FASTER FLEXIBILITY AND MOBILITY

2. THE 10 KEY LESSONS TO FASTER
FLEXIBILITY AND MOBILITY
The problem with most so called mobility experts is they’ve been bendy
since childhood. Very few achieved great mobility as adults. And without
that experience their programs are pretty useless. I wasted so much time
following BS programs. That’s why I created this Flexibility Blueprint and my
mobility and flexibility programs.
Now I’m sharing the 10 key lessons to
faster flexibility and mobility that totally
changed my life.
1. Why You Should Treat Your
Stretching As A Workout
2. Why You Should Increase Joint
Movement Then Strengthen It
3. Why You Must Mobilize And
Strengthen Opposing Muscles
4. Why I Love Loaded (Eccentrics And
Isometric) Stretching
5. What’s The Scientific Mechanism Of
Flexibility Training
6. How Hard Should I Push Stretches For Best
Results
7. What’s The Difference Between Flexibility
And Mobility
8. What’s The Secret To Avoiding Plateaus And
Injuries
9. What’s The Secret To Gaining Flexibility And
Strength Together
10. Why Having A Coach Or Following A Proven
Program Is Key
For the visual learning, of those who’d like to see me demonstrate
real world examples of each point my brother and I have also
created an implementation video. You can access it here.
WHO AM I AND WHY
SHOULD YOU LISTEN?
“I teach people how to move instead
of just exercise.”
If we haven’t met, I’m Rad Burmeister, Founder of Unity Gym,
where health is measured by performance not body image. I
make driven people superhuman. That’s me in the picture doing
the splits at age 40.
You probably won’t believe me, but four years ago, I could barely
touch my toes.
Truth be told, I was once looking for the answers just like you. Whether
you’re here to level up your performance, or are stiff and tight ... the
more you research the more overwhelmed you get. It’s not your fault!
There’s way too much BS out there about flexibility!!
Lucky for you ... I’ve been doing this for 23 years and amongst the decades of grinding,
I experienced 10 MASSIVE breakthroughs. Incredibly, all in the last three years of my
training!!
Each of these lessons delivered a key breakthrough that profoundly impacted my
mobility and flexibility. Strap yourself in because I’m about to share them with
you ...
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3. 1. WHY YOU SHOULD TREAT
YOUR STRETCHING AS A
WORKOUT?
“True strength cannot be achieved in the
absence of mobility.”
A massive mistake that I made for years is to stretch if I had time.
It wasn’t until I started to prioritize flexibility training and schedule
proper stand alone stretching and mobility sessions that I started to
see real results. The 18- Min Stretch Routine is designed to be just
that. A routine that you dedicate 18 minutes outside of your regular
workouts. Which is exactly how I got started!
This goes without saying ... but it’s so bloody important!
We have a rule at my gym, prioritize your weakest link first. If that’s
basic conditioning so be it. If it’s strength, then do more strength.
But in most cases flexibility and mobility are compromised so
we prioritize them first. Remember, true strength cannot be
achieved in the absence of mobility!
2. WHY YOU SHOULD INCREASE
JOINT MOVEMENT THEN
STRENGTHEN IT?
“You must teach your nervous system how to
access new ranges of movement.”
You may have heard that stretching should never be held for long periods of time before
strength training because it can negatively impact tissue integrity. But it’s only half
true. If you’re priority is getting super human strength, and you’re lifting heavy weights,
then it’s definitely true!
However,ifyourpriorityissuperhumanflexibility,andyou’reliftingsubmaximalweights,
then it’s actually beneficial to increase flexibility, then strengthen it afterwards. This
strategy is most commonly used when training beginners, or stiff people.
In addition, there’s a clear line drawn between static stretching and loaded stretching
and mobility. And there’s BIG advantages both during and after strength training
because when you mobilise a joint you create a new range of motion that wasn’t
available before. And when you strengthen it immediately afterwards you teach
the nervous system how to access it, reinforcing the gains in flexibility.
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4. 4. WHY I LOVE
LOADED (ECCENTRICS
AND ISOMETRIC)
STRETCHING?
“Your bodies environmental adaptation
process can and should be exploited.”
Most people think stretching is about gently holding a passive (lengthened)
position for a few minutes. No, getting flexible is not just about passive
stretching! In fact, the discovery of loaded stretching was my biggest
breakthrough. Loaded stretching is when you
use muscle contraction (via body weight, or
external weights) to stretch, most commonly,
eccentric and isometric.
Eccentrics is when you lower yourself into the
stretch using body weight, or external weights.
This method alone dramatically increases
flexibility and mobility. A good example is
using deep Romanian deadlifts to stretch
the hamstrings.
Isometrics is when you take the muscle to
end range and tense without lengthening
or shortening it. A good example is
using the active middle splits like in the
picture above.
Remember, flexibility alone leads to
fragility. One of the keys to becoming
both strong and flexible at the same
time is to develop what we refer to
as end range strength and loaded
stretching does it best.
3. WHY YOU MUST
MOBILISE AND
STRENGTHEN OPPOSING
MUSCLES?
“Flexibility is fancy, mobility is function.”
This is one of the key secrets to how we make people superhuman at my gym.
By carefully combining strength and flexibility training in the same workouts
we maximise efficiency and harness the concept that once you stretch (or
mobilise) a joint, by strengthening the opposing muscle group immediately
afterwards, you solidify your gains.
An example of this would be to
stretch your pancake and then
strengthen the straddle leg lifts
like in the picture.
Pay attention because it’s
important, flexibility is about
removing the brains inhibitors.
The best way to do so is to
regularly demonstrate that
your joints are strong and
capable of demonstrating
end range strength.
