Mobility- Why It’s Important and How it Affects Your End Game.
Creating a strong, healthy body is a fine craft. It involves careful planning, preparation and perseverance. Aside from eating right, working out and getting in your daily steps, so many components go into your health and fitness. But unfortunately one certain aspect always seems to be left out. It’s something so simple but far too often put on the backburner. Mobility. Yes, mobility.
You can't just head to the gym, pick up some weights and expect to gain muscle and perform your best. It takes a lot more than that. You have to put in the effort and make sure you’re following a well-rounded, balanced routine. One that’ll help you build a better body. A routine requiring time, energy and layers of hard work. Layers that are built around nutrition, strength training and mobility. Without good mobility your performance, recovery and results suffer. Mobility is the foundation of every move you make and how well you can do them.
Mobility also helps you get out of bed in the morning, carry your groceries in from the car and walk your dog. Mobility is needed for everything you do. So why is it overlooked? It’s because of the time, energy and extra dedication. It would be so much easier to get in, get out and call it a day. However, putting in the extra bit of training helps you achieve so much more on a daily basis. You can’t forget the importance of preparing your body to workout, then treating it right when you’re done.
If this sounds like you, there’s no need to worry. We’ve got the tips and tools that’ll help you put mobility training at the top of your list. Keep reading, you’re in the right place. Find out why mobility is so important and learn how to get started improving yours today. It’ll be the key to your fitness success.
What is mobility?
By definition, mobility is the ability for you to move purposefully throughout your daily life. It defines your movement and allows you to perform physical tasks with ease. Physical strength, range of motion, balance. All of these define and encompass mobility. Without it, you’ll find everyday tasks like walking up stairs, walking your dog, driving and of course working out much more challenging. Being mobile helps prevent falling or being prone to injury.
It’s common sense to think that if you want to improve your overall health and well-being, mobility comes first. As people age, so do our joints. That’s a given and also a hard fact to swallow. No one wants to get older, and no one wants to feel the aches and pains that tend to come with age. But put the brakes on for a minute. If you put in the time and energy to strengthen and lubricate your joints with certain exercises, those aches and pains don’t necessarily have to occur. It all goes back to having a plan. Planning, preparing and persevering for better health. And it all starts with you and a little help from your fitness coach. There’s a particular balance and a well-rounded formula that’ll keep you kicking it strong year after year. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just followed.
Strength Training + Nutrition + Mobility = A healthier, happier you!
That’s a tried and true fact. Those three major components work together, leading you down a pathway of success.
Mobility is also important because it allows you to-
- Have fewer injuries
- Enhance your athletic performance
- Obtain better posture
- Increase your joint health
Mobility for Functional Movement
If you’re an athlete or gym regular, you know the importance of functional movement. This type of movement allows you to move through different planes of motion with ease. Our daily motion takes us all over the place. We’re always getting up and down, climbing stairs, turning left and moving right. It’s just the basic function of life. Take the gym for example, you’ll never see someone standing in one place the entire time. They’re lifting or nailing their WODs. It’s about movement. Life is about movement and putting yourself in constant motion, we were built this way. You know what I mean. We’re on the go now more than ever so we have to protect our joints and muscles! Mobility and increasing range of motion is essential. It should always be part of your daily workout .
When you have good mobility, you’ll be able to perform various functional movements without restriction. The more mobile you are, the more you’ll also be able to excel in your workouts, hit your personal bests and achieve your full potential. If lunges and box jumps are part of your WOD, being mobile will help you jump higher and lunge lower. It’s all about the gains. Gaining strength, flexibility and endurance every step of the way.
Exercises to Increase Mobility
Mobility is especially important if you want to keep climbing up the CrossFit ladder and blast through your PRs. Remember, mobility increases your range of motion so the more you work on it, the better you’ll be able to perform. Limitations with your mobility could have a negative effect on your reps, recovery and ability to hit your goals.
So how can you increase yours? Start with a few exercises, like the ones below. Use them as a warm up or cool down.
- Frog stretch-
- Start on your hands and knees with your legs slightly apart and feet flexed.
- Lean forward with your arms and begin to feel a stretch in your inner thighs and hip flexors.
- Gently rock back and forth as you come in and out of the pose. (30- 60 seconds total)
- Pigeon stretch-
- Coming down into a plank position, bring one knee forward and relax the other leg straight back.
- If you’re comfortable, come down on your elbows and hold the position. (30-60 seconds)
- Cat Cow-
- Coming down to your hands and knees, keep your hands shoulder width apart and hips directly over your knees.
- Slowly inhale, bring your belly button to your spine and curve your back.
- Hold for 2 counts and release. (Cow pose)
- Next, slowly exhale as you arch your back and look to the sky. (Cat pose)
- Hold for 2 seconds.
- Repeat both exercises for a total of 30 seconds.
- Arm Circles-
- With your arms out to each side of your body, slowly start to make small circles in a forward direction.
- Keep your shoulders down and relaxed.
- Complete 10-20 rotations then switch directions.
- Cobra-
- Start by lying on your stomach, hands at your side, directly under your shoulders.
- Slowly push upward on your hands, while you exhale.
- Arch your back slightly and keep your feet planted on the ground.
- Hold for 15 seconds then return to the starting position.
These are just a few exercises easily incorporated into your workout routine. For more ideas and ways to improve your mobility don’t forget to have a conversation with your CrossFit coach.
Mobility for Long Term Health Benefits
The goal of any workout or exercise plan is to create a healthy lifestyle that’ll keep you at your best now and always. Mobility is such an important part of that. Mobility helps you find balance, strength, stamina and function. Even though it’s often overlooked, mobility should be part of your daily routine. No one wants to feel restricted in movement or ability. And that’s exactly why adding mobility exercises into your routine will keep you going strong workout after workout, year after year.
There’s so much out there to experience, accomplish and PRs to reach. Guaranteed you don’t want anything standing in your way. Injury, aches, pains. Kiss all that goodbye with proper attention and mobility practice.
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