Try This Mobility Routine to Help Your Olympic Lifts

Ankle Dorsiflexion 

Ankle dorsiflexion refers to the movement where the angle between the toes and lower leg decreases. This motion allows the knee to track over the toes during the deepest phase of a squat — vital in Olympic weightlifting and other squat-heavy exercises, particularly at the catch position.

Limited ankle dorsiflexion can hinder squat depth, resulting in mobility challenges when holding an overhead position. 

To increase ankle dorsiflexion: 

1. Perform a mobility test: Position one knee against a wall while keeping the heel firmly planted on the ground.
   • Measure the distance between the toes and the wall. With consistent mobility training, this distance should gradually increase over time.
2. Focus on soft tissue work or foam rolling, targeting the calf muscles, the area behind the ankle, and up toward the back of the knee.
3. Use a barbell or mobility ball to perform a fascia release, helping to loosen the fascia on the bottom of your foot.
4. Perform a dumbbell knee-over-toe stretch combined with a hamstring stretch. As you reach the end range of motion, you may feel a stretch at the front of your ankle and notice your heel lift slightly.
   • From this position, rock back to engage and stretch your hamstrings.
5. Sprinter raises.
   • Begin on all fours. Place one foot on top of the other so it rests over the ankle. Lower the heel of the bottom foot until it’s just above the floor, keeping the back leg straight. From there, rise onto your toes, extending fully, then slowly lower the heel back down while pulling the toes toward your shin.
     • This creates a deep stretch in the calf. Aim for 10 to 15 reps on each side.

Hip Mobility

For effective Olympic lifting, focus on internal and external hip rotation. Maintaining flexibility in the adductors prevents tightness, which is evident when trying to keep the knees aligned over the toes at the end range of motion.

“If you struggle with internal rotation, that will cause issues. If you struggle with external rotation, it will be challenging to keep the knees out,” Webster explained.

To improve hip mobility:

1. Adductor rocks.
   • To begin, keep your inside foot grounded and pull your toes toward your shin.
   • Rotate your body and extend the opposite leg out to the side.
   • Sit back into a deep squat position.
   • Walk your hands forward while lowering your hips toward the ground.
   • Repeat this sequence for 10 reps
2. Sit close to a wall and lie back, placing one foot flat against it.
   • Cross the other leg over the one on the wall, letting your hips naturally sink toward the floor.
   • From this position, gently press the knee of the crossed leg away from your body using one hand, extending it as far as comfortable.
   • Perform 10 to 15 reps of this stretch.
3. Hip snapper hold.
   • Start in a prone position, then lift one leg to the side as high as possible.
   • Follow this by performing a press-up, then sit back and hold the position for about 60 seconds. From there, bring your legs together, lie flat with your shoulders on the floor, and focus on engaging your hips to complete the routine.
4. To target the hips with a loaded routine, grab a weight plate and position it between your legs.
   • Lower into a deep squat.
   • Lift the weight plate, press your elbows inside your knees for stability, and raise the plate overhead in a controlled motion.
   • “Not only am I working being static in my lowest point of the squat, I’m also thinking about the fact that I need to have good thoracic extension in this lower squat position,” Webster said.
   • Duck walk.
     • Step forward by bringing your knee over your toe to its full range of motion.
     • Repeat the movement with the opposite leg.

Thoracic Mobility

According to Webster, poor upper body posture stems from limited thoracic mobility. Improving posture requires consistent effort targeting the thoracic spine. 

To improve thoracic mobility:

1. Cobra stretch.
   • Lie flat on the floor and gently arch your thoracic spine to lift your upper body.
2. Using a resistance band during a cat-cow exercise can improve flexibility.
   • Retract and protract the shoulders while on all fours to develop mobility in the mid- and upper-back.
3. Position a medicine ball against your back, then grab a dumbbell.
   • Extend your body away from the ball while moving the dumbbell behind your head.
4. Dumbbell lever variation.
   • Place a dumbbell on the floor, hold it with one hand in an underhand grip, while your other arm remains straight by your side.
   • This helps improve shoulder external rotation in the overhead position.
   • Modify by maintaining the hand under the dumbbell throughout.
5. Dumbbell Sots press
   • Begin in the deepest part of a squat, holding the dumbbell overhead.
   • Squat through the full range of motion.
   • To progress, incorporate presses while remaining in the lowest range of the squat.

Shoulder Mobility

To achieve shoulder mobility for Olympic lifts, the hands must move behind the head while maintaining external rotation in the overhead snatch position.

Improve shoulder mobility by stretching the pectorals via any overhead shoulder exercise. Understand the end position in the snatch — proper alignment places the bar directly over the crown of the head.

To improve shoulder mobility:

1. Use a snatch grip to perform presses behind the neck, which helps open the shoulders. Iimprove by pressing into an overhead position behind the neck, focusing on controlling the eccentric to achieve greater stability and strength.
2. As you improve, advance to the snatch-grip overhead squat.
3. If the front rack position feels challenging, consider front rack rotations.
   • Maintain a full grip on the barbell while driving your elbows forward into the front rack. Aim for three sets of 15 reps.

Webster recommended selecting one mobility exercise for each area that needs improvement. Perform it two to three times per day.

More Weightlifting Content

Featured image: @sonnywebstergb on Instagram