Adaptive Athletes Don’t Have to be Limited in their Mobility Work

I want to introduce you Jedidiah Snelson.  I’ve only known him for a short period of time, but he’s already been an encouragement to me.  Two years ago, his love for motocross changed his life.  A nasty crash left him with an array of injuries at both his upper and lower extremities, but most detrimental was an incomplete spinal cord injury at T12 (lowest segment of the mid-back).  As a result, he’s been adjusting to continuing life in a wheelchair for the last two years.  Let me tell you though, it hasn’t slowed him down.
He’s actively involved at Snake River CrossFit in Nampa, Idaho on a regular basis.  Whether it’s working on his strength or mobility he’s credited the CrossFit community in playing a part of maintaining a high level of function after his injury.  “Aside from giving me an outlet to satisfy my thirst to compete, CrossFit is the most functional training out there that has improved my ability for increased independence.  Simply put, functioning in a wheel chair can be awkward.  The adaptation of CrossFit is strengthening under awkward movements which directly reflects being able to function at a higher level with increased strength,” Snelson said.  His dedication recently landed him a spot at the CrossFit World Championships for adaptive athletes in which he placed second overall.  Here’s a video from the championships below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHz6UQOjy2m/?taken-by=jedidiahsnelson

As a result of having to use his upper extremities as the primary source of his transportation, his shoulders take on a significant amount of stress getting from point A to point B.  Add CrossFit workouts to this and Snelson mentioned that his pecs, upper traps, lats, serratus, and his deltoid muscles are areas that take the most punishment.  He understands the importance of mobility and maintaining adequate range of motion at his shoulders.  “Spending most of my day in a sitting position it’s hard not to slouch and hunch forward, this causes my muscles to tighten and with the constant use of my upper body it can put a strain on things.  By mobilizing and keeping things loose, my body is much more efficient and less uncomfortable,” Snelson said.

Recovering hard is just as important as training hard and Jedidiah dedicates quality time to recovery to get the most out of his training sessions.  “I spend quite a bit of time mobilizing, 10-15 minutes after each workout stretching and mobilizing key areas that were worked that day.  I also get a 75 minute massage weekly and spend two days a week doing a full mobility session for an hour to an hour and a half,” he said.  

The challenge Jedidiah and other adaptive athletes have is getting down on the floor or up against a wall to effectively foam roll or use a lacrosse ball to decrease soft tissue tension.  Over the last year and a half in working with Movement Guides, Inc., we’ve designed the T-Dot Mobility System with this in mind. I have a desire to provide adaptive athletes with more independence and they shouldn’t have to be limited in the type of mobility work they can do.  Even more independence is provided with the newly released Mobile T-Dot Mobility System allowing the athlete to take the device with them wherever they go.  It also gives them clearance from a squat rack to provide enough room to position their chair and incorporate movement to assist in reducing soft tissue tension.

​Jedidiah’s feedback on our newest product was great.  He’s not slowing down due to his injury and his mobility work shouldn’t have to either.  I look forward to providing the T-Dot Mobility System to many other adaptive athletes to assist them in being at their best each day. 

“The T-Dot is a great tool that allows for optimization of my mobility program.  It allows me to do more detailed work with greater independence.  The size of the system allows me to carry it with ease from home to gym and from competition to competition.  It also allows me to do a greater amount of mobility and tight muscle release from my wheel chair and on my own.  Consistency to mobility is the key, and with the universal use of the T-Dot, it allows me to be more consistent with my mobility.”                       
 -Jedidiah Snelson

Check out the video below as Jedidiah goes through some example mobility exercises on the newly released Mobile T-Dot Mobility System.

https://vimeo.com/175835924
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For more information on the T-Dot Mobility System, please visit www.movementguides.com.
For more on Jedidiah, follow him on Instagram or Twitter.