How Can I Improve My Mobility Fast?
Mobility has been a buzzword and popularized in mainstream culture by my mentor Kelly Starrett when he started Mobility WOD, which is now The Ready State. When you improve your mobility, it’s not just “stretching” or getting more motion in a joint. We have covered before that STRETCHING IS DEAD and won’t get you long-term pain relief. Have you tried to improve your mobility and it doesn’t seem to get any better? Most people I work with have tried to improve their mobility to help them move and feel better with exercises they find online, but it doesn’t get the results they want. When working with clients who need to improve their mobility, they MUST do the right drill, for the right amount of time, and see/feel a difference.
Top 2 Reasons Your Mobility Isn’t Improving:
#1: Not Enough Time
Joints, ligaments, and muscles need time to adapt so if you have a large restriction in mobility, you MUST spend 2 minutes on movement to actually elicit tissue change. Spending 10-30 seconds trying to improve a position isn’t going to get the results you want.
#2: Wasting Your Window
Improper sequencing is the other reason people aren’t getting carry over effects after doing a mobility drill. Let me explain, spending 2 minutes working on your shoulder overhead mobility gives us a short window for that joint to move better before it stiffens up and goes back to where it was before we started. What we do immediately after a mobility drill is VERY important. In my individual sessions, I teach a 3 Step Method.
So what is the fastest way to improve my mobility?
3 Step Method to Improve Mobility FAST
Open It
Isolate It
Integrate It
Lets break that down individually with an example.
Open It: The actual mobility drill to improve a specific position where we spending 2 minutes moving better. For example, to get your shoulder to move overhead better, we can do the Wall Opener Drill
Isolate It: Activate the muscles around the joint we are trying to improve to help ‘Save the Word Doc’ and make slow progress to keep the new range we worked so hard to get. For the shoulder overhead position, something like a Band Overhead Press for 20-30 reps
Integrate It: MOST IMPORTANTLY you must use your new mobility to help it save. After spending 2-4 minutes Opening It and Isolating It, do some loaded exercise into any new ranges of motion during this short window. For the shoulder overhead position, that could be Push Press, Military Press, Overhead Squat or any weighted movement that gets at end range of motion with weight.
Quick recap, if your mobility is restricted and you are trying to improve it, following the sequence of Opening It, Isolating It, Integrating It will help you achieve your goals faster. The most efficient way to do improve your mobility is with a properly done warm up. Watch This to learn how to improve your mobility with a 10 minute warm up.
If you have been trying to improve your mobility and not getting the results you want, imagine the results you’ll get with a Prescriptive Exercise Program designed for you. To learn more about how we can help, click the button below to set up a Free Discovery Call with a Doctor.
