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Mobility is sometimes a neglected or forgotten attribute of fitness. We mostly hear only about strength, muscle and that’s about it.
Mobility’s equally important, too.
Mobility makes you feel free.
Free to stretch without stiffness. Free to do cool bodyweight moves without restrictions.
Free to squat deep, climb without aches and pains, grapple with more moves at your disposal.
Mobility is SUPER important.
But, first things first – what is mobility?
Mobility is the ability to move your body through space with control.
The key part there is CONTROL.
If you can stretch into some crazy positions, but you keep getting injured and can’t hold with ease the position, it’s likely that you have flexibility, but not true mobility.
Your joints and muscles can stretch, but the movement isn’t controlled.
In other words, mobility = flexibility + control.
Nailing down your mobility will help you:
– Prevent injuries
– Heal existing pain and injuries
– Feel strong and healthy
– Move without any restrictions and limitation
So, how do you do it?
Here are 5 simple steps.
- Make regular mobility work a part of your routine.
If you use The Movement Academy on a regular basis, you’re already getting some mobility work in. Keep it up!
However, it would be a great idea to do a 15-minute daily mobility routine as well.
Do this in the mornings, before your day starts, and you’ll feel better and energized the whole day.
- Start with some general movement, get warm (5 mins)
You want to be a bit warmed up before doing flexibility work.
Here are a few good options:
- Do jumping jacks until you’re a bit sweaty
- Do jump rope until you’re a bit sweaty
- Do this fall matrix until you’re a bit sweaty. This matrix will also help “injury proof” your body against back pain.
- Do whatever mobility work feels good – and BREATHE (8 mins)
When it comes to creating flexibility, there are a lot of good options out there.
Anything that feels good to you is probably fine.
If you want a great routine to try, from a respected movement expert who trains pro baseball players for a living –
Whatever stretching/flexibility routine you choose, you MUST remember one rule:
Keep breathing!
If you aren’t able to breathe in a relaxed way during a stretch, you’re pushing it too far.
Back off.
More is not better. Better is better.
- “Lock-in” your new flexibility with control work
Now that you’ve created some new flexibility, you want to lock it in. This makes your flexibility more permanent.
If you don’t do this, you’ll feel really loose for an hour, and then your body will tighten up again.
You can do a lot of stuff here, and you’ll know more about this in our different articles.
But a really simple drill to do for now is with “Resisted Rock” exercise.
It takes just seconds to do and helps you create a bulletproof, unbreakable core and shoulders. It’s really easy but effective.
This a video shows you how to do the drill. You can start doing the exercise without using resistance bands.
Start by going on all fours. Tilt your pelvis forward and straighten your back. Keep your shoulders depressed and push off the ground. Then you have to rock back and forth while keeping your full body engaged and contracted. Just don’t hold your breath. Keep breathing deeply as if you’re other regular calisthenics exercises.
You can use this after any mobility work you do, and it will SUPERCHARGE your results.
- Get started in the easiest way possible
You can start with a 5-minute version of this drill.
Do 50 jumping jacks.
Then, do ONE stretch – maybe the classic hip flexor stretch.
Then, do the resisted rock drill.
Do this the first chance you get today. If you’re at home, do it right now!
You’ll feel stronger ASAP, and your mobility will improve.
Your body will thank you.