Mobility / tissue flossing?

What should I make of the tissue flossing, smash and roll mobility stuff that the Crossfit folks do? I'm skeptical of Crossfit, but I know they incorporate some good stuff, such as Rippetoe. Phone Post

While the naming of it that the Xfit people use borders on the full-retard (NEVER go full retard), mobility work, ART, Myofascial Release and other things can be helpful for many people.

On the other hand, don't take it to extremes. I knew one "professional" who would declare that EVERY client and athlete she met had mobility problems because of anterior pelvic tilt. Now of course, the level varied from person to person, but the fact is that this "professional" wasted shit-loads of her clients' time doing stretch after stretch after stretch, combined with mobility and "stabilization" work that amounted to nothing.

Many people have certain tendencies. In fact, for most athletic people, they will have some level of anterior pelvic tilt. Many athletes will have some form of "upper cross syndrome," or rounded shoulders, even though they have no other problems.

So, the key for any mobility or tissue flossing or other issue comes down to simply this:

Can the person move pain-free through the ROM needed for their daily activities and those of their chosen sport?

If so, then fuck doing a bunch of other work other than preventative maintenance.

If not, then mobility and other work needs to be incorporated.

pretty much nailed it above.

myofascial release and ART along with mobility work is part of my regular routine. I think Xfit places such as Faction in Memphis are great at mobility screening with their new clients. Their programming seems to be very solid (in terms of our usual critique of shitty Xfit gyms), as well as periodized.

if you do poor cool downs/ static stretches after work outs then ART, foam rollers and the like are a great tool but again, address the problem which is poor cool down/static stretching.

Are you asking for a reason, like you have some nagging stuff that someone told you would be best addressed via those modalities?

Awesome response from C.S. above!!

WARNING RANT STARTS NOW:
 
I agree 100%. Far too many trainers these days start to think that they are physical therapists and or corrective exercise specialists...Because they took some cert, or read a book / article etc about foam rolling and the like. They then end up wasting a ton of time trying to "fix" things that don't really need it, or that will actually fix themselves with a little well executed training.
 
 
The NASM (which is in business for one thing and one thing only TOO MAKE MONEY!!) sells these stupid certs and makes everyone think that they can diagnose every problem on the planet with an Overhead Squat test. Also The FMS guys who think that they now know everything there is to know about what's going on in a persons body, because they put them through a battery of arbitrary tests.
 
 
Most athletes with a modicum of body awareness will do fine on these tests, and reveal very little about injury history or status, compensations etc. It takes a real expert to be able to look at someone’s body an truly see what's going on. More often than not (as I said above) working through basic movement patterns will reveal issues, and usually fix them as well.
 

Okay...RANT OFF:

TAKU

P.S. Oh yeah...foam rolling can be a good thing.