The Importance of Mobility

Mobility focuses on building strength in movement.  Building the strength in tendons, ligaments and joints is what opens the door for athletic movement and reduces the chance of injury.

The most common mistake people make is to focus on muscular development and neglect mobility.  The reason this is a problem is that muscle develops strength at a much greater rate than the connective tissues.  Therefore, "muscling" through a movement that the connective tissues are not strong enough for will damage those tissues and eventually result in injury.

This is a problem for people at all levels of ability.  People new to (fitness) training are generally tight, inflexible, and weak.  Mobility should be a major focus to regain range of motion and improve athletic movement.  However, the tendency is to focus on body image .... build muscle or lose weight .... and end up doing more damage to the body than good.

Athletes of all levels develop their "cardio", strength, speed, or endurance, but also neglect mobility.  The result is developing an even tighter body which increases the chance of injury or chronic pain (back, knee, shoulder, neck, etc).

It also reduces performance.  Tight muscles and lack of mobility is similar to driving a high performance automobile with the hand brake on.  You may still be able to drive pretty fast, but not as fast as you would without the hand brake on.  Also, imagine the wear and tear over time.  Eventually, there is a mechanical failure to the hand brake, the engine, or other part from working so hard to move.

This is what happens to a body when mobility is neglected.  Do your body and long term goals a favor .... take your foot off the gas peddle and address your mobility issues.

Short term gains for long term pain is not a good way to train!