The High Performance Journal Written  By Dan Go - August 25th, 2026

A while back, we started working with a client who came in wanting to lose weight and build muscle.

When he saw the program we put together for him, the workout looked normal, but then he saw the six minutes of mobility work we programmed before every session and asked,

"Do I really need to do this? Can't I just jump into the workout?"

I asked him one question:

"Have you ever owned one of these alarm clocks when you were a kid?"

With a slight chuckle, he said, "Yes." So I told him, "Then you have to do mobility. It's mandatory."

We had a good laugh, but the point is real:

If you're old enough to remember this alarm clock, and even if you aren't, you've been on this planet long enough that your body has collected a year's worth of sitting, driving, and staring at screens.

The exercise people overlook as they get older is the one that they never do.

The 2 Problems With Stretching

Most people either skip mobility entirely or do the wrong kind at the wrong time.

Static stretching before a workout, like holding a hamstring stretch for 30 seconds before you squat, has actually been shown to ​reduce power output and strength​.

It's like telling your nervous system to relax right before you ask it to push the heaviest weight you've ever put on your body.

The problems are real. People either avoid mobility or do a version that makes their workouts worse and sets them up for potential injury.

What Works Instead

Dynamic mobility exercises done before your workout. These have been shown to prime your nervous system, increase blood flow, and mobilize areas that are tight from sitting and aging.

Research has consistently shown that ​dynamic stretching before training improves performance​, while static stretching before exercise does the opposite.

I spent about 6 minutes on this before every session. This also includes one to 2 minutes of plyometrics that I mentioned in this ​newsletter here​.

These are the seven areas I see get tightest in our clients and myself, along with my favorite mobility exercise for each one.

1. Hamstrings: Inchworms

Your hamstrings shorten every hour you sit. When they're tight, they pull on your pelvis and tighten your lower back.

Inchworms stretch the entire posterior chain while warming up your core and shoulders.

Walk your hands out to a plank, then walk your feet back toward your hands. 4 to 6 reps and you'll feel the difference immediately.

2. Shoulders And Upper Back: Bar Hang Activations

 
If your shoulders are rounded forward and your upper body starts to look like a croissant, this is the move.

Grab a pull-up bar and just hang. Let gravity do the work. This decompresses your spine, opens your shoulders, and stretches your lats.

Something I like to do is squeeze the upper back muscles for 2 to 3 seconds, then let myself passively hang again, and repeat.

That brief activation fires up the muscles responsible for proper posture while you're getting the stretch.

Start with 15 to 20 seconds and build up to 1-2 minutes over time.

3. Hips: The In And Out Couch Stretch

Tight hips are the number one complaint I hear from entrepreneurs who sit all day.

Your hip flexors shorten, your glutes stop firing, and everything downstream suffers. The couch stretch targets this directly.

Place one knee on the ground with your shin against a wall or couch behind you, then step the other foot forward into a lunge. From there, you lock forward, feeling the stretch in your hip flexor. Do that for 3 seconds, then come back. Aim for about 6-8 reps

You'll feel an immediate deep stretch through the front of your hip. This one is a game-changer for people who sit 8+ hours a day.

4. Ankles: Ankle Rockers

Most people who sit for long periods of time have no idea how tight their ankles are. And tight ankles affect everything above them. Limited ankle range pushes your knees inward, shifts your weight forward, and forces compensations all the way up the chain.

A good way to test yourself is to face a wall with one foot forward, keep your heel down, and rock your knee forward over your toes. If your knee can't pass your toes without your heel lifting, you've got work to do.

A great way to retrain mobility back into your ankles is the Ankle Rocker: Place your foot on top of a slightly elevated surface and slowly push your knee above your toe line, or as close as you can get to it without your heel lifting. Hold for 2-3 seconds, come back, and then try to go a little bit deeper.

Do this for about 6-8 reps per side.

5. Adductors: Cossack Squats

Your inner thighs tighten up from sitting and from training in a single plane of motion.

Cossack squats take you into a deep lateral lunge with one leg straight, opening the adductors and building strength through a range of motion you rarely use.

Go slow. If you can't do this without losing balance, hold on to a strong support in front of you. This is an exercise that you slowly work up to. 4-6 reps per side.

6. Chest: The Oscillating Chest Stretch

Hours of typing and phone use pull your chest tight and your shoulders forward.

The in-and-out chest stretch opens and closes your arms through a wide range of motion while standing. As you're holding the stretch, you're turning your hands in and turning your hands out. That rotation opens up the chest through a fuller range of motion than a static hold ever could.

Think of it as the opposite of everything your body does at a desk. 4-6 reps per side. It takes seconds, and the relief is immediate.

7. Calves: Calf Rockers

Similar to tight ankles, tight calves limit your squat depth, change your gait, and contribute to knee and foot issues.

Place the ball of your foot on an elevated surface and rock your heel up and down through a full range. Do both sides for 6-8 reps. You'll notice the difference in your first squat of the day.

How To Use These

The best time to do these is right before your workout. Choose the exercises for the muscles that you are going to use in your workouts

But that's not the only option.

You can run through a few of them between desk sessions when you feel your body locking up. You can do them first thing in the morning to undo whatever position you slept in. The when matters less than the consistency.

The goal here is not to turn this into a yoga session. You're not trying to become the most flexible person in the room. You're microdosing enough mobility to force your body to change over time.

If you're like me and you do these before your workouts or over the course of a full year, you will be surprised at how much better and more mobile your body feels.

Try them out and let me know how they go.

Onward and upward. 🚀

- Dan

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Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.