By Coach Nadia Popova.
So what is mobility training?
Mobility is strength in the range of motion of the muscle.
There are two types of mobility
1. Mobility of the muscle / body part (isolation)
2. Overall mobility, also known as the structural balance
If you can’t get into a good position to execute a lift, you won’t be able to engage the muscles you’re trying to work, and you’re just increasing your risk for injury.
Almost all chronic pains and injuries are fixable, and most of them can be fixed with correct mobility work.
If you head into a workout with limited range-of-motion, your assistance muscles will start to compensate. Because assistance muscles are typically smaller and weaker, forcing them to handle excessive torque is a recipe for pain and injury. Worse, if your lifts aren’t activating primary muscles because you can’t achieve full range-of-motion, you probably won’t even build the muscle you’re working toward.
Mobility Affects Functional Movement
Functional movements are the typical actions you go through every day: sitting in a chair, walking, carrying a bag of groceries. You don’t think about these movements most of the time, but they require mobility just like workouts and athletics do.
This is why mobility training is not just for athletes. Everyone can benefit from improved range of motion. It makes daily activities easier and less likely to cause injury. This is especially true for older adults because mobility naturally decreases with age.
Joints don’t have any blood supply going to them — the way they get their nourishment is actually through movement.
Movement almost flushes your joint, so what happens is you’re getting rid of inflammation and then the new fluid that’s coming to the joint [known as synovial fluid] is what’s gonna bring the nutrients to nourish it.
Practicing Mobility Training improves every day Functioning. Without regularly moving your joints through their full ranges of motion, you may have a more difficult time carrying out simple, everyday movements, or your shoulder mobility may not be adequate enough that you can reach up and grab a cereal box off the top of your fridge, for example. Or you might struggle to bend down and tie your sneaker if you’re short on hip mobility.
The ability to have full range of motion in your muscles and joints is one of the most important aspects of training.
10 Mobility Exercises You Can Do at Home
1. Glute bridges
2. Frog stretches
3. Lunge twists
4. Knees to chest exercises
5. Foam rolling exercises
6. Lying windmills
7. Squats
8. Bear sits
9. Walking hip openers
10. Seated shoulder squeezes
To see continual progress and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program.
Want to Dive Deeper Into Your Wellness Journey?
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