Mobility and recovery is one of the most overlooked factors by CrossFit athletes. Requiring a consistent effort over time, mobility should be viewed as a work in progress, a vital element contributing to your performance. Stepping up the time spent on mobility will allow you not only to maintain your current mobility and flexibility, but start to work your way to becoming a supple leopard.
But my box does mobility each day? That is true, many CrossFit Affiliates incorporating mobility, warm up and activation into the daily WODs. These are particularly geared towards the movements in the workout to get you warm and firing. It’s also important that you invest a minimum of 15 minutes each day to work on your own mobility. Identify your weaknesses and start incorporating mobility drills each day to make these your strength.
Isn’t it expensive to have these tools for yourself outside of the gym? We are asked this question all the time, so we have put together a list of the top five mobility tools for CrossFit. For the price of a massage or a treatment you can pick up a wide range of effective mobility tools that you can incorporate into your daily routines to get you moving well and keeping you injury free!
Top 5 Mobility Tools for CrossFit
1. Foam Roller (From $24.95)
The foam roller is the perfect place to start for your mobility tools. Giving you the ability to work the larger muscles of your body, including quads, hamstrings, upper back and lats. A simple mobility tool with an endless amount of movements you can perform to work your way to mobility mastery.
Tip: Avoid purchasing the cheap, low density foam rollers. They are often too soft and do not have the longevity required.
Recommendations: Textured Rumble Roller or the Trigger Point Grid Roller allow you to really get deep into those muscles.
2. Lacrosse Ball ($5.95)
Arguably the best bang for your buck. The lacrosse ball pairs nicely with a foam roller, allowing you to get into those more hard to reach places. Hips, calves, pecs and deltoids are some great areas that the lacrosse ball can access where the larger foam roller cannot.
Tip: Keep a lacrosse ball in your gym bag and one at work. When you are on the phone, or on your lunch break get to work!
Recommendation: Lacrosse Ball
3. Armaid ($129.95)
Often your elbow, biceps, triceps, wrist, forearm and hand are difficult to reach with conventional tools such as a foam roller, massage roller or even lacrosse ball. The Armaid is a perfectly designed device, aiming to treat these key areas and reduce both strains and tendonitis. The tool relieves pain through dual massaging techniques, focusing on reducing muscle tension and tightness.
Tip: After a big WOD with pull ups, put the Armaid to work on your forearms. Recovery will be supercharged!
Recommendation: Armaid
4. Crossover Symmetry – $340 with Free Shipping
Crossover Symmetry is the ultimate system gear towards improving shoulder activation, recovery and plyometric training. With many of the CrossFit workout movements going through your shoulders and scapulars, this system provides high intensity strengthening activities to keep you moving well and injury free.
Geared towards reducing the risk of shoulder injury, the Crossover Symmetry assists to build improved overhead performance, develop bulletproof shoulders, eliminate shoulder weakness and gain stability through safe and efficient shoulder mechanics.
Tip: Offering a range of options from novice to elite, Crossover Symmetry also provides a booklet movements with the system to help you achieve the benefits.
Recommendation: Crossover Symmetry
5. Mobility Compression Floss Band ($19.95)
Flossing every day keeps the doctor away! Made popular by Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD, floss bands are effective mobility and recovery tools. Compression bands can aid in improving range, restore joint mechanics and unglue matted down, previously injured tissue. By compressing the swell of tissues and joints, a compression tack can work to perfuse tissues that have grown to be cold and stiff after injury.
Tip: Apply the compression floss band when performing the movement, to help bring blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to the muscle.
Recommendation: Mobility Compression Floss Band
So there it is, the top 5 mobility tools for CrossFit! These tools offer a wide range of options to help you improve your mobility. Keeping these tools at home, at work or at the CrossFit gym will give you more motivation to put that extra time in to your mobility each day. Whether it is when you wake up, before bed or relaxing infront of the TV, there is always time to mobilise!
Want more information? Check out our Mobility & Recovery section!
