1. Sometimes, the importance of mobility exercises can be overshadowed by the more dramatic strength and cardio training. Don’t forget that mobility is just as essential as the other aspects of fitness.
2. It might help to have a definition of what we mean by mobility. It generally refers to how flexible you are and the ability of your joints and muscles to extend, bend or rotate with a full range of movement. Once you know what you’re dealing with, you can think about how to improve it.
3. Of course, that’s just physical mobility. If you’re a sociologist or anthropologist, you’re probably more interested in things like social mobility and economic mobility. They can have an important impact on your health as well by influencing your ability to access food and medicine.
4. Everyone has a natural range when it comes to physical mobility. If you try to push yourself past that, you could cause yourself an injury. Still, there are ways to increase some flexibility, mostly through stretching.
5. Stretches are the most important type of mobility exercise you can do. In fact, they should form part of every major exercise routine. Just after you’ve warmed up, before you get going properly, and then again as part of your cooldown, stretching can improve overall performance and reduce the risk of injury.
6. There are different types of stretching for different occasions. Some stretches are static and others are active, depending on the amount of movement involved. The muscle, joint or part of the body you’re using may also change how you stretch.
7. Some forms of exercise, such as yoga, Pilates and tai chi, have a particular focus on stretching and flexibility. They provide greater opportunity for sustained work on your mobility.
8. As with all exercise, pushing too hard can cause injury. If you’re already injured, you may still benefit from mobility training, but you need to be extra careful and follow the advice of your doctor or physiotherapist.
9. Age is something else that has a big impact on mobility levels. You are likely to become less mobile as you get older. Still, starting mobility exercises when young can mitigate some of these effects.
10. It’s not that difficult to incorporate some stretching into your regular activities to improve physical mobility. More complex concepts like social mobility can be a little trickier.
