A Cali Move E-Book

BY ALEX LORENZ (AKA EL EGGS) & SVEN KOHL

MOBILITY
EXERCISE
LEXICON
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Table of Contents
Introduction 3

PRE-TEST EXERCISES
1. Pike Sit 4
2. Wall Sit Shoulder Flexion 5
3. Pelvic Tilt 6
4. Standing Shoulder Extension (Wall) 7

BASIC MOBILITY SEQUENCE EXERCISES

1. Quadruped Wrist Circles 8
2. Quadruped Reach 9
3. Easy Bridge 10
4. Sitting Hip Rotation 11
5. Lunge Knee Rotation 12
6. Foot Tilt 13

ASSESSMENT EXERCISES
1. Pike Sit 14
2. Shoulder Rotation 15
3. Sitting Torso Rotation 16
4. Balancing 17

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 Cali Move—Mobility Exercise Lexicon
Introduction

Introduction
In this bonus e-book, the Mobility Exercise Lexicon, you will find instructions
for all of the exercises mentioned in our Mobility E-Book, including Pre-
Test Exercises, the Basic Mobility Sequence, and Assessment Exercises. If
you’re unsure how to perform an exercise, just return here and re-read the
descriptions.

Additionally, since you purchased this e-book, you can access explanation
videos as a bonus. Just log into your account at calimove.com and follow the
instructions to watch the videos.

For all exercises, we recommend:

Recording yourself on video

Place your smartphone at an ideal angle so that you can see the movement
you want to evaluate. After a few weeks of training, when you do your post-test,
put the camera in the same position and record the movement. Recording the
movement at the same angle is crucial to comparing your pre- and post-test
results.

Focusing on how you feel

Do you feel one side more than the other? Do you feel a sharp stretching pain
or something different? Does the feeling change when holding the position?
Try to make notes about your feelings and make the descriptions as precise as
possible. This way, comparing notes after a few weeks of training will be easier.

Measuring your range of motion

For some exercises, you may measure how far you can move. Where possible,
we will explain how in the relevant exercise description. Sometimes you can do
it alone, though you might need help from a partner on other occasions.

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 Cali Move—Mobility Exercise Lexicon
Pre-test Exercises

Pre-test Exercise 1/4

Pike Sit
Sit down with your legs straight and close together. Now place your hands on
your quads and move them forward slowly. When you have reached as far as
you can go, hold for a short moment and focus on how you feel.

For this exercise, you can measure how far you can reach forward. To make the
measurement repeatable, you could place your feet against a wall at the same
angle as your ankles. To measure how far you can move, you could either use a
measuring tape starting from the wall and see where you can touch it or simply
look where you can touch your fingers on your legs. (This method is easier
but a little less precise.) If you can reach further than the wall, you could also
measure with your palms or elbows instead of your fingers.

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Pre-test Exercises

Pre-test Exercise 2/4

Wall Sit Shoulder Flexion
Take a wall-sit position and press your lower back against the wall. Now move
your straight arms over your head with your hands shoulder-width apart. Try to
touch the wall with the backside of your wrists, without letting your lower back
lose contact with the wall. Again focus on how you feel.

For this exercise, measuring how far you can move is harder, so you need to
rely on how you feel and record yourself on video.

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Pre-test Exercises

Pre-test Exercise 3/4

Pelvic Tilt
Stand straight and tilt your pelvis forward and backward. This test is not about
how far you can move but more about how precisely you can control the
movement. Make sure not to bend your knees when tilting backwards.

Again you can record yourself with your smartphone from the side to see how
cleanly you can execute the movement.

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Pre-test Exercises

Pre-test Exercise 4/4

Standing Shoulder Extension (Wall)
Grab a stick (such as a broomstick) and stand facing the wall with your hips
touching it. Grab the stick behind your back with your palms facing the wall and
your hands about hip-width apart. Now lift your straight arms as far upward as
possible.

You can measure this exercise with a partner. Otherwise, record yourself and
focus on how you feel.

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 Cali Move—Mobility Exercise Lexicon
Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 1/6

Quadruped Wrist Circles
For the Quadruped Wrist Circles, you kneel and place your palms on the
ground, with your fingertips pointing in opposite directions—one hand pointing
forward and the other one backward. Both elbow pits should point forward, and
you should avoid letting the pit of the forward-pointing hand point inward or
even backward.

Make sure to keep your palms on the ground at all times. Make the circles as
large as possible while keeping your palms on the ground. Pay attention to
activating the forearm muscles by pulling up your fingertips, even if they feel
like they’re not moving. Never let either of your elbows bend at any time.

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 Cali Move—Mobility Exercise Lexicon
Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 2/6

Quadruped Reach
Start in a quadruped position with a neutral spine. Now lift one arm and reach
upwards while rotating your upper body to the same side. Hold the position for
a moment and then go down again, reaching underneath your body and slightly
touching the floor with your shoulder. Hold the position for a moment before
moving back to the starting position to repeat the movement.

