Mobility: The Neglected Aspect of Fitness
When you think about fitness, you probably think about how fast someone can run or how much they can lift. Do you ever correlate fitness with your ability to touch your toes or to reach your hands behind your back? Likely not.
Mobility and flexibility are the oft neglected siblings of strength and speed, along with a myriad of other factors that lead to the big goal of fitness. For us, we trained through our 20’s and into our 30’s with little thought to stretching and caring for our joints and their connective tissues until the fateful day we realized that being able to bend, stretch, and twist matters to life a whole lot more than barbells and bumper plates. Now, we incorporate mobility and stretching into our exercise routines regularly in order to ensure that we can keep doing one of the most important tasks of the human: getting down and getting back up. That, along with tying our shoes, reaching for the high shelf, and keeping respectable posture. In our Online Coaching programs, we can also incorporate mobility sessions that will help you achieve your fitness goals more quickly and safely (use the form below you contact us and learn more).
We’ll share 3 of our favorite mobility movements with you today. Work them into your routines for a relaxing, yet effective way of improving how your body moves and copes.
The Wall Candle
This stretch is great for your hamstrings and hip alignment, as well as circulation and the relief of pressure in the legs. You can relax the pose, elevate the hips with a towel underneath, or intensify the stretch throughout the legs by gently turning the toes down toward the body.
The V-Stretch
A great opener for the hips and upper legs, as well as the back as you lean forward, the V-Stretch is a great one to see yourself improve over time. Try to relax into the stretch the longer you stay and let gravity work to pull you downward.
The Turnback Stretch
An upper body stretch for that chest and shoulders, the turnback is great because you can easily work to your comfortable range of motion and challenge yourself little by little.