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Dr. Kelly Starrett—coach, physiotherapist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Ready to Run—has revolutionized how coaches, athletes, and everyday humans approach performance as it relates to movement, mechanics, and the actualization of human and athletic potential. He and his wife, Juliet Starrett, co-founded San Francisco CrossFit and MobilityWOD.com, where they share their innovative approach to movement, mechanics, and mobility with millions of athletes and coaches around the world. Kelly travels the world teaching his wildly popular Movement & Mobility Course and also works with elite military forces and every branch of the military; athletes from the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB; and nationally ranked and world-ranked strength and power athletes. He consults with Olympic teams and universities and is a featured speaker at strength and conditioning and medical conferences nationwide. Kelly believes that all human beings should know how to move and be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves. He lives in northern California with his insanely talented and amazing wife and their two young lionesses, Georgia and Caroline. His chief life goal is to spend more time on the beach with his family.
Glen Cordoza is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a former professional mixed martial artist and Muay Thai boxer. He is one of the most published authors on the topics of MMA, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and fitness with 20 books to his credit.
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Victory Belt Publishing; 2nd edition (May 1, 2015)
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***I will update the review after I've completed the book and all stages of the 14-day mobility program. I'd like to determine if the recommendations of the book will provide lasting effects.***
Background, I'm a 29 year old male who spent 7 years in the Navy. 13 months of that in Afghanistan as an Expeditionary Combat Trainer/Mentor for the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. I've got some lingering injuries that I'm getting tired of taking 800mg ibuprofen twice daily to manage. I purchased this book to potentially help isolate these issues and let me get back to powerlifting without fear of pain/injury. I powerlift. I put up great numbers and I do it within the confines of strict form and applied effort. No cheating. That said, I think Crossfit is a strange cult of strange behavior and dangerous movement. I put off buying this book because of all the purported crossfit demagoguery within. Good news is, this book is written in a clear and informative manner with the only crossfit nonsense being some of the rogue branded gear the author wears in the photographs. My biases lean toward EliteFTS, so take that as you will.
As the headline says, prepare for rewarding pain. You're going to hurt yourself in ways a physical therapist or massage therapist cannot do to you. My joint pain/mobility problems are: left shoulder (Navy injury), right knee (Navy injury), right ankle (broken tibia/hairline fractured fibula, stage 3 sprained later), and occasional lower back tweaks/pain just above my pelvis attachment.
Shoulder: My shoulder hurts very sharply when benching if I don't set my bench up PERFECTLY and even then, I can't do nearly as much weight as I should be able to because it always hurts and I'm afraid of reinjuring it. While doing some of the mobility exercises recommended in the book and burying a lacrosse ball in the posterior area of my shoulder, I a very painful and very hard lump. I assumed this was bone...until it crackled and moved loose. I proceeded to roll it out while whimpering and grunting. Once I stood up, I could rotate my shoulder around with a greater range of motion and with less pain. Not completely pain free yet, but its a marked improvement for 10 minutes of work on it. Great.
Knee: Lacrosse ball to the hamstrings. Lots of sticky points, hotspots, and pain. Lots of pain. Also, lots of whimpering. The itchy/painful feeling and general crunchiness in my knee seems to have subsided, but I feel like it needs much more work from the glutes on down to alleviate what I'm feeling.
Ankle: Working my bound up ankle was what I would assume to be my own personal hell on Earth. I've got lots of scar tissue buildup on the front of my ankle at the top of my foot. This acts (as the author says) as a doorstop preventing full flexion of my ankle and an inability to point my toes to my knee. It has also impeded full depth during squats. While doing the smash and floss method on the front of the ankle with the lacrosse ball, I assumed that ankles were supposed to have lots of little lumps and pain spots...you're smashing ligaments and tendons, right? Nope, turns out this was lots and lots of scar tissue. Sweet baby Jesus was this inconceivably painful. However, I've probably gain about 20% greater mobility in my ankle after just this one session. Ankle still hurts this next day, but some more ibuprofen is fixing that. At least it doesn't hurt as a result of binding up anymore.
Lower Back: Haven't gotten to working it yet because after all the other work I felt like someone had beaten me with an aluminum bat and my back hurts the least of all my problems.
Be prepared to spend some money on gear. Sure its cheaper than a chiropractor or therapist, but its still an outlay. I've got a bumpy roller, a smooth roller, a lacrosse ball. What I don't have that are recommended are: double lacrosse ball, little battlestar (can be subbed with a standard roller though), VooDoo bands, stretchy bands (no, rogue brand bands are not any better than others) and an assortment of other balls of varying density, pressure application ability, and size.
So far, I'm pleased with the results I've had after a single session of rolling, smashing, and flossing my problem areas. After the 14-day mobility program in its various forms, I'm hoping for a greater improvement in my mobility and pain management.
