Definitely agree with everything Rob wrote, especially the Jose Cong thing, don’t even try.

In addition to mobility for a healthy body, we cannot forget about two other key factors- MOVEMENT and STRENGTH. You can’t have just one piece of the puzzle.

Most of Robs suggestions were about mobility which for a majority of us, especially the men, is definitely what we need more of. However, there are also a handful of Croganites who are plenty flexible and cant feel any of the stretches the coaches make us do (I’m looking at you Chloe).

And when I say strength, I mean balanced strength. Most of us are strong in our quads, upper traps, and back muscles. We are lacking in hamstring, glutes (gluteus medius more specifically), rotator cuff, lower traps, and core. Injuries occur when those imbalances become too large. I am pretty sure S**’s glutes are 10x stronger than mine but his quads are 30x stronger- hence, knee pain for S**, none for me (knock on wood). How much strength one needs is all relative.

In general, glute and core work will do wonders for any low back or lower extremity injury. Scapular stability exercises (those pretty bands Dave put up) and CORE will keep your shoulders healthy.

Finally, the last piece of the puzzle for staying injury free or healing from an injury is to move better. That is where our coaches do a great job at helping you- but you also need to follow that up by practicing and applying those tips. Just like how you would spend a few extra minutes before or after class working on mobility and strength exercises, you should spend a few extra minutes working on your form with very light weight. Your brain needs to exercise and practice as much as your muscles do to be able to move better. Even if you LOOK like you are moving correctly, if you are not using the right muscles, it defeats the whole purpose. One great example are lunges- how many of you are sore in your quads vs your glutes or even hamstrings? Next time, think about pushing up using more of your heel (vs the ball of your feet) which will activate the glutes more.

If you have a mild nagging injury that seems to be better with rest and mobility but gets flared up again once you try to workout, a specific 1:1 training session might be what you need. The coaches do a great job but some of us just need a little more fine tuning. Instead of missing weeks and weeks because of injury, invest in 1-2 sessions to correct your form. If you are beyond a minor injury, PT may be the next line of help.

Putting it all together- you need mobility and strength to move better, you need to move better to get stronger, and when you are stronger all around and move better, you will have more mobility. How? We tend to use our big and strong muscles (aka upper traps, quads, lats, chest) that we have so those will only get bigger, stronger and tighter. Using our smaller, helper muscles will allow for a more balanced body.