Mobility is a popular buzz word in the fitness industry these days. What are people even talking about? Flexibility? Yoga? Being able to get from one place to the next on our own two feet? What on earth is a mobility WOD? It’s all very vague and confusing. We’re going to share with you, what we mean by mobility.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “MOBILITY”?
The first big cause of mass confusion that I’d like clear up is that flexibility and mobility are not the same thing. Flexibility is generally used to describe the length of muscles. Muscles must have enough length to allow your joints to move freely. Stretching is what most people think of to improve their flexibility. Flexibility is a part of mobility.
Mobility is flexibility and stability working in harmony to move our joints correctly.
If there is an inflexible muscle attached to a joint and we move the joint in end ranges of motion, it can cause injury. If our muscles lack the strength to stabilize a joint, it can cause us to feel inflexible. Our nervous system will recruit (or turn on) any muscles it can to stabilize an unstable joint. This results in poor movement, “feeling tight”, and potential injury.
WHY WE NEED GREAT MOBILITY
When we exercise or participate in physical activities or even just bring in the groceries, we need mobility!
We need to have strength at our joint’s end range of motion and we need the ability to get there in the first place.
Better posture, less pain, and the ability to do cooler stuff are all reasons that we need great mobility.
Safety is also a big concern in the older population. Getting up and down off the floor is a vital ability to have.
Being able to sustain quality of physical life depends heavily on our mobility.
CAUSES OF LOSS OF MOBILITY
Neurological, bone, and muscular diseases cause loss of mobility. Many times, exercise is used as a treatment to prolong the abilities of the individuals affected.
Imbalanced physical training is also huge. The muscles in your body are constantly contracting and relaxing to keep you upright. Training one muscle group more than others can cause a loss in balanced posture. Imbalances in posture place undo stress on certain parts of the body. This will lead to aches and pains.
Prolonged exposure to certain postures. Did anyone ever tell you as a child “if you make that face long enough, it will stick”? Well that’s true about posture as well. If you stay in a certain posture long enough, you will lose the mobility to get into other postures.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP YOUR MOBILITY
Avoid exercises that will push our body into positions it’s not comfortable with.
Move a little more every day. Even spending one less hour sitting will make major difference. Move in ways you don’t normally move. You can crawl around on the floor with your pets or children, you can do some exercises that you’ve never done, or join a physical activity class. Anything that gets you to move more!
Also, keep an eye on our blog! March is Mobility Madness Month, and we will be posting all month about specific mobility issues and exercises that can help improve your mobility.
Lastly, we are doing a promo for anyone who wants to try us out, and work on their mobility needs in March. For only $150 we will give you:
Unlimited Group Classes. We are doing a group phase in March focused on Mobility, Stability, and Coordination.
Exercises that you can do at home to focus on your biggest mobility needs.
All for only $150
Just email [email protected] to get started!
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Thanks for reading!!