Increasing Mobility: the KEY to improving performance?
For those of us who place a higher physical demand on our bodies, when we think about improving performance, most of us are focused on strength gains, increased flexibility, and/or better cardiovascular endurance. Don’t get me wrong, these training methods are essential to a well rounded routine, but there’s one pivotal element that is often overlooked...
Mobility plays a pivotal role in enhancing these aspects of physical performance, providing both supplemental and foundational skills. So let’s discuss what mobility is, how incorporating it actually enhances all other aspects of training, and how to start incorporating it into your routine.
What is Mobility?
Mobility, in the context of physical performance, can be defined more anatomically (specific) and more holistically (general):
Mobility (specific): the range of motion through which a joint can be taken.
Mobility (general): the body’s capacity for unrestricted movement.
Our mobility is determined by our anatomical structure (how our bones are shaped and positioned) as well as lifestyle factors (job requirements, health conditions, stress levels, etc). While it is difficult, often impossible to change our anatomical structure, it’s actually pretty simple to gain more (or less) mobility by changing or adjusting parts of our routine. Just by moving more throughout your day, you’ll likely notice an increase in mobility.
However, if you’re reading this, chances are you would probably benefit most from a more targeted approach.
How Do We Increase Mobility?
Just as you would any other aspect of physical training, you can increase mobility by incorporating exercises that specifically target your joints and the range of motion through which they can move. This is most effectively done in isolation (focusing on one joint at a time) but multi joint mobility exercises are also effective if done mindfully and with proper form, additionally helping to increase muscular coordination.
Single Joint Mobility Exercises:
Multi-Joint Mobility Exercises:
It can be really easy to “cheat” or perform these exercises ineffectively so be mindful and intentional during them, ideally under the supervision of a trainer until you’re proficient in their execution.
There are also less controlled movements that help to increase mobility, such as dynamic stretches and it’s good to have a balance of both.
Dynamic, Single Joint Mobility Exercises:
Dynamic, Multi-Joint Mobility Exercises:
Both slow/controlled and dynamic/less controlled mobility exercises can be incorporated into your warm up to prepare your joints for the demands you’ll be placing on it during the bulk of your training.
*note: while there are mobility exercises for almost any joint/part of the body, the shoulders and hips are most commonly paid attention to due to their more unstable nature and greater capacity for increased range of motion.
How Mobility Impacts Performance
Mobility is a HUGE factor in overall performance and health. Mobility is the ability of our body to move through the world, whether we’re rock climbing, dancing, swimming, or just picking something up off the floor. When it comes specifically to training though, we can pinpoint exactly how increased mobility enhances each aspect:
Mobility and Flexibility: partners in performance
While mobility refers to the range of motion through which a joint can be taken, flexibility is the degree to which your soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) can lengthen/stretch. This is an important distinction to make because training flexibility alone will not help you produce optimal or efficient movement. Sometimes it may even hinder your progress.
A ballet dancer may possess exceptional flexibility, but without adequate hip mobility and control of their limbs through space, they may struggle to maintain certain positions and transition from one movement to another.
Integrating mobility exercises alongside flexibility routines will increase strength and joint stability, supporting the increased lengthening by providing greater control during bendier movements.
Mobility and Strength: a powerful combination
There’s this really persistent misconception that strength and range of motion (flexibility and mobility) are mutually exclusive. The truth is, the best strength gains come from taking your muscles through a full range of motion. When joints have a full, unrestricted range of motion, your muscles have to produce greater force to shorten/contract after being lengthened.
Someone with limited ankle mobility might struggle to maintain an upright torso in a squat, leading to decreased load-bearing capacity. By taking the ankle through isolated mobility exercises, over time the squatting movement becomes more biomechanically efficient, resulting in greater weight bearing capacity and force generation in the contraction.
Increased range of motion → increased lengthening → greater contractions → greater strength/hypertrophy gains.
Mobility, Stability, and Agility: the movement trifecta
Stability and mobility go hand in hand. While mobility training’s goal is often seen as simply increasing range of motion, we’re most often doing so through controlled movements that also strengthen and stabilize the joints.
Agility is the body’s ability to shift, move, and change position with speed and accuracy. Do you know what all of those things need in order to be performed safely and effectively? That’s right: mobility and stability!
Mobility, stability, and agility directly affect one another and, in order to increase one sustainably, all three must be incorporated.
Mobility and Cardio: efficient and preventative
I don’t often (really almost never) see anyone talk about the link between increased mobility and greater cardiovascular output/endurance. The link between them, however, is clear.
Enhanced mobility can lead to:
improved circulation and blood flow, aiding in the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles (essential for endurance).
joints more efficiently moving through a full range of motion while maintaining stability, better absorbing shock and impact and decreasing strain on muscles and connective tissues, reducing the risk of injury during cardio heavy activities such as running, cycling, or jumping.
Considerations for Hypermobility
I am someone with hypermobility, a condition wherein one or all of a person’s joints have a greater than normal range of motion.
On the surface it may sound like hypermobile bodies don’t need mobility training, like they won the genetic lottery, having naturally mobile joints, right? Not quite…
For me and many others like me, hypermobility can result in pain in the affected joints due to frequent subluxations, dislocations, and increased risk of strains and tears.
While hypermobile bodies don’t want to continue to overstretch, mobility training can actually help to better stabilize and strengthen the hypermobile joints, improving control of the naturally more insatiable joints and decreasing the chance of overextending that could lead to pain and injury.
Some exercises may be more or less suitable for those with hypermobility.
I’ve subluxed (partially dislocated) my hip joint while performing leg swings, so I have to be extra mindful particularly during, dynamic/less controlled exercises like it. On the other hand, my shoulders have benefited greatly from protraction exercises due to the slower, more intentional nature of the movement.
If you’re hypermobile, don’t write off mobility exercises completely, just be a bit more mindful and spend time figuring out which ones are beneficial and which ones you may want to skip or try again later.
Takeaway:
Often overpowered by other aspects of training, mobility is an unsung hero of performance.
Mobility is the body’s capacity for unrestricted movement or, more specifically, the range of motion through which a joint can be taken.
Incorporate both single and multi-joint mobility exercises as well as both slow/controlled and dynamic/less controlled mobility exercises.
Be mindful and intentional when training mobility, ideally under the supervision of a knowledgeable trainer as it is easy to “cheat” the movement and perform them ineffectively.
Increasing mobility also increases all other forms of training/skills
Impact on flexibility: provides greater control through greater ranges of motion and greater muscle lengths.
Impact on strength: increases the force production needed to contract a muscle via greater range of motion.
Impact on stability & agility: helps to stabilize the joints during movement, allowing for greater agility.
Impact on cardio: increases movement efficiency, increasing endurance and reducing the risk of injury from excessive impact.
Those with hypermobility should not omit mobility training completely but be more mindful and find which exercises work best for their more bendy body.