Mobility training benefits any type of workout however it is often neglected. As a result, many individuals miss out on the benefits of it. With more mobility, you will be less likely to develop chronic injuries or hit plateaus. Mobility also remedies existing injuries. Being more mobile benefits form and performance.
In order to understand mobility training, we need to first understand what mobility is.
What Is Mobility?
Mobility is someone’s ability to move a limb through its full range of motion. Mobility is not to be confused with flexibility which is merely the length of the muscle. Mobility is a regulated voluntary movement through its whole functional range of motion.
Mobility training is the process during which you work in order to improve mobility in all or a single joint. In doing so you diminish the potential of imbalances so reducing the risk for injuries. This allows for the full benefits of exercise by moving limbs through their respective full range of motion. In addition, it helps you move better whether that is for daily activities or for sport.
The skeleton works wonderfully when everything is properly aligned. However, the skeleton itself is passive as it is pulled and adjusted by the muscles which attach to it. As we move through our day-to-day life, our muscles develop and grow based on our habitual movement patterns.
Owing to the fact that we perform some movements more often than others, our muscles develop unevenly with some becoming tight and short while others are loose and long. The tighter muscles will pull on the skeleton excessively, which moves our joint positions. If you have a joint slightly offset within a socket will cause it to wear unevenly over time, which leads to problems such arthritis.
What Does Mobility Training Look Like?
Joint mobility training usually involves foam rolling, mobility drills as well as some stretching.
Foam rolling is also called self-myofascial release which is just a fancy word for a self-massage. Foam rolling assists with breaking up fascial adhesions around the muscles and also assists with increasing joint mobility and optimal muscle contraction. The tighter the muscles are which surround a joint the less mobile that they will be, so foam rolling is a quick and easy way to assist with increasing joint mobility. Foam rolling may be incorporated into the start of your workout with your warm-up and is also something which you can do every day to help improve or maintain mobility.
Mobility drills are exercises which take the muscles, tendons as well as joints through their entire range of motion. When performing these kinds of exercises, it is vital that you perform them using high levels of control.
There are several different types of mobility training exercises that will be specific to each and every joint. Some good examples of this type of training are wall slides for increasing shoulder joint mobility in addition to leg swings which can be used to increase hip joint mobility.
Mobility drills are phenomenal to incorporate in the beginning of your workout or even as a workout on their own. Incorporating a stretching routine after exercise can also help elongate the muscles that surround the joint which help the joint to move through its full range of motion.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
As you can see, foam rolling is a super way of increasing joint mobility. Find out more about foam rolling by going on our Foam Rolling Course. Read more about it here.
