Over the last year I’ve learned a lot about mobility and taking care of my body in ways I’d never known before. I stuck lacrosse balls in places I would have never thought of and wrapped latex around my limbs. Some of the mobility methods come with a leap of faith and some are just plain awkward. But like most things in life, you don’t really know until you’ve tired and I’ve been know to evangelize the ways of Kelly Starrett around the water cooler at work to some unexacting desk jockeys.  More than once I’ve watch a persons face twitch as I mentioned smashing, tacking, flossing and sticking LAX balls into your back to workout that rounded back pinching feeling.

That was all level one. Now, I feel like I’ve reached level two in the mobility game because I’ve started to find methods and techniques that I haven’t yet seen on MobilityWOD or any of the other online mobility guru sites. While I haven’t got a name for it yet this is my favorite mobility move and it does wonders for sinuses, headaches and hangovers.

video: http://www.wp.tackandfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Mobility-head-and-neck-move-videob.mp4

My best guess from studying a bit on Biodigitial Human and Wikipedia is that this “Galea aponeurotica” is a tough layer of dense fibrous tissue that wraps around the top of my head attaching to fascia in my head/face and that tissue –– like the rest of the tissues in our body –– can become matted down, tense and tight.

 If your interested in trying this and can’t quite tell from the video what I’m doing here’s a quick description:

• The ball I’m using is a training softball which is different from a regular softball. It’s got more padding and the surface is nice and grippy.
• Lay flat on the ground. I like my knees up so that I can stretch my back side to side a bit as I do this.
• Set the ball up just off center of your neck on the side your going to turn our head towards and let the skin pull up as you turn your head.
• I like to start at the base of my neck and move my way up. The best spot for me is right by my ear. Its like the face version of your ears popping in the mountains.

If you are unfamiliar with Biodigitial I’d highly suggesting checking it out. Knowing what your working on and having a visual that you can turn on and off is a big plus when it comes to mobility.

Cam