Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance

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aBased on the premise that dysfunctional movement patterns impede athletic performance, the author presents the construction and function of his own movement and mobility system, based on his midline stabilization and organization, one-joint rule and laws of torque movement principles, all to remedy body stiffness, prevent injuries and improve and extend athletic capabilities. Have you as a coach or fellow athlete seen an individual execute a set of deadlifts with perfect form and then turn around to put their plates away with horrible posture? It is more common than we may wish to recognize, but transferring movement patterns and mindfulness to real life doesn’t always occur. Taking ownership and achieving successful movement is a life-long journey. Successful movement starts with correct posture and understanding how the human body is supposed to move. In K-Star’s book these concepts are outlined through Chapter 2 with “Midline Stabilization and Organization” and then followed up with Chapter 3 & 4 referring to the “One Joint Rule” and the “Laws of Torque.” I need you to feel like you're balanced between the ball of your foot and your heel, and I need your feet to be as straight as you can make them. I need your ankle to be in the middle of your feet. Now: Squat. I kind of want to give this book four and a half stars instead of five because even though I absolutely love this book and its easily my most useful I feel it has a few flaws.

I first saw Kelly Starrett on a segment of a Creative LIVE workshop. He has a doctorate in physical therapy, owns a CrossFit gym, and has worked with thousands of athletes to resolve injuries and improve their performance. He has seen his work in action. Our bodies don't come with instruction manuals, and no one teaches us how to move through life while playing sports, bearing loads or just sitting and standing. Yet we only get one body and it has to last our whole lives through. Just like in the gym, we don’t train the same muscle group every day. We don’t train every energy system every day. So we don’t have to mobilize the whole body every day. Well, today, let’s go five minutes on the right quadriceps, and five minutes on the left quadriceps. Tomorrow will be calves. The next day’s hamstrings, and the next day is chest or my triceps. And suddenly, what you realize is holy moly, I have a plan for kind of going head to toe. How do I know if I’m rolling “right”? How hard should I be rolling? Starret makes the point that when you restore range or function to a joint or tissue, it must reflect in the training, you must utilize the mobility if you want to retain it without perpetually stretching. The term “supple leopard” was coined by Dr. Kelly Starrett, a renowned physical therapist and author of the book “Becoming a Supple Leopard.” According to Dr. Starrett, a supple leopard is a person who has achieved optimal movement and mobility.Starrett, Kelly and Glen, Cordoza, Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance. The most important phase in turning into a flexible panther is to evaluate your ongoing development and versatility. You can do this by playing out a basic development screen, which will assist you with distinguishing any limitations or uneven characters in your body. In other words, a supple leopard is someone who can move their body through a full range of motion without any restrictions or pain. They have excellent joint mobility, muscle flexibility, and overall physical fitness, allowing them to perform any physical task with ease and efficiency. Why is Becoming a Supple Leopard Important?

The other half of the book is just silly. There's minimal references to works that would justify what is being said, and there seems to be a lot of contradictions. For instance, one of the trainers Starrett claims to be indebted to specifically says to turn the feet out at about 30 degrees when squatting -- quite different than the "perfectly straight" instructed in this book. Also, a number of the pictures go against the cues. It's almost as if "straight," "parallel," "upright" can loosely be used at some points, whereas at other points there's no margin of difference allowed. On top of all this, there's no mention of modification for those of us who aren't physiologically "perfect"; in fact, we're basically told that we must move in a certain way. I can only imagine the injuries that will result from that.

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To turn into a graceful panther, you really want to integrate versatility work into your day to day daily schedule. This might include performing explicit portability works out, like joint circles, spinal waves, or shoulder separations. Performance is what drives us as human beings, but dysfunctional movement patterns can bring the human body to an abrupt halt. Often, the factors that impede performance are invisible even to seasoned athletes and coaches. Becoming a Supple Leopard makes the invisible visible. Whether you are a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or simply someone wanting to live healthy and free from physical restrictions, this one-of-a-kind training manual will teach you how to harness your athletic potential and maintain your body. Movement system details: this discusses how to execute specific movements, as well as spotting mobility restrictions. At last, it’s vital for training consistency and persistence while making progress toward turning into a flexible panther. Ideal development and versatility take time and exertion, so it’s vital to remain committed and patient as you pursue your objectives.