The example above
works well because the
pancake and straddle
leg lifts stretch and
strengthen opposing
muscle groups.
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5. 6. HOW HARD SHOULD I PUSH
STRETCHES FOR BEST RESULTS?
“Never stretch to pain, only stretch to discomfort!”
This lesson is short, but extremely important! This one principle of flexibility
training was a HUGE breakthrough for me. It is crucial to understand that
pain inhibits the decrease in muscle spindle sensitivity.
A key component of the process of flexibility training is learning your
limits so you can take your body to a safe level of discomfort.
If you push beyond them (which may happen during your journey)
you’ll over stretch and tear muscles. Therefore, never use pain as a
target indicator, stretching to the point of pain is counter productive
and stifles the process of muscle spindle adaptation.
5. WHAT’S THE SCIENTIFIC
MECHANISM OF FLEXIBILITY
TRAINING?
“Stretching is more about the nerves than the
muscles.”
It is crucial that you understand what is happening when you stretch so
you know how to best manipulate your routine and achieve consistent
progress. Most people who struggle to make improvements in flexibility
no matter how much they stretch fail to understand what I’m about to
explain to you.
Your nervous system has an inbuilt mechanism that
prevents stretching referred to as an inhibitor. All
flexibility training in its most basic form is about
delaying your inhibitors over time to allow increases in
range of motion. Understanding that the breakdown
of your brains inhibitors is a process that takes time
and can’t be rushed with harder stretching will be key
to your progress going forwards.
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6. 8. WHAT’S THE SECRET
TO AVOIDING PLATEAUS
AND INJURIES?
Most people think that plateaus and injury are just a part of exercising.
But that’s incorrect! Barring a freak accident, with the right approach,
injuries and plateaus don’t occur.
The secret to avoiding plateaus and injury (and getting superior results)
is a principle in strength and conditioning called progressive overload,
which is the process where by you increase the difficulty of your workouts
over time to continue to adapt.
The key to progressive overload is … wait for it … patients and consistency.
You can’t rush the process! In all our programs we gradually progress the
difficulty of four simple variables to progressively overload your flexibility:
� Your stretching intensity
� Stretching session volume
� Recovery after stretching
� Complexity of stretches used
The principle of progressive overload
is the most important training concept
to understand because it takes a long
time to properly conditioning your bones
and muscles for hard training. Avoiding
injuries and plateaus requires patience.
To build superhuman flexibility, strength
and physique, you must use progressive
overload.
7. WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
FLEXIBILITY AND
MOBILITY?
“Flexibility is vanity, mobility is sanity.”
Flexibility and mobility are both intended to increase range of movement but
are not the same. To improve a joints range of motion the muscles surrounding
the joint need to be flexible enough to stretch and allow joint mobility. Flexibility
describes the process of training to increase the range of motion.
Whereas mobility is an umbrella term that covers any movement within an
existing range of motion. In basic terms, flexibility is training the joint and mobility
is maintaining the joint. Read on to find out how we use mobility to dramatically
increase our results!
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7. 10. WHY HAVING A COACH
OR FOLLOWING A PROVEN
PROGRAM IS KEY?
“Whether we like it or not, we’re all students and
teachers.”
Nothing is new or revolutionary nowadays and whether we like it or not, we’re all students and
teachers. Even Rad and I. Yes, you heard that right, Rad and Yani Burmeister (the exercise gurus
themselves) employ coaches!
We’ve learned just about everything we know from fitness to finance from reading great books, or
working with great coaches (who’ve trodden the path before us.)
We’re just really good at determining what’s useful, and what’s a waste of our time … and systemising
what’s left so it produces superior results for our tribe.
Right at this moment I have a flexibility coach and my business partner is working with a mentor.
I guarantee that all our biggest breakthroughs come when working with our coaches.
Even our most successful 18-Minute Stretch Routine was designed after an epic weekend workout
with one of our close friends and
mentors.
My final piece of advice … don’t try
to reinvent the wheel … humans
have evolved to where we are
today because of our ability to
learn from and innovate other
ideas. If you want guaranteed
success in anything align yourself
with a good coach, or follow their
proven program.
9. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO
GAINING FLEXIBILITY AND
STRENGTH TOGETHER?
“Immediately following and between training,
add a little mobility to your routine.
Building strength and flexibility is often a game of two steps forward
and one step back. Exercising and then resting whilst you adapt can be
frustrating because a great session one day can make you feel stiff the
next.
This is most obvious when stretching. Following a big training session
your muscles and joints may feel stiff. Finding a sweet spot between
enough and too much takes patience and practice.
But there’s a simple system we use to get superior results.
Immediatelyfollowing,andondaysofftraining,addalittlemobility
into your routine. There’s lots of great examples of mobility in
our 18-Minute Stretch Routine.
It doesn’t need to be much, just five minutes of mobility after
training, or between workouts has a huge impact! This is one
of the secrets that makes our tribe superhuman because
it solidifies the flexibility gains and prevents regressing
between workouts.
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8. MORE THAN ANOTHER
SHAMEFUL PLUG!
At face value the 10th lesson may seem like just another
shameful plug for my 18-Minute Stretch Routine, But it’s
more significant than that!
Of course I’d love the opportunity to work with you. My
purpose is to turn driven people into superhumans …
and my mission is to create a health conscious tribe of
superhumans!
And of course, I need ambitious, driven people like yourself
to succeed. But, whether we’re a good fit or not, at some
point in your journey a great coach or program will be
crucial.
I wasted most of my youth trying to reinvent the wheel.
Don’t make my mistake!