High Impact Mobility Drills For
Powerlifting Athletes
Use these little-known exercises to increase mobility and boost
strength through the joints that matter most in the squat, bench and
deadlift - so you can train harder, longer without aches and pains.
Powerlifters tend to get a bad rap. People seem to think we’re all waddling,
muscle-bound meatheads with no athleticism. Lifting weights makes you slow,
stiff and bulky, they say.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The misunderstanding is that strength, muscle building, flexibility, mobility, and
cardio are mutually exclusive traits. Such is not the case. It’s simple - you get
what you train.
Many of the strongest people on the planet are quite limber. Think about the
deep, heavy overhead squats made by Olympic weightlifters or the Pommel
Horse routines of gymnasts.
In fact, to enjoy a long and successful training career, you must cultivate many
physical skills. Too much specialization creates gaps in your abilities, leaving
strength on the table at best and risking injury at worst.
As a strength athlete, one of the most important habits you can cultivate is a
basic joint mobility practice. You don’t need to put your feet behind your head,
but spending 5 minutes a day working on ​active mobility ​can revolutionize the
way your body feels and performs.
Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the best mobility drills for powerlifters.
The Root of Deep Squats
The back squat has more range of motion considerations, both in judging and
training, than the bench or deadlift. The end ranges of motion in the other lifts
are more or less fixed. The bar makes contact on the chest in the bench press
and the deadlift is obvious - you just stand up.
The squat is a different animal. There is no set cue to let you know when you’ve
hit “legal” depth (hip crease below knee). You’re flying, er, squatting, without a
net so having unrestricted range of motion and strength will give you the
confidence to squat low and heavy.
When a squat bar is resting very near the top of your spine, every joint and
muscle below it gets stress-tested. Strength starts from the ground up and that
is why we will begin by taking a look at the ankles.
Ankle mobility, dorsiflexion specifically, is the crux of the squat. When there is
restriction at the ankle joint, everything up the chain gets compromised - knees
buckle, hips shift, and backs round.
These circles will help open up controllable range of motion in the ankles.
Bonus if you can do these with your toes curled.
> ​Ankle Rotations Video​ <
Say Goodbye to Stiff Hips and Hello to Strong,
Supple Squats
If there is ​one​ drill that has helped clear up more hip issues than anything else
for my powerlifting athletes, it’s the Iron Lizard.
It looks like a common deep lunge stretch that you’d see in any yoga class. But
what makes this one different is what’s going on inside the hip and core.
Instead of passively holding the stretch, you will be pushing your front knee out
and in hard against your arm to create isometric internal and external
contractions.
> ​Iron Lizard Video​ <
Generating tension, i.e. strengthening, the hips in different joint angles seems to
be a good catch-all strategy for keeping the hips limber and avoiding common
squat twinges.
Release Knotted-Up Shoulders
Nothing haunts powerlifters quite like shoulder issues. And it’s no wonder,
between heavy bench pressing and the extended arm position in the back
squat, the shoulders take quite a beating. Anyone who’s trained for long
enough has experienced a tweak of some kind in at least one shoulder.
Beware the evil triad of shoulder dysfunction:
● The “Hunched” Lifestyle - Spending most of your day in front of a screen
with a protruding chin and shoulders rolled forward, all while breathing
shallow.
● Poor Bench Press Training - Pressing too much too often is the obvious
culprit here, but also includes your technique and overall program.
● Ignoring Shoulder Movement Quality - The shoulders are capable of
working in a wide range of motion. By neglecting shoulder work in
various planes, movement gaps are created that leave you prone to injury
and mobility restrictions.
Start exploring your shoulder mobility and control with a classic Tai Chi
sequence - the “Tea Cup” flow:
> ​The Tea Cup Video​ <
Once you get the pattern down, add a yoga block to your open palm to test your
coordination. Eventually, add load with a medicine ball or small weight plate.
And here’s a shoulder rotation drill that involves both arms at the same time:
> ​Swimmer Rotation
Video​ <
The shoulders are the most flexible joints in the body which means the
surrounding musculature is responsible for providing the support, stability and
strength to ensure healthy movement capacity.
Fill the gaps!
Think Outside The Box For A Powerful Posterior
Chain
If you can tie your shoes, you probably have all the flexibility you need to
deadlift. The real trick is being able to generate strength and tension in both a
hips-flexed and hips-extended position, whether lifting conventional or sumo.
Here are two drills that will not only open your hips from the front, back, and
sides, but also help teach you how to fill every joint angle with strength and
control.
The 90/90 sit or “Shin Box” is a great base position to hit the hips at all sorts of
new angles. Take your time with this one and move slowly through the
transitions. You can expect some deep hip cramps ;)
> ​Shin Box Leg Raise Video​ <
The single leg glute bridge is a classic move to engage sleepy hamstrings and
glutes while opening the hip flexors. In this drill, we use the free leg to create
rotation and add extra resistance to the bridged side.
> ​Single Leg Glute Bridge with Rotation Video​ <
Daily Joint Mobility Routines
Squat Training Day
● Ankle Rotations x 5 each direction
● Iron Lizard x 15s driving internal & external
● Repeat for 2 Rounds
Bench Press Training Day
● Tea Cup x 3 each arm
● Swimmer Rotation x 5
● Repeat for 2 Rounds
Deadlift Training Day
● Shin Box Leg Raise x 3 each side
● Glute Bridge w/ Rotation x 5 each side
● Repeat for 2 Rounds
> ​Recovery Day Morning Mobility Routine​ <
About the Author
Zack Henderson will make you
strong as an ox and move like a
ninja.
He coaches locally in Nashville,
TN and around the world via
ZackHenderson.com