Are you practicing mobility daily? Mobility is essential for every individual's health. Improving your mobility can lead to improved strength, decreased injury, and overall leave you more mobile to perform daily tasks. There are many ways you can perform mobility, whether it's at your gym, in the comfort of your own home, or through various activities. If you’re looking to become stronger, faster, or more agile, you’ve come to the right place. 

What’s one mobility goal you have for yourself?

Mobility can get swept under the rug, but it's actually more important than you may think. Mobility training is essential for longevity, injury prevention and overall quality of life. Anyone and everyone can work on their mobility to improve your range of motion through specific movement patterns. 

What is Mobility Training?

You may have heard the word “mobility” from time to time, but what exactly is it? Mobility is a dynamic or active movement that takes your muscle through a controlled and stable range of motion. In order to improve mobility, you need to have flexibility, however the two are not the same. For example, standing tall and using your hip flexor to pull your knee to the ceiling is mobility. Once you reach your full range of motion, you can use your hands to pull your knee a little higher, this is your flexibility. Mobility training can be known as “fluid movements'' because you are taking your body through controlled ranges of motion. Mobility incorporates flexibility and strength into a specific movement in order to help you squat deeper or jump higher. 

Benefits of Mobility Training? 

There are many benefits to mobility training. The main benefit known is that good mobility can help prevent injury during training as well as in daily life. When you have improve hip mobility you can use your leg to reach down rather than arching your back, a main cause of back strains. Did you know, most Musculoskeletal injuries are due to lack of mobility? Thus, improving mobility can help to decrease your risk of injury. Not only can mobility help decrease injury, but it can also improve muscle growth due to performing proper full range of motion in a specific workout, improve workout performance, improve posture, as well as day-to-day movement fluidity. 

Why You Shouldn’t Wait

Mobility is essential at any age. Many of us live a life of sitting at a desk job, staying in a static position with our shoulders hunched forward. This can result in poor posture when we stand and perform daily tasks. When you are immobile throughout the day, your range of motion becomes limited. Not only does this lead you to be more prone to injury, but you may develop aches and pains in areas of your body as well as muscle imbalances. Have you ever sat at your job all day and started to develop pain in your hip, or neck and shoulders? Lack of mobility can cause certain muscles to overcompensate for those that are weaker, pulling on other muscles such as your neck. 

Incorporating mobility exercises into your daily life can help reduce the risk of these potential injuries to your body. Mobility isn’t only for those who exercise; everyone should be incorporating mobility into their routine. Spending 5 to 10 minutes in the morning and evening is all you need to warm up your muscles and joints and help to become more fluid in your everyday life. From weight lifting, to cleaning the house or picking your child up from the ground, mobility can help you live a happier and healthier life. The good news is that your body can reap the benefits of mobility training fairly quickly. Within a few weeks you'll notice the benefits of mobility exercises such as better posture, improved range of motion, and a decrease in joint and muscle pain/tightness. 

How to incorporate mobility into your life

If you’re an avid gym-goer, incorporating mobility can be an easy fix. Adding in mobility movements before your workout as well as after can make a huge difference in your performance, recovery, and range of motion. If you are someone who does not workout at a gym often, that’s ok! Anyone can perform mobility exercises in the comfort of their own home, outside, before workout classes, and through different forms of exercise such as yoga and pilates. Other ways to work on mobility include activities such as hiking, swimming, cleaning around the house and even cooking! 

To help you get started, here are five beginner mobility movements that target a full body mobility session:

1. Deep Lunge with Rotation
2. Standing Hip Openers
3. Hands and Wrist flexibility 
4. Lying Hip Rotation
5. Half-knee Hip Flexor Stretch
6. Spider Crawl with Rotation

Start Now, Start Small

Starting your mobility routine doesn't have to wait until tomorrow. Take action for your health and well-being today! Your body will thank you. Aiming for 5 to 10 minutes a day can make a huge difference in the long run of your health and optimal well-being. A simple google search can be your best friend when looking for a follow along mobility flow. Simply search “5 minute beginner mobility flow”. Anyone can work on their mobility and should work on it. Feeling more mobile and decreasing your pain for specific movements is one of the easiest ways to improve your happiness and quality of life. 

If you are wanting more lifestyle recommendations to help you reach your goals, try Vessel Health today and connect with your own nutritionist for free right in the app! This is fully included in your membership along with daily lesson plans, activities & more!