“Can We Work on Mobility?”

You might be surprised to know that general mobility is already a part of everyone’s program here at JMF.

So when you ask for added mobility work, we’ll collaborate on something specific to work on individualized movements that you need help with.

Mobility essentially describes your ability to control the movement of your joints through a specified range-of-motion.

The dynamic warm-up we all go through at JMF is a set of various mobility drills.  

Spiderman (a.k.a. the world’s greatest stretch) is a great mobility exercise because it opens both the hips and the upper back in one fluid movement.

Mobility is different from static stretching in that there is movement involved. For example, holding the position of reaching for your toes from a standing position is a static stretch.  

Conversely, a single leg deadlift is a mobility exercise because you are moving throughout the exercise and have the added challenge of balancing your bodyweight and controlling your hip in all three planes of motion while on one leg.

Mobility can also show up in a program by doing a warmup set prior to a heavy barbell lift.  We might have you do a set with the bar for the bench press or back squat to get the joints warmed up for the heavier weight.  

It can also appear as a combination strength and mobility exercise, like a windmill.  Windmills work on motion at the hip, shoulder complex, and torso. 

In fact, just about every strength move that you’d find yourself doing in here is also a mobility exercise.

Lastly, we will sometimes incorporate an extra mobility exercise into a set to assist with the range of motion for similar exercise that may need some improvement.  For example, we may add an extra hip flexor stretch to a set of split squats.

Mobility means having strength and control throughout your joints’ ranges of motion.  

Although being flexible is beneficial to strength training, having control and stability throughout that range is what will allow you to stay healthy and keep making progressive strength gains.