I recently made a trip to NYC to train jiu-jitsu and visit my best friend. Along the way, I was able to attend a Kinstretch class. This specific class was taught by James Chung at MOTIVNY off Canal Street.
Functional Range Conditioning
For the uninitiated, this class is built around Functional Range Conditioning developed by Canadian sport chiropractor Andreo Spina.
In a nutshell, his work in this context centers around increasing joint range of motion (ROM) by using controlled articular rotations (CARs) of the join that is likened to oiling an engine.
Another prominent component of this philosophy is to use end range isometric contraction to communicate to the nervous system and ultimately muscle that it’s safe to access that ROM. This teaches the body that it’s safe to move into those ROM.
First, we will share a technique that is crucial in helping to train mobility in the body.
Irradiation
- Feet firmly planted
- Big toes especially pushing down
- Feel all four corners of your feet
- Arms at sides with 30 degrees abduction with either a fist or completely open palm as wide as you can make it
- Screw feet into the ground
- Squeeze butt and tighten abdomen in towards spine on your exhale
- Seek to tighten hands as much as possible with each out breath and create as much down force with your feet into the ground as much as possible
- Be sure when bringing tension to the outer extremities that you’re keeping a lengthened contraction
- The feet should still feel wide
- Do 5 breaths with 5-second pauses at bottom of exhale
- Ramp up intensity with each breath all the way to 100 %
- Completely relax to shake out the tension
- Do at least one more set before beginning mobility work
Creating Tissue Change
In order to create lasting tissue change with a passive stretch, we must hold for at least 2 minutes. I find with enough intentional focus layered into your training session a minute at a time done several times throughout the session will also change the tissue.
Setup
- First off we must literally keep a 90-degree angle between the calf and hamstring of both legs
- Next, our back shin must be parallel to our front thigh and out back thigh parallel to our front shin
- This is the classic “90 90”
- Before doing any end range isometrics or movements we recline back to allow a passive stretch to open and begin communicating to the tissue
Final Considerations
I love using the 90 90 to prime my hips before I train. The irradiation helps you get the stability and strength I stress in my teaching, which you then parlay into the supple nature of exhibiting your body. This is something necessary to keep longevity and to help us in the competitive scene.
I cover more performance training tidbits with my ebook “The Foundations of Movement Autonomy, Vitality, and Performance” that will help you prepare, recover, and perform better on the mats!
I’m also releasing my first video product “Secrets to Soft, Stable, Strong, and Supple Low Back/Hips” which will be accompanied with a 12 week training program. Opting into my email updates through the above ebook link will keep you up to date on this!
I’ll have a preorder on the site in the coming week!