When reaching up, extend your spine and try to keep both arms and your
shoulder in one line. The upper arm should be rotated outward, which naturally
positions the palm of your hand, so it faces the opposite side of your body, with
your thumb pointing backward, towards your feet. When you reach down, you
should aim for flexion in your spine position. With your eyes, track the motion of
your hand in both directions—upwards and downwards.

Avoid smashing your shoulder into the ground when going down. Always move
in a slow and controlled manner. As you reach up, pay attention to outward
rotation and avoid rotating your arm inwards. While rotating inwards might also
allow your thumb to point backward, this position has none of the benefits of an
outward rotation.

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Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 3/6

Easy Bridge
Sit down with your knees slightly bent and your upper body leaning back a little,
supported by your arms, which should be placed about shoulder-width apart.
Now tense your arms, shoulders and legs, and raise your rib cage upward as
high as possible. Hold this position for a short moment, and then lower yourself
down again, holding yourself just above the floor.

Point your fingers slightly backwards and to the side. In the highest position,
focus on raising your rib cage or sternum so they are higher than your hips, and
depress and retract your shoulder blades. Try to extend the spine while keeping
a posterior pelvic tilt. Keep your head neutral, which means that you shouldn’t
be looking forward, but toward the ceiling when you are in the top position.

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Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 4/6

Sitting Hip Rotation
Sit down and support yourself with your arms behind your body. Place your feet
in front of you hip width apart with your knees bent at about 90 degrees. Now
lower both knees to one side as far as possible, hold them for a short moment,
bring them back up and repeat the movement on the opposite side.

Make sure to retract and depress your shoulders.

You can keep your hip-line as horizontal as possible to focus more on hip
mobilization or rotate it to the side to further include the spine.

Avoid twisting your shoulders as you move your hips. Your shoulders should be
kept fully perpendicular to your body’s axis. Avoid falling into a position where
you are excessively arching your lumbar spine.

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Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 5/6

Lunge Knee Rotation
If possible, avoid doing this exercise on a hard surface like concrete or tiled
floors. Instead, use a carpet or similar soft—but stable—surface. Avoid slippery
or uneven surfaces.

Try to make the half-circle movement of your knee as wide as possible. If

necessary, you can support yourself by holding on to something. When moving
your knee to each side, keep your foot as flat as possible on the ground without
letting it lift on the opposing side. You should never let your heel lift off the
ground.

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Basic Mobility Sequence Exercises

Basic Mobility Sequence Exercise 6/6

Foot Tilt
Stand comfortably on both feet. Shift your weight onto one leg and tilt your
other foot outwards so that you’re standing on the outer edge of your foot.
Now shift your weight back slowly towards the tilted foot, hold for a moment
and release the tension again. Now switch from an outward tilt to an inward
tilt and shift your weight again. After releasing the inward tilt, switch sides and
repeat the movement with your other foot.

Make sure to move slowly and focus on how your tilted foot feels. Always keep
tension in your ankle, and don’t let your foot or ankle go slack. Avoid doing this
exercise on a hard surface like concrete or tiled floors. Instead, use a carpet or
similar soft—but stable—surface. Avoid slippery or uneven surfaces.

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 Cali Move—Mobility Exercise Lexicon
Assessment Exercises

Assessment Exercise 1/4

Pike Sit
This exercise follows the same execution as Pre-test Exercise 1/4. Sit with your
straight legs close together. Now place your hands on your quads and slowly
move them towards your toes. When you have reached as far as you can go,
hold for a short moment and focus on how you feel.

In addition, for this exercise, you can measure how far you can reach forward.
To make the measurement repeatable, you could place your feet against a wall
and measure how close you can get your fingers to the wall. If you can reach
further than the wall, you could also measure with your palms or elbows.

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Assessment Exercises

Assessment Exercise 2/4

Shoulder Rotation
Lean with your back against the wall and hold your elbow at about shoulder
height. Now move your wrist upward and then down as far as you can. The goal
is to touch the wall with your wrist, not your fingers, knuckles or anything else.
Keep contact with the wall with your back, shoulder and elbow. Focus on how it
feels when you reach the endpoint of the movement. If you can easily touch the
wall on at least one end, you can place something between your elbow and the
wall to increase the range you can move.

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Assessment Exercises

Assessment Exercise 3/4

Sitting Torso Rotation
Sit down comfortably and keep your back straight. Put your hands together in
front of you with straight arms. Now rotate your upper body to one side without
letting the fingers slip along each other. Hold for a moment, focus on how the
position feels and then do the same on the other side.

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Assessment Exercises

Assessment Exercise 4/4

Balancing
Stand with both feet in one line and close your eyes. Try to stand as still as
possible for about 5-10 seconds. Focus on how much you must move to avoid
falling over to the side. It can make a difference which foot stands in front.
Make sure to do the pre- and post-test with the same foot in front to make it
comparable.

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