If we want to stay active and pain free into our old age, we have to prioritize mobility now (whatever age you happen to be). It’s mobility.Ĭombine this with the reality many of us face in our work life – long periods of time hunched over, seated in a chair, trapped, and we’re being hit with a 1-2 punch. No, it’s their ability to fall down like Gumby without causing major damage to their joints. Why? It certainly isn’t pain tolerance or even skill. Groms (children skiers and snowboarders for those of you not hip to the Colorado mountain lingo) can bounce up from a crash on a ski slope that turned them into a rolling ball of limbs, snow, and equipment which would easily end the day (or season) of an adult. Mobility isn’t just about holding static positions.
Stand up, warm up, sink into a full squat with your feet flat on the ground and hold it for 10 minutes. Physical therapist Kelly Starrett, issued a challenge in this Men’s Health article that paints a picture.
We’re hard pressed to find many adults, except for the most fit people we know, that can do this. Kids can hold a squat position seemingly forever, especially toddlers. It’s something we should be proactive about.Īs we age, we all become less mobile. Mobility isn’t just something to think about through a corrective lens. Whether you’re a weekend warrior, a desk sitter, a parent, a partner, or a competitive athlete, mobility issues will impact you at some point in your training career or life. Yes even you, the 20-something that can move like a ninja and train all day without being sore tomorrow. Everything in our lives that requires movement is impacted by our mobility – from box jumps and explosive lifting to tying your own shoes as you age.Įveryone can benefit from a focus on mobility. Mobility is our ability to move through the spaces we occupy freely and without pain. However, if you step back and think about the definition of mobility, the importance of maintaining it becomes ever more clear. It’s clear that mobility issues can keep you from achieving your fitness goals. Potentially so much so that you put off training the next day. Because these “assistance” muscles are smaller and weaker than your primary muscles you risk increased pain in the gym or will be left feeling extra sore after a workout. If you perform a movement with a limited range of motion and don’t properly activate your major muscle groups, smaller muscles will take on extra unintended workload. Pain and excessive soreness brought about by mobility issues can kill your consistency. The key to performance gains is consistency.
Poor mobility combined with loaded movement is a recipe for disaster.ģ. Nothing kills your gains in the gym quite like being forced to take time off due to injury. Mobility issues increase your chances of joint and muscle damage (injury). This also hinders muscle growth for you physique-minded Heroes.Ģ. A lack of mobility can lead to improper technique, which depletes your ability to most effectively produce maximum power and strength output. Mobility issues decrease your strength and power output. Since we’re a performance blog with an emphasis on strength and conditioning we’ll discuss through that lens: A lack of mobility can kill your gains, keep you from peak performance, and even cut your training career short.ġ. This is a basic question with many potential answers. It requires: range of motion in your joints, joint and muscle stability, muscle strength, proper alignment and muscle symmetry, and muscle flexibility.
This involves much more than simply muscle flexibility. Someone with great mobility can move their entire body freely and without pain through a full range of motion. While flexibility refers to lengthening a muscle, think about mobility as the ability to move a joint and accompanying muscles in the full range of motion it was designed for without mechanical assistance. As you increase your flexibility, you can lengthen the hamstring muscles allowing you to reach further and further toward the ground. A lot more important than you might think.įor those not yet in the know, you might be asking: Is mobility just another way of saying flexibility?įlexibility is the ability to lengthen a muscle. It seems that everywhere you look there is another program, device, or philosophy on mobility. What may seem new is the increased focus on preventive mobility training being brought to the forefront of S&C by trainers in the know. More often than not, they’re helping their patients with restoring mobility after an injury or corrective surgery. Physical therapists have been long familiar with the term. Mobility is a hot topic in the strength and conditioning / fitness world, but it’s nothing new.