Why You Should Be Including Mobility Into Your Training
According to Nesta, while you may confuse mobility with flexibility or stretching, there’s more to it than that. Although they are related, the difference between mobility and flexibility matters because it affects athleticism and injury risk. As mobility includes moving through a full range of motion, you need flexibility in those muscles to be mobile.
Flexibility and stretching involve lengthening your muscles, while mobility takes it one step further. Mobility training optimizes movement and performance by increasing the range of motion within your joints and surrounding muscles. When you’re more mobile, you can train harder, recover faster, and perform better.
Yoga and pilates are great workouts to help improve your mobility.
A few benefits of mobility
1. Mobility exercises have a calming effect and can help with reducing stress.
2. Mobility improves your range of motion and helps prevent the stiffness that comes with strength training.
3. It can be low intensity movements that help your body heal from high intensity training.
4. They can also be a warmup for your regular workout routine.
5. Mobility can help improve the overall performance of your other sports/ workouts.
Why is good mobility important?
- Helps prevent injuries and knots
- Promotes good posture
- Increases range of movement
- Prevents aches and pains
- Helps build stronger, more adaptive muscles and joints
Here are 4 at home mobility stretches to get you started.
1. Cat-Cow
2. Downward dog
3. World's Greatest Stretch
4. Standing one legged hamstring stretch
