips on how to live a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life. Build efficient, transferable movement patterns and skill progressions from simple to more advanced exercises Becoming a Supple Leopard 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance If we want to speak anatomically/biomechanically/physiologically then we know that the hip is the most congruent at 90 degrees of flexion in moderate amounts of abduction and external rotation. Since Oly lifting requires more depth (Ass to Ankles) then we have to get more external rotation and abduction to maintain this congruent (minimal passive tension) to maintain the stable spine and vertical torso.” -Supple Leopard Camp Martin HD, Savage A, Braly BA, et al: The function of the hip capsular ligaments: a quantitiative report, Arthroscopy 24:188-195, 2008

The dealings with CrossfitHQ have not panned out, as of yet; so I will have to put my TV star aspirations on hold. Regardless, I want to share my thoughts on the subject, because I am encountering many of the same issues in clinical practice. In human biomechanics, internal torque is (Muscle Force) X (Moment Arm). The product of these two produces a force that acts on something – in this case the femur when squatting. I have not seen any evidence that suggests pushing your knees outside your feet alters internal torque in the hip in a favorable way, as it is explained in KStar’s book (which is not a peer reviewed source, nor does it contain any references). This is also a very difficult thing to quantify because below 90 degrees of hip flexion, the functions of many of the muscles that cross the hip are altered – some of the external rotators becoming internal rotators for example.1 It is fine to use these terms anecdotally, but to say the goals of weightlifting and powerlifting is to produce the most amount of torque is ambiguous at best.

Part 3 presents us with the practical implementation of the techniques taught in Part 2 to solve the issues we identified using the theory of Part 1. Part 3 is where concepts and theory about practice become practical. Here the body is split into 14 chief areas where mobility dysfunctionality may exist or where the subject (patient, athlete, practitioner) wants to become stronger or more agile than they currently are. The practical implication here is that Becoming a Supple Leopard is a textbook teaching you the scientific underpinnings of Mobility exercise from a physiotherapeutic point of view and making that theory practicable in as broad a number of situations as is possible. Examples would be a coach who does not know beforehand the state of mobility of a new apprentice, or a therapist who can’t know what the treatment plan of their next patient is going to be without diagnosis. You identify problems in Parts 1, 2 and 4 and use the Index of Part 3 to find stretches to fix your problems. If you want to become more knowledgeable about the scientific and conceptual underpinnings of Mobility exercise, deepen your understanding of how your body works and how you can improve your own mobility, then this book is right for you. If you have a mind that craves to understand and to learn and isn’t afraid to get technical, acquiring new terminology, then Becoming a Supple Leopard is a highly recommended read. Seven rules of mobility: test and re-test, know the difference between discomfort and pain, mobilise daily, make it real for positions you need, keep good posture while mobilising, explore positions for best stretch and don’t make a pain face.So what can you do instead? The answer isn’t “suffer” or “tough it out.” Rather, spend two to five minutes on the following mobility exercises, courtesy of Becoming a Supple Leopard author and doctor of physical therapy, Kelly Starrett. Starrett has worked with Levi Leipheimer, Rebecca Rusch, and many other champion endurance athletes. He also runs The Ready State virtual mobility coach.