Top 10 Mobility Exercises For Peak Performance & Longevity
Do you want to feel better, move better and perform better? Do you want to prevent injuries, reduce pain and enhance your quality of life? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you came to the right place!
In this post, we will be exploring what mobility is, why it matters, and how to improve it with simple and effective exercises that you can do anywhere, anytime. They can help you prevent injuries, reduce pain, improve posture, enhance performance, and elevate your quality of life. And mobility exercises are not just for athletes or gym-goers. They are for EVERYONE who wants to live a healthy and active lifestyle. By improving your mobility, you will be on your way to unlocking your full performance potential WHILE building a foundation for health and wellness longevity.
What is Mobility?
Often confused with flexibility, mobility refers to the ability of a joint to move actively through its full range of motion. Flexibility refers to the ability of a muscle to stretch passively through a range of motion. Both are important for healthy movement and function, but they depend on different factors such as muscle strength, coordination, stability, and joint health. Mobility requires flexibility, but flexibility does not guarantee mobility. Both are important for healthy movement and function, but they are not interchangeable. Unfortunately, focus on flexibility and neglecting mobility is all too common in the medical and health space. We’re about to change that!
Benefits of Mobility
Reducing the risk of injury: Mobility exercises can help you prepare your joints and muscles for the demands of your activity, whether it is sports, work, or daily life. By increasing the blood flow, lubricating the joints, better dispersing load through the kinetic chain, and improving active movement patterns, you can reduce the chances of sprains, strains, tears, or fractures.
Relieving pain and stiffness: Mobility exercises can also help you recover from injury or soreness by restoring the normal function of your joints and muscles. By improving blood circulation, reducing inflammation, and helping to reinforce normal joint and body kinematics, you can ease the pain and stiffness that may limit your movement.
Improving posture: Mobility exercises can help you correct imbalances or dysfunctions in your posture that may cause pain or affect your performance. By strengthening the weak muscles, stretching the tight muscles, and mobilizing the restricted joints, you can improve your posture and alignment and optimize your biomechanics.
Enhancing performance: Mobility exercises can help you improve your performance in any activity by increasing your power, speed, agility, coordination, balance, and endurance. By improving your range of motion and function of your joints and muscles, you can generate more force, move faster, change direction more easily, maintain stability, and sustain your effort for longer.
Elevating quality of life: Mobility exercises can help you elevate your quality of life by improving your physical and mental well-being. By reducing pain, improving posture, enhancing performance, and preventing injuries, you can thrive in your hobbies and physical pursuits, feel more confident, and be ready to take on the next challenge ahead!
How & When
Mobility exercises can be done at any time of the day, but they are especially beneficial before and after your workout. Here are some tips on how to incorporate mobility exercises into your routine:
Before your workout: You should do a dynamic warm-up that includes mobility exercises for the major joints and muscles that you will use in your workout. This will help you prepare your body for the specific movements that you will perform and prevent injuries. A dynamic warm-up should last about 10 to 15 minutes and consist of movements that gradually increase in intensity and complexity.
After your workout: You should do a cool-down that includes mobility exercises for the major joints and muscles that you used in your workout. This will help you recover from the stress and fatigue, improve or better maintain joint range-of-motion challenged during the workout, and help prevent soreness. A cool-down should last about 10 to 15 minutes and consist of movements that gradually decrease in intensity and complexity.
Finally…My TOP 10 Mobility Exercises
These are the MOST COMMON mobility exercises I give to my patients as a sports and orthopedic physical therapist. Starting at the bottom of the kinetic chain and working our way up:
Kneeling Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilization
2. Shin Box/Wind Shield Wiper
3. Hand Heel Rock/Child’s Pose
4. World’s Greatest Stretch
5. Thread Needle
6. Kneeling Wall Thoracic Rotation
7. Downward Dog
8. Seated Lat Stretch
9. Cervical SNAG
10. Chin Tuck
Conclusion
You've learned how mobility exercises can help prevent injuries, reduce pain, improve posture, enhance performance, and elevate your quality of life. Now it's time to TAKE ACTION and start incorporating them into your daily routine. Mobility exercises are easy to do, require minimal equipment, and can be done anywhere. You can simply follow the examples in this blog post, add your current favorites, or explore other variations that feel better to your body. The most important thing is to be consistent and enjoy the process. Remember, just like gaining strength or maintaining a healthy lifestyle, mobility is not a destination, but a journey. So, what are you waiting for? Start moving better today!
Still have questions? Ask! Call/text at 281-301-5447 or email us info@tacticrecovery.com
Is pain, stiffness, or limited performance getting in the way of doing the activities you love? Don't wait any longer to take charge of your health and happiness! We got you! Give us a call/text at 281-301-5447 or email us at info@tacticrecovery.com to schedule an appointment. Not sure if PT is the right fit for you? No problem! Schedule a FREE 20min consultation to ensure you’re getting the care you need!
- Dr. Megan Eikenhorst, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT
“Our mission at TACTIC RECOVERY is to help athletes and active adults stay active by optimizing movement, performance, and recovery with our physical therapy, wellness & performance, and recovery services. If you're ready to take a TACTICAL approach to your performance and recovery to get back to doing the things you love without pain or limitations, we'd love to help!”
To schedule an appointment, give us a call/text at 281-301-5447 or email us info@tacticrecovery.com.