Mobility and flexibility help boost your overall health, reduce the risk of injury, and keep your body functioning at its best.
​
Mobility and Flexibility ​
Pattern Overload
Pattern overload is consistently repeating the same pattern of motion, which with time places abnormal stresses on certain parts of the body.
Sitting for long periods of time while working on a computer is repetitive stress that creates muscle imbalances. To make it easy on your back, try the seated Cat and Cow stretch:
​
-
Connect your hands behind your head intertwining fingers
-
Exhale and round your back bringing your chin towards your chest and bring your elbows to the ears without breaking the connection in your hands
-
Inhale, open the elbows to the side, bring shoulders back and look up. Use the back of your chair to support you to open further back.
-
Repeat. Play with reversing the breathing pattern.
-
Always end on the opening up.
​
​​​​Mobility and flexibility are related terms but there is a difference which is important to understand:
Flexibility is the ability to stretch the soft tissues to achieve a healthy range of motion of a joint while mobility is the ability of a joint to go through its entire range. In other words, good flexibility allows for mobility of our joints.
Going through a full range of motion is critical for joints' health as it provides the required lubrication. Moreover, when our mobility is limited, we may compensate by using other muscle groups which may lead to improper loading and result in pain and injuries. An example of such compensation is curving back when lifting arms upright if there is not sufficient shoulder mobility.
​
There may be different reasons for the a limited flexibility and mobility, such as genetics, lifestyle, age, gender, or injuries, but oftentimes it is related to pattern overload. When we use a specific muscle group too much it becomes overactive compared to other muscle groups, leading to bad posture and an increased risk of injury. A pattern overload may occur as a result of sports activities (specific moves that are required for successful performance), some occupation-related moves, or an imbalanced training program when a fitness enthusiast only focuses on specific muscle groups while neglecting other areas of the body.
​Improving mobility and flexibility is as critical as building strength and they go hand-in-hand. I widely use static, dynamic, and assisted stretching, as well as myofascial tools such as massage balls, rollga, and massage rollers. Big dynamic whole body moves are a great way to maintain the current mobility and to prevent its deteriorating.
References: National Academy of Sports Medicine.
​