First let’s talk about what mobility actually means. When you look at a mobility program or read about mobility it can create this idea that take us away from the simple definition. This being that mobility is a simply a persons abIlity to move and measured on how well we can move.
Over our life as humans you usually tend to avoid certain posiitons or pick up bad habits. For example poor posture from being hunched over a desk all day. Or the inability to squat due to tight hips. Its almost as if our brains forget how to move into certain positions. Think of a child, how much they move and how active they are. The positions they can get into, the levels of exercise they can do without soreness or pain. Thats because as humans we are born to be able to move.
It is hugely important that we take certain steps to avoid poor mobility or to regain the mobility we once had. Apart from the obvious downside of being less flexible and able to move less it can actually lead to injury / cause pain. Theres this massive misconception that scares 99% of us, that one day we will grow old and struggle to walk, exercise or even pick things up. Obviously your ability to do these things lowers with age but there are numerous things we can do to slow this process down.
In this blog im not going to give you a full mobility program but i will give you 3 everyday tips that if you implement in to your life over the years the impact will be unimaginable. 1. Its the one you hear all about, but let that show you just how important it is, avoid excess sitting. You may have heard the phrase ” sitting is the new smoking ” it reaaly is. Try to avoid sitting for longer than 20 minutes without having a little shake off. 2. Daily stretches. The reason i love this one so much is down to its scalability. Whether your a proffessional athlete or an office worker stretching is all done at your own pace and ability. Whether you want to dedicate 5 minutes a day or an hour a day it will still give you huge benefits. The more you put in, the more you get out. Check out my stretching blog for a full beginners guide. 3. Progressive overload. You probably hear this term everywhere in the fitness industry, thats because its the most important step. Yes ok you will still have improved mobility if you stretch the same way every day at the same length. But if your giving it the time of day anyway why would you not want to improve further. Results come from challenging ourselves, we have to progress in order to see the benefits. So what does this actually look like for mobility? Well it could simply be pushing further into a stretch, closer to that end range of motion. Or it could be adding weight to the stretch, trying a harder stretch etc etc. Ultimately it all comes down to getting out of your comfort zone.
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