Simple stretches

Movement helps with flexibility and mobility

by Justin Grinnell

I have had the privilege of training thousands of amazing people. And if I had to guess, 90 percent of them have commented on how they want to be more flexible.

This is not surprising. The vast majority of my clients have been 35-65-year-old aging athletes, who possibly sit a lot, and may be getting back into exercise for the first time in a while.

In the back of my head, I know that if they stay active, move a bit each day and add two to three days of solid workouts into their routine, their flexibility will bump up a bit just from moving more.

However, I like to explain to them the difference between flexibility and mobility, and why we must focus on both.

Here’s the difference:

Mobility is the ability to move a limb through its full range of motion. Through daily activities, injuries, exercise, or sport, a joint range of motion can decrease resulting in what is known as a compromised joint (meaning your joint is vulnerable).

Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to temporarily stretch when needed. Or, put simply, flexibility is the ability of a muscle to stretch, mobility is the ability of a joint to move.

To help both of these, we will sometimes isolate an area that may need some extra attention. But our primary way to get them to move better and feel better is through patterns of movements, not isolated static stretching. Instead of calling it flexibility or mobility work, I like to refer to these types of exercises as movement improvement work.

Once we can establish a base of movement, I like to throw some more challenging and interesting movement exercises into their routine.

Here are five exercises that help improve the way you move, while challenging you a little at the same time.

Tabletop bridge and reach

Start by sitting on the floor with your feet flat in front of you about shoulder-width apart.

Place your hands behind you just outside shoulder-width apart or where it feels comfortable.

Looking straight ahead, push your heels into the ground and raise your hips as high as possible.

Midway through the movement, reach as high as you can to the sky. At the top of the movement, hold it, look at your hand and pause for 2-3 seconds.

Tabletop bridge and reach

Tabletop bridge and reach

Down Dog to Spider-Man and sit through

• Start in a push-up position.

• Press into the ground and raise your hips up, push your heals down, and extend your upper body.

• Come back to a push-up position and step your left foot outside of your left hand.

• Then, sweep your left leg through, pause, go back to the push-up position, and repeat on the other side for 5-10 reps each.

Down Dog to Spider-Man and sit through

Down Dog to Spider-Man and sit through

Squat to stand and reach

• Start by bending over with your legs straight.

• Depending on your mobility level, grab any where from your toes to your high-shin area.

• Squat down while holding part of your leg and foot area with your arms inside of your thighs and push your knees out.

• Hold for a couple of seconds and then raise your hips as high as you can and straighten your legs as much as possible while rounding your back like a mad cat.

• Repeat for 5-10 reps.

Squat to stand and reach

Lateral lunge, reach and rotate

• Start by standing in a neutral posture and then step laterally to your side with your arms overhead.

• Lunge by bending the knee you step with, hinge your hips by pushing them back while maintaining a straight spine.

• Then, step back into a neutral standing posture and repeat for 5-10 reps on each side.

Lateral lunge, reach and rotate

Prying Goblet squat, curl and press

• Use anything for the weight that is 5-35 pounds, depending on your strength level.

• Start with a small weight and progress up as needed.

• Squat down as deep as possible and press your arms on the inside of your thighs.

• Then, perform a slow bicep curl at the bottom of your squat.

• Return the object to the goblet position by your chest and press the object out in front of your chest until your arms are as straight as possible.

• Pause for two-seconds, bring it back to your chest, and stand up slowly.

• Repeat for 5-10 reps.