Mobility
mo·bil·i·ty
/mōˈbilədē/
noun
the ability to move or be moved freely and easily.
"this exercise helps retain mobility in the damaged joints"
The final part of this series deals with mobility. And when it comes down to it, the first two parts of this series were always leading up to this. Warming up and getting flexible were always going to end with trying to improve mobility. Mobility is the goal, the other two are parts of the process to get there. The more mobile a limb, joint or person can be, the better able they are to adapt to changes in their body position. Mobility allows for better and more efficient movement patterns and allows a person to adapt to their environment better. This is a huge benefit for life in general but in sports can be a key to performance.
How do you improve mobility?
The simplest answer is by doing. Doing things that require more mobility in general is the best way. There are things that you can incorporate into your training that do not require any additional equipment or time, they are just part of your training. For me that means two things; including varying types of movements in the warm-up sessions of your training and then performing full ROM weight training exercises.
You can always choose to dedicate time to mobility exercises prior to and throughout your workout, and I am in no way opposed to it. You can pair a lift with a mobility exercise, I have done it for years. But what is better for hip mobility than doing a full squat with weight on your back? I would argue that nothing is. This certainly does not mean that you should not have walking hurdle over/unders in the workout somewhere. You must decide how you want and need to spend your time.
What types of equipment could you use for mobility?
There are several props or tools you can utilize to help improve mobility. The first one I would recommend is a stretching strap. This can be used not only for a stretching muscles but you can use it to manipulate joints and work them through great ROM.
The second tool I would recommend is a monster band. These bands can be used for joint distractions. In essence, you anchor the band to something and wrap it around one of your joints (upper thing for hip) and then do different movements with the isolated joint under tension. This will ‘distract’ the joint, in this case pulling the head of the femur out of the socket a little, this can help improve the movement of the joint.
The third thing I would recommend is a floss band. This is a very wide rubber band that you can wrap around muscles or joints that compress the joint, and when you add movement to it, can help the joint become less impacted. This is a very simple tool that can serve a great deal of uses. I would recommend Becoming A Supple Leopard, a book all about movement and mobility. The picture below shows what a floss band looks like wrapped around an ankle.
The last thing I would recommend is foam rolling, or any soft tissue work, including body tempering. This will help make the tissue more pliable and thus better able to help with mobility.
How much do you need?
Like most things, there is both a minimum dosage needed to achieve your desired outcome, but there is also a point on diminished return. Not diminished in that the results aren’t necessary, but they can be achieved by other means. That range is different for everybody and so is the
sweet spot. My advice is that it is important to ‘address’ mobility and work on it without devoting too much time to it that takes away from training and practice. Again, it can be incorporated into your training, thus killing two birds with one stone. I would recommend following Vernon Griffith on social media, as he is someone who ‘explores the corners’ when it comes to mobility. https://twitter.com/VernonGriffith4
Is more better?
One question you might ask is “Is more mobility always a good thing?” The answer is, it depends. Like most things, more isn’t always better, it is just more. There are several layers to the answer to this. If both of your ankles have limited mobility, that is not necessarily a bad thing. If both ankles have lots of mobility, that can be a good thing as well since the goal is to have more mobility than not. There are scenarios where hyper-mobility exists and that is usually a bad thing, as it is masking some underlying issues that will require attention.
Another scenario is one where one ankle has limited mobility and the other has ‘good’ mobility. If the difference between the two ankles is large enough, that imbalance can lead to other issues, as the athlete will start to develop compensation patterns. For example, if you did an ankle dorsiflexion test and the left ankle measures 5cm of ROM and the right ankle measures 13cm ROM, this is something you would want to address. In my experience, imbalances cause more issues that just having a ‘bad’ score on a test or assessment.
The good news is that if you measure something, you can improve it. If you measure ADF for your athletes and the numbers are not to your liking, you can then devote time to improving ankle dorsiflexion.
Lastly, I would advise you to remember that in all things, place an emphasis in quality over quantity. A few exercises done very well with intent is always going to produce better results than just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Of course, you should experiment with things and see what works but don’t get caught up with trying to do 10 mobility exercises every day when 2 good ones will do.
Keith