Mobility is a topic that has come into the spotlight a ton in the last 5-6 years or so. I believe CrossFit has played a huge roll in that with the popularity of guys like Kelly Starrett and his Supple Leopard book. For hundreds of years before that, people had been talking about things like yoga and the benefits they can have on flexibility. This is obviously still hugely popular today and you can't walk into a gym without seeing someone on a mat stretching out before a workout (which is a terrible idea, don't do that). Things brings up the question in people's mind about what the difference between flexibility and mobility is. Are they same? Are they different? What is the difference if they are?
If you would have asked me 5 years ago I would have told you that flexibility refers to a muscle and mobility refers to a joint. You've never heard someone say "that's one mobile hamstring you've got there" but they would say "your ankles are very mobile". While I think this is still true I've heard another definition as well. Julien Pineau is the founder of Strongfit and one of the smartest people I've ever come across in this field. He defines mobility as "flexibility under tension" which I like more the more think about it. I can't tell you how often I take someone through an assessment who is super flexible but still can squat below parallel. They may do yoga all the time or stretch every day but that doesn't mean they can get into the right positions and use all of that flexibility when muscular tension is added.
This is not to say that flexibility is not important, you still need to be able to take a joint through a full range of motion (ROM) and proper stretching can help with this. But, what I like to do more often is to build people's flexibility while doing the exercises they need to be better at. RDLs (Romanian Deadlifts) are a great example of this. RDLs are what's called a "stretch position exercise" which is exactly what I sounds like and it takes the hamstring through a great stretch when you do it. This means it's a great tool for teaching flexibility under tension (mobility) in the hamstrings. Other examples of exercises like this are chest flyes, Incline curls, Jefferson Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, and overhead Tricep extensions. Each on of these exercises takes the muscle through its largest range of motion and give you a chance to work on mobility.
So basically, instead of spending time in a forward bend to stretch the hamstring, we practice a perfect RDL to increase mobility. Or instead of a side split we do a Jefferson Squat to increase hip mobility. This allows us to increase the length a muscle is allowed to go while also getting us into better positions that will translate to exercise. If you want more examples of those or videos on how to do them, Julien has a great set of videos he calls "openers" that help you work on flexibility under tension in different muscle groups.
This also brings up a good point about how much range of motion you need to use in exercises. Often times exercise have a prescribed ROM that you're expected to hit like squatting below parallel or touching your chest on a bench. But most exercises really don't have one, so what do you do? I tell people to take a exercise through the largest ROM they can while still keeping tension in the muscle. So say I'm doing a dumbbell bench press, sure I can bring weight down and touch my shoulder each time but what if I lose tension in my pec 4 inches before that? I say it's better to stop when you lose tension on that prime mover instead of going through a full ROM just to do it. You end up dumping tension into connective tissue, which can put you at risk, and you're probably not even getting extra benefit from it. Instead, work through the range you can under tension and try to increase that range as much as you can. If you can't keep pec tension on through the full ROM now, eventually you'll be able to and you'll get the full benefit from the lift. Obviously then, when you go do this, you know that you mobility in that area has increased.
Give this a try next time your at the gym and see what kind of ROM you can get you body through while still maintaining that tension!
No comments:
Post a Comment