They say that someone will finally make a change when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.
This statement hits me in the head like a gong nearly every damned day when a new client joins us at Primal Mobility.
Upon our initial consultation, we’ll hear things like:
- I’m so frustrated with my shoulder pain, I’m starting to feel like I can’t do anything at the gym anymore
- Anytime I get under the barbell, I’m concerned that my knee is going to give out
- My low back pain isn’t just at the gym anymore, I’m starting to feel it during other things in life now too
The interesting thing is, they’re all willing to do any/all mobility work to cure their issues.
It makes me realize how truly reactive people are when it comes to their mobility training.
In this article we’re going to discuss the idea of being truly proactive with mobility training, and using it as an opportunity to explore movement, to connect with your body in a unique and curious way, and to provoke a higher level of performance.
Once you start incorporating regular mobility training into your schedule (and I promise that it’s MUCH more challenging than you initially thought it was, it’s harder than a damn metcon in many cases), you’ll see that it’s far from the boring, long static stretches that you thought it might be.
So, to keep it easy for you to navigate, I’m going to organize this article into different “chapters” based on the key reasons why you SHOULD do mobility training, even if you’re not in pain.
Let’s dive in.
Movement Freedom: Avoid Feeling Stuck or Limited by Your Range of Motion
You know those people at the gym that just seem to be able to do any exercise with ease?
They move like butter while dropping into a deep squat position, or catching a jerk overhead.
This is what movement freedom feels like.
It offers you the ability to get into positions that require your joints to approach their deepest ranges of motion.
If you don’t have movement freedom, these deep positions will feel nearly impossible to access.
While this begins to feel like a pain in the ass that’s slowing you down in the gym, it can also lead to discomfort and potentially even injury, in the worst case.
Although you’re not currently in pain (I hope), your goal with mobility training can simply be to explore your movements, and become as comfortable as you possibly can within challenging positions, like deep pistol squats, or snatches.
Here is one of my favourite exercises that encourages you to play around with your range of motion in the hips, and just FEEL the movement:
How Mobility Improves Recovery Rate
This title probably made you think I would be discussing how to create a great mobility-based recovery routine, but I’m not…
What I want to talk about instead, is how improving your range of motion can improve the rate at which you recover after a workout, in general.
Think of it this way:
Every exercise that we perform in the gym will place a particular demand on our range of motion.
If our joints don’t have the required capacity to manage these particular demands, then the stress of the loading (barbell, dumbbells, bodyweight, etc.) will no longer be evenly distributed across the joints that are predominantly responsible for the movement at hand.
For example, if the hips don’t have appropriate range of motion to perform the squat pattern, then the lumbar spine (low back area) will inevitably compensate to offer the athlete more range of motion to move through the pattern.
As this happens, it causes increased stress to certain joints that aren’t intended to take it on, and ultimately forces a greater requirement for recovery.
To say this again in a simpler way:
If you don’t have sufficient range of motion, your joints will take on more stress than they need to and make it harder to recover appropriately.
This is how mobility training increases recovery rate.
You can train your mobility in the morning, and recover better at night.
It’s pretty damn cool!
BUT, since I love to offer examples of mobility exercises every chance that I get, here is one of my favorite flow-based movements that CAN calm the nervous system, reduce DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and promote a state of recovery:
Improving Lifting Technique with Strength-Based Mobility Training
There’s no doubt that in order to lift with better technique, you need to perform the movement more often.
It’s called proprioception. To be able to truly understand where your body is in space, and be able to control it accordingly.
Proprioception will naturally improve over time as we perform set after set, rep after rep, building up a neurological connection to the particular movement we’re practicing.
This is why a seasoned lifter will be able to move some heavy ass weights, and make it look the exact same as when they were warming up.
Here’s an example of how proprioception feels when it’s in action:
Imagine you’re in your car, driving to a particular location that you’ve driven to countless times. Once you’ve arrived, you realize that you don’t remember driving for 20% of it. You were just on autopilot.
The alternative is also true.
When you aren’t sure where you’re going, you are hyper focused and each meter feels like it’s being stretched into miles.
The same concept happens when you lift repeatedly, for long periods of time.
You can almost shut your mind off and just let your body take over, simply because you’ve done it so many times, and your brain has created a network of connections to make the movement feel seamless.
Now, mobility training will not replace proprioception…that will never be the case (you still need to put the reps in!), but it will certainly make it easier!
See, mobility training is a form of strength training. It applies progressive-overload principles, and is strategically structured in a way that fosters strength through muscular engagement.
What makes it such a beneficial addition to the process when aiming to improve lifting technique is that it encourages us to get our joints into their deepest ranges of motion, and learn to engage our muscles, and control our movement within those positions.
Considering that the deepest ranges of motion are often the weakest ranges, our body has a tough time building up those proprioceptive connections.
This is why the deepest ranges of motion are often the areas in which we lose control of the movement and cause our technique to fall apart.
This is how mobility training reduces the risk of injury as well.
It helps us move better within the deepest ranges of motion and helps us minimize the amount of flaws in our technique.
So, give it a try and see if you notice a difference!
Here is a great exercise to help improve proprioception within the deepest ranges of motion that our shoulders can offer:
Increasing Overall Strength Capacity Through Mobility
As I just mentioned, mobility training should be approached in a way that fosters strength and movement control.
It’s extremely similar to a traditional strength training protocol, but with a slightly different intention.
Where traditional strength protocols will aim to improve absolute strength, mobility training will aim to improve our capacity to withstand force within the deepest ranges of motion.
Sounds fancy huh?
Basically, this just means that we won’t lose control of our movements once our joints reach their weakest ranges.
Improving mobility will naturally help us to increase the ability to move more weight, simply because we are fortifying the ranges of motion that are generally weak and restricted.
I don’t feel the need to dive much deeper into this concept, it feels quite simple!
Improve your mobility, and you’ll notice that you’re able to start moving more weight on the bar.
Here is one of my favorite strength-based mobility exercises that is incredibly challenging, but makes my shoulders feel strong, stable, and ready to push a heavy barbell overhead!
The Best Time to Start Mobility Training was Yesterday
When it comes to mobility training, it’s common for people to really only consider it once movement and discomfort become a problem.
When we can no longer feel “free” under the barbell, but struggle to get into positions because our muscles and joints limit us.
Or when we can no longer push our body in the gym the way we used to…
That’s when people start to think that mobility training might be a good idea.
I’m hoping that this article offered a sliver of encouragement to be proactive with your mobility, rather than reactive.
To chase the best version of your physical self, rather than to simply defend it.
Now, to cap this article off, I just wanted to say that I’m positively obsessed with all things mobility, and am frequently writing new articles to be launched on our website.
If you’re curious to dive deeper into the topics of mobility, pain, movement mechanics, etc. then keep an eye on our resources page on the Primal Mobility website.
We have countless articles up there and are consistently dropping more every month.
Let’s go!✊
