What Is Mobility Training And Why Do You Need It?

What Is Mobility Training?

Mobility training is a blanket term for a number of exercises that aim to assist you in moving your joints or muscles through their full ranges of motion. Some examples of mobility exercises include the dynamic frog stretch, hollow body compression breaths and a whole range of other movements that help your body function optimally. There are many mobility exercises that you can check out. A good place to start is to check out VanjaMoves on Instagram as she shares many different and practical mobility exercises and workouts.

Mobility training not only helps with workouts, but can also benefit our daily movements, help to correct posture and even aid in correcting muscular imbalances. Whether you’re a super active athlete or simply someone who works at a 9-5 job, mobility training can offer a host of benefits that will offer ongoing and preventative maintenance for your entire body.

Benefits Of Mobility Training

Lower Your Risk of Injury

Did you know that over 41% of gym goers have injured themselves at some point in their journey? Mobility, flexibility and strength are three very significant areas you should focus on if you are looking to minimise your risk of injury during workouts. Without adequate mobility training, you limit your body to certain restrictions in its movements, thus highly increasing your chances of pulling a muscle or injuring yourself when handling gym equipment.

Running, jumping and other forms of activities or exercises also put an immense amount of stress and pressure on your joints which can lead to injuries or muscle soreness that lasts for several days. Your best bet at avoiding or at least minimizing discomfort is to engage in mobility drills and training before you start any kind of strenuous physical activity.

Improved Posture

It is no secret that most of us spend more time than we’d like sitting. Whether it be behind a desk, in a car or simply slumping on the couch once we get home, excessive amounts of sitting can prove to be incredibly detrimental to our posture.

Constant sitting causes two things: the hip flexors to shorten and the hamstrings to lengthen. The result? A chain reaction that causes anterior pelvic tilt and kyphosis, also known as bad posture in layman’s terms. This can increase injury risk, trigger knee and back pain, and even cause you to look shorter or “hunchbacked”. Not to worry, though a good mobility programme can help correct these problems and prevent them from occurring in the future.

An Effective Warm Up

Most of us have been told that warm ups are an essential part of any exercise routine. Common warmup activities include lunges, squats and jumping jacks and various other bodyweight exercises. While these warmups are effective, they pail in comparison to mobility drills that are able to prime your body for exercise in ways that standard warmups are simply unable to do. During mobility training, blood travels to surrounding tissues and synovial fluid (the lubrication that helps joints to glide effortlessly), is carried into the working joints in order to prepare your joints and connective tissues for greater pressure, thus reducing your chances of injury.

Better Range of Motion For Daily Activities

Mobility training doesn’t only benefit fitness enthusiasts and gym bunnies. In fact, by increasing your range of motion, you will be able to better handle simple daily tasks such as walking, cleaning the house, driving or even something as simple as tying your shoelaces. Increased mobility will also make it easier for you to remain active in general, thus reducing your chances of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.