“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live!”
It is the time of year where everyone is trying to get fit and healthy by hitting the gym hard and doing dry January to try reverse the abundance off food and beverage consumed over the festive period! With most people going all out every time they hit the gym floor, spending hours at the gym and not stretching or warming up before a session could actually be causing more damage than good.
Give your body what it needs by adding mobility training into your workouts to prevent injury and to help your body recover faster!
First things first – what is mobility and is it the same as flexibility?
So, mobility refers to our ability to move freely without stress on the body. Our flexibility is dependent on the range of motion of our muscles. The two are not the same, but are not mutually exclusive. Good mobility can assist your flexibility and vice versa.
So why is it so important to include mobility training and stretching into your exercise program? Most people overlook the importance of these two rather significant components of exercise and think they can get away with a few stretches before and after a session. As we get older our bodies tend to take longer to recover and our natural flexibility tends to decrease substantially every year. Basic movements can become laboured and difficult so it is extremely important to include a decent mobility program into your weekly exercise regime.
It is great to look good however if you can’t move freely without stress or pain then what good is that? The benefits of including a mobility training into your regime are increased performance, faster recovery, injury prevention and increase posture & general wellbeing. It is just as important if not more important as lifting weights or thrashing yourself on the bike for 45 minutes.
The amazing thing is, is it is never too late to start! As humans, we can reclaim our ability to move freely by incorporating a simple but effective program into our weekly routine. It is time to stop being lazy and to start making the effort to focus on your mobility training. Set aside 30 minutes, 3 x a week to stretch and work on mobility drills – I guarantee you, you will feel SO much better for it and your performance in the gym will drastically improve!
Mobility training should be an essential component of ANY exercise program. So take action by foam rolling, activating your muscles prior to working out (resistance bands are great for this), stretching with dynamic and static stretches, self-myofascial release and carrying out simple mobility drills. You may find it hard at first but your mobility and flexibility will rapidly improve each time, you will not only look better, you’ll feel better as well.
Do your future self a favour and don’t let your body suffer.
