My Metabolic Mobility Routine

I’m a big, big fan of frequent use of a foam roller to keep injuries at bay and to keep the body mobile. Problem is, the 20–45 minutes it takes to perform a full body foam rolling routine are 20–45 minutes that I’m not able to spend “getting fit”. So when I do my foam rolling routine, (which I perform two times per week), I put on a podcast or an audiobook, wear a resisted breath training mask and inject calisthenic exercises into my rolling so that I am able to achieve injury prevention, breath training, and cardiovascular exercise all at once.

Here’s how I do it (and I do this EVERY Wednesday morning):

Perform 20–30 “passes” with the foam roller on each muscle group outlined below. One “pass” means would mean rolling up the muscle group and back down the muscle group one time. Complete each station below once, progressing from one station to the next with minimal rest.

Station 1: 10 burpees. Foam roll achilles and calf R side.

Station 2: 10 burpees. Foam roll achilles and calf L side.

Station 3: Foam roll hamstring R side. 20 high leg swings R leg forward to backwards.

Station 4: Foam roll hamstring L side. 20 high leg swings L leg forward to backwards.

Station 5: 10 burpees. Foam roll R outside of hip.

Station 6: 10 burpees. Foam roll L outside of hip.

Station 7: Foam roll IT band R side. 20 side-to-side leg swings R leg.

Station 8: Foam roll IT band L side. 20 side-to-side leg swings L leg.

Station 9: 10 burpees. Foam roll R adductors/inside of thighs.

Station 10: 10 burpees. Foam roll L adductors/inside of thighs.

Station 11: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll back bottom-to-top.

Station 12: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll entire R shoulder complex.

Station 13: 50 jumping jacks. Foam roll entire L shoulder complex.

Station 14: 10 burpees. Foam roll neck (back, L side, R side)

Station 15: 10 burpees. Foam roll entire front of quads.

Because I’ve worked all the knots and fascial adhesions of of my tissues with this routine, I usually do 5 minutes of inversion table as a finisher. And yes, I get very funny looks when the UPS driver rolls up to the house and I’m there hanging in my underwear, dripping with sweat, and wearing a breath training mask. But he’ll survive.

In the meantime, if you need videos or demonstrations of any of the foam roller exercises above, then you can click here for a series of videos from yours truly. By the way, you get extra fitness bonus points if you do this routine in a dry or infrared sauna.

What to expect: improved cardiovascular fitness, fewer injuries, more mobility, increased inspiratory, expiratory and diaphragmatic muscular endurance, and a big dump of feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin from all the fascial work on the foam roller.

Oh yes, one more thing: the other day, I whipped out my camera and video recorded myself doing my entire routine here.

Enjoy!