What is mobility?
Mobility is a broad concept that comprises joint range of motion (ROM), muscular tension, soft tissue and joint capsule restrictions, adhesions, tendon resilience, neuromuscular coordination, proprioception, the biomechanics of positioning, and knowledge of the proper form for a movement. It includes stabilization, too, created by muscular balance and strength–particularly core strength to protect the spine–and ligament tautness.
What does mobility have to do with CrossFit?
Mobility exercises help us move our limbs through their full range of motion, eliminating restrictions and improving our ability to attain optimal positioning during movements. Increased mobility means reduced injury, greater ability to achieve proper form in the set-up and to sustain better form during a movement which, we know, translates into greater power output and more productive workouts.
What is the difference between stretching and mobility?
Well, according to Dr. Kelly Starrett, DPT: Stretching only focuses on lengthening short and tight muscles. Mobilization, on the other hand, is a movement-based integrated full-body approach that addresses all the elements that limit movement and performance including short and tight muscles, soft tissue restriction, joint capsule restriction, motor control problems, joint range of motion dysfunction, and neural dynamic issues. In short, mobilization is a tool to globally address movement and performance problems.
Why joint mobility is so important?
Easy answer- it’s important because you perform better in life! But seriously- here are a few gems from Mark’s Daily Apple:
By engaging every joint in your body the correct way you drastically decrease your chance of injury. With full joint mobility, there is very little of the “out of position” awkwardness that’s at the heart of many injuries. Too often, injuries occur because we make sudden movements along incorrect joints – twisting with the lumbar spine instead of the thoracic spine, for example – due to lack of joint mobility.
It increases the efficiency of your movement. Learning how to move your joints along their predetermined pathways means smooth, clean, unimpeded movement. When you pick up something heavy with your hips instead of your lower back, your only impediment is the weight itself; there are no structural deficiencies getting in your way and making it even harder and the risk of injury even higher. You still have to work against the load, but your efficiency is no longer hamstrung by the use of the wrong joints in the wrong places.
It increases your performance. Understanding the proper role of each joint and muscle group – and how to engage and activate them in your movements – results in massive performance gains. Your bench press will soar once you grasp the importance of the shoulder blade retraction; your vertical leap will jump once you learn to start extending your hips. And besides, you can’t expect to perform on any level if you’re sidelined with a mobility-related injury or if your movements are grossly inefficient.
It will increase your range of motion – your active flexibility. Static flexibility has its place, but for an athlete (or anyone moderately active, really), mobility is far more important. It’s similar to the question of isolation exercises versus compound exercises. Which are more applicable to the real world? Which more effectively mimic the movements you’ll make in your daily life? Static stretches are a bit like isolation exercises, while mobility prepares you for the rigors of real movement.