I bought this book to just improve my hip mobility, but found so much information here, I have gone far beyond my hips. I have improved my hip mobility, my knees feel great (50-year old knees that have run several marathons in the past 5 years), and now I am working on my shoulders. I feel better and move better than I have in years (I also sleep better). My squat and deadlift have improved immensely, and now I am working on the pistol squat. I am going to nail that move!
One warning: This is a big technical book, that is more of a textbook than just your average fitness book. Geared toward coaches and trainers and physical therapists. But if I can find value here, so can others looking to improve mobility.
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2018
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I really enjoyed this book and it has definitely helped me improve my overall mobility (and training). The lens is very much from a PT and I recommend also getting some other perspectives. Author could also simplify his writing style to communicate more effectively. He does a good job backing up his claims, but again, it is a PT lens. If you are reading for strength training, I'd recommend supplementing this book with Starting Strength. There is a ton of value to combining these two authors' perspectives.
The author correctly states that to cure joint dysfunction you must strengthen first then possibly stretch. Where he messes up is giving you random exercises with form tips (which aren't all correct). The exercises aren't linked to any sort of joint so I'm not really sure what he's thinking. I worry people are going to open this book, see the mishmash of exercises and skip those, move on to stretching and stretch whatever muscle is tight, make whatever problem they had worse and have to find a professional.
Sample of buzzwords: He doesn't believe in stretching, instead mobility Voodoo stretches Many more but I returned this book the instant I got it.
I assume this is getting 5 stars because he is a crossfitter? I have nothing against Crossfit in fact I used to do it but I think the groupthink is real in this case.
My Crossfit coach suggested I buy this book and I am so glad he did. Kelly prescribes certain mobility exercises for different ailments and hang-ups that I follow on my rest days. I have shin splints and I have a terrible problem with getting myself into an overhead squat. I've been working through the prescribed movements to help me with both for almost a month now and both are beginning to get better. Now, when I have a problem (big or small) I go straight to this book to find the solution. I recommend it for anyone with mobility issues - Crossfit or not - athlete or not. Exceptional work!
very good book with valuable information, unforunately at £30 i did not expect it to fall apart so fast, quite disappointed considering I've only had it a day.
2.0 out of 5 stars
great but....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2018
very good book with valuable information, unforunately at £30 i did not expect it to fall apart so fast, quite disappointed considering I've only had it a day.
4.0 out of 5 starsGreat book of exercises - would like a few more routines
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2019
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This is THE go to book for mobility and stretching. Almost anyone involved in Crossfit or Martial Arts will recommend this to you when you ask about stretching. The book is huge and absolutely full of colourful photographs and explanations about the methods the author uses to bring gains in mobility. Whether you are looking to improve your range of motion for snatch technique, a high kick or simply reduce muscle stiffness from sitting at a desk all day, it is likely this book will give you all the knowledge you need.
One weakness I would point out is that you kind of have to read the whole book to really be able to put a programme together for yourself. One thing I think would have really benefitted this book is a few more 'routines'. There are a couple in the back of the book that require you to flick back through the book to pages of exercise descriptions, but I think maybe a flow chart would have been better so that those who wanted to get started right away could do so without having to read the whole thing. I'm knit-picking a bit, but I think that would have made the book 5*.
2.0 out of 5 starsIn Kindle Format content descriptions missing which makes book difficult to use as author suggests
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2019
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The Contents section within the Kindle edition has lots of text and descriptions missing. This makes the book very difficult to use as the author describes within preface and introduction. It makes it impossible to go straight to specific items you may wish to concentrate upon. I am very disappointed with the Kindle Edition. I wish I had bought the hard copy which would be far easier to use as the author intended.
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you want to improve your mobility, you've got to pay the piper....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2020
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If you are looking for a quick win, then move on. There's a price to be paid for increasing your mobility and athletic performance. That price is time. Firstly, time to read the book. Secondly, time to work on the mobility plan. It is worth it though. In the last month, following Starret's plan for ankle and knee mobilization, I can finally get into a balls to the floor squat position, and the discomfort in that position is gradually disappearing. I've also noticed an improvement in my overall bearing in general. This is not a give-it-a-shot book. You've got to commit to it. It's well written and full of diagrams that make it mentally easy to follow, even if you need to catch up physically.
5.0 out of 5 starsCornerstone of mobility exercises
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2016
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I love this book. I've started on the exercises. A lot of them are pure torture! Be prepared for pain and commitment to the exercises but afterwards my muscles and joints feel so much better. K-Star explains everything clearly, although you do have to think about what he's saying. He also has a great style of getting to the point! Some of the exercises seem a bit brutal and possibly not what you'd think is good for you but my physio said that Kelly Starrett knows his stuff. Very informative and my new mobility bible.
