Did the chicken or the egg come first? Who cares? Both chicken and the egg are delicious—and you’re wondering what this has to do with mobility exercises.
Stay with me for a moment. In the fitness universe, “experts” have often debated which exercise quality is more important to train: stability exercises or mobility exercises.
Stability is the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position. The coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system achieve stability. Mobility is the degree to which an articulation (where two bones meet) can move before being restricted by surrounding tissues like muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Which one is more important? Both are important, and will always remain important for overall fitness. But in this article, we’ll dive into the benefits of mobility and four mobility exercises for better movement and strength.
BENEFITS OF MOBILITY EXERCISES
There are a few reasons why mobility is an essential element to include in your fitness journey. Mobility is one of the original foundations of youth, along with being able to build muscle. Plus, having good mobility allows you to move freely and more efficiently. Here are a few important reasons why training mobility is the bomb.
- You’ll feel younger: Mobility is one of the youth’s original foundations. The ability to move your mobile joints through a full range of motion will help you keep up with the younger whippersnappers of this world and keeps you upright longer.
- Improved muscle and strength: Good joint mobility ensures you can move as efficiently as possible during your lifts. You won’t compensate with a smaller range of motion, allowing you to strengthen all the movement parts. Say if your hip mobility limits the depth of your squat, you’re not strengthening all parts of the movement. That is leaving gains on the table.
- You’ll be a better athlete: Many great athletes can change direction without changing speed and quickness. If their mobility were lacking, this wouldn’t happen. When you have good mobility and your muscles are not tight, your movements are easier and more fluid. And when you move better, your workouts will become more effective, and you’ll blow by opponents on the pitch.
- Injury prevention: When your joints move freely through their full ROM, it improves their ability to absorb force better when you run, jump, lift, etc. In theory, a more mobile joint is a safer joint. If mobility restrictions exist, your body will compensate and find a way to get the movement done. This leads to muscles and joints up and down the kinetic chain doing the work of your restricted joint. Over time, this may lead to injuries and pain.
4 MOBILITY EXERCISES FOR BETTER MOVEMENT AND STRENGTH
Here are four mobility exercises for better movement in and out of the gym. These moves are chosen because they are simple, don’t require much equipment, and give you the most bang for your exercise buck.
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