How to improve mobility fast?

Many of us would like to know the answer.

The components of our fitness, strength, endurance, power, quickness and mobility will all diminish from under use. However mobility or the lack of it will adversely affect all other areas. When we lose the ability to move our bodies through it’s full range of motion, bad things happen. Muscles shorten (tighten) and our skeleton is pulled out of alignment and this is the start of a bad downward spiral.

You can increase strength with compromised mobility however the chance of injury is greatly increased. Bad hip mobility, for example, is often the root of lower back, knee and ankle problems. When the hips are off the entire lower mechanical chain is compensating for it and under increased stress.

You can improve your endurance running with tight hamstrings and hip flexors but the strain on the lower back will be greater. Tight muscles attached to the pelvis can pull it out of position. This so called pelvic tilt can be exacerbated even more when asymmetrical forces tighten one side more than the other. This is really stressing the biomechanical chain. You are cruising for a low back problem.

Mobility is the key issue to address as you age. You must restore full range of motion if possible. So how to improve mobility fast and get on with your life? That is the question.

Get into mobility mode

Mobility work has to become an integral part of your conditioning program. If you don’t work on it, it is not coming back. And yes, it will continue to degrade. If there is one thing that makes you feel old, it is poor mobility. You don’t have to lift a lot of weight or run a fast 10K time to feel good about your level of fitness. But if you cannot squat down and pick something off the floor without pain or difficulty, you are looking and feeling old.

Mobility exercises can be done daily and probably is the best plan for fast results. You might work on neck, shoulder and thoracic spine (mid back) exercises in one program. This is done by working the muscles of the neck, traps, mid back, shoulders, arms and chest. Everything that connects into a particular joint has to be massaged and/or stretched to allow it to lengthen and relax.

Hit the lower back, hips, knees and ankles in another workout. This includes all the core muscles front and back, quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves and many other muscles unknown to the average lay person. The psoas, for example, is part of the hip flexor group of muscles and quite often a culprit in low back pain. The psoas attaches between the top of the leg (femur) and the spine. It can compress the lumbar disks if too tight. The psoas is stretched and lengthened by rotating the hips and spine.

Perform complex, full range of motion exercises

Another strategy for increased mobility is to do full range of motion, complex exercises. Perform the squat and focus on good form. Keep working on it until you can get comfortably into a deep squat. Do dynamic moves like power cleans and kettle bell swings that engage many different muscles and joints. The snatch or overhead squat will improve shoulder flexibility. But you still will need your specific mobility work to start loosening up the muscles and allow the joints to regain their full range of motion.

How to improve mobility fast?

• Get on a mobility program and stick with it. It is just like lifting or running or any other physical training. It gets easier as you continue to work on it.
• Do complex exercises to promote full range of motion movements.
• Keep it up. Think about a more youthful interaction with the world. It is worth the effort.