The difference between Flexibility and Mobility and why everyone needs mobility training!
If I asked you how your mobility was, what would you say?
Oh I do a lot of yoga, or stretching or I used to dance so my flexibility is quite good... but this isn't actually what I'm asking. These things are really more referring to your flexibility and unfortunately flexibility and mobility are not the same thing.
FLEXIBILITY is your ability to stretch a body part TO an end range of motion, and hold it. Maybe you even physically pull or push your arm or leg into a position, then you hold a stretch for 30 seconds to a minute or more and really relax into it. This can sometimes be translated into good mobility but often having too much flexibility and not enough strength can do more harm than good. That's where MOBILITY comes in. Mobility is your muscles ability to move THROUGH a range of motion AND control it. (Like a ballerina lifting heir leg above their head) Generally you don't hold the position more than 5 - 10 seconds, gaining more benefit from multiple repetitions rather than long holds. Mobility training ensures your muscles are not just flexible but strong. Meaning that you can control your body in all of the ranges of motion that you ask it to go to.
The exercise I'm doing here to the right is a pec or chest stretch, I am using the door frame as an anchor to deepen the stretch in my chest. These sorts of stretches should only be done at the end of a workout. Its a good way to release muscles that have contracted (worked) during the workout. Increasing blood flow to the area and hopefully decreasing the chances of intense muscle soreness that sometimes follows a workout.
However if I was to do the same movement without the door frame, and actually use the muscles in my chest, back and shoulder to push my hand back behind me then the movement would be mobility. using my own muscles to push myself into a stretched position means that I am no longer improving just flexibility alone. Mobility training like this is best done at the beginning of a workout to prime (prepare) your muscles for the workout ahead or done on a day of its own as mobility training can actually be quite challenging and is extremely beneficial to the improvement of your overall well being.
I have danced and done Callisthenics and generally been very flexible my whole life, however at callisthenics when I was younger there is very little to no strength training. So unfortunately this leads to injuries. Being told to bend in half, push yourself past vertical split and pull your legs in every which direction but not being taught how to use your core or leg muscles to control it is NOT a good way to create good body development and movement patterns. I used to have the worst lower back pain before I starting going to the gym, doing Pilates and strengthening my pelvic floor. I strained my hamstring in my early lifting days because my hamstrings were so flexible I was trying to get them to do all of the work instead of using my glutes. If only I had of known how to check for weaknesses in my body and primed my glutes before my workouts like I do now. Or if I had started strength or mobility training sooner I never would have had these issues. The dance world has definitely changed in the past 10 - 20 years and a lot of the crazy stretches that I was forced to do as a child are now banned and there is more of a focus on strength and control and not just flexibility. It's really great to be a part of the change and knowing that no future dancers will end up with the body imbalances I faced due to poor training.
This isn't just the case for dancing either, all sports when done incorrectly without proper mobility and strength training cause injury. Over practising a particular movement like bowling a ball, swinging a bat, spiking, kicking, dodging rapidly side to side cause injury. How many young athletes need ACL or rotator cuff surgery? Too many is the answer. Young people shouldn't need this sort of intense surgery at all!
I do believe that we are seeing a change though, because science and knowledge are wonderful things. It is truly so great to see sport culture changing, more coaches being certified through associations like ASCA who make sure their coaches know the importance of mobility and strength training for their young athletes. If you have a child, no matter what level of competition they are in, no mater how old they are or how many times a week they train, make sure you ask them or their coach about the strength or mobility training that they do in their training sessions. All coaches should be getting their teams to move and strengthen their bodies in all plains of motion through a variety of movements and exercises and not just getting them to repeat the same movement over and over again, wearing down supportive cartilage without building up the surround muscles. It's never too young to start and it could save a lifetime of struggles and pain.
Just to be clear mobility training is BODY WEIGHT I am not suggesting that children get in the gym and start lifting weights from the age of 6 don't worry! Mobility training is about creating tension WITHIN your body. (intrinsic)
An easy example of this to wrap your head around the idea of mobility training is to try and lift your leg up in front of you, whilst balancing on one leg, you have to keep both legs straight and both hips even, hold the leg as high as you can keeping perfect even posture and hold the position for 5 seconds and repeat. This will works your core and hip flexors as well as stretch your hamstrings and it will definitely get your heart rate up as well!
Mobility training when done correctly should work up a sweat, get your heart rate up and maybe even leave your muscles a little sore the next day. Mobility training will show you where your body may have a fall out, a weakness. Mobility training can help relieve chronic pain permanently, help fix injuries old and new and also improve your strength in your normal strength training sessions as well as improve overall posture. Mobility addresses every joint in your body from your toes to your neck and everywhere in between so as you can guess its quite in depth and too hard for me to explain each exercise in detail in this blog post. If you feel like you may be lacking mobility and you want some help figuring it out you can contact me and I will share with you some simple tests you can do to figure out what you may need to work on.
I will also share a video on my instagram demonstrating the tests so you can follow me there at www.instagram.com/healthandselina to see those.
Comments