This is an excellent book for people who are looking for a guide to maintaining or improving mobility. The author, Dr. Kelly Starrett has broken the human body down into functional areas and explains how each area functions and how they interact. If you want to prevent injury or are recovering from an injury this could be just what you are looking for.

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!

***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.

You can improve your posture and mobility and Kelly's book teaches you how. Don't just skip to the exercises, the first sections are loaded with knowledge of bimechanics written for people with no medical background. The concepts are extremely important to understand for long term mobility and health.

I was diagnosed with kyphosis (similar to scoliosis, think hunched back) in high school. It was not that bad, most people would never notice, but I had some back pain. Doctors just said there was not much I could do.

10 years later I started lifting and came across Kelly's work and started working to improve my body mechanics. I have significantly improved the curvature of my spine and mobility in my spine, hips, and shoulders. I notice big differences when I look in the mirror and have much less back pain.

I am in my 20s, but see my parents loosing their mobility in their 50s. I have shared th book and ideas with them. I am sure this will help me stay functional long past my 50s and 60s.

A virtual gem if you are patient and read carefully, practicing along the way. This text defies description bc it reaches farther than anyything available, hits the major components of bodymechanics in regard to stability, safety, performance! This trainer not only goes deeperand farther than the best trainers available to us, but makes you concious of the faulty ( as in leading to injury) positions of what we commonly think of as the best trainers. I had a serious hip problem of 21/2 yrs. which was compounded by serious degenerative disc disease seen on frightening xrays. Since following Kelly's protocols I am nearly pain free after less than a month. I am 77 and 5'1" 90 lbs. The more squats Zi do correctly the better I feel! Remember you have to read and practice in a mirror copying the "correct " poses! You will be surprized at what hard work and discipline can accomplish. ( I do the exercises w/o drugs or supplements of any kinds!