Today, I’m going to explain why incorporating a daily mobility practice is essential and how you can easily create one that fits your routine and goals.

Mobility is the foundation of all movement, impacting everything from daily activities to your risk of injury. Without proper movement abilities, you’re more prone to pain, injuries, and a lower quality of life.

Most people neglect mobility work because they don’t see immediate benefits. They focus on strength and cardio, ignoring the fact that without mobility, these activities can lead to injuries and huge setbacks.

Mobility is not a luxury; it’s a necessity for a pain-free, active life at any age.

By the end of today, you’ll understand:

• Why mobility is essential for overall health and longevity

• How reduced mobility leads to pain and injury

• The benefits of a daily mobility practice

• Simple steps to incorporate mobility into your routine

Importance

You need to work on your mobility on a daily basis. Mobility is crucial regardless of your age, goals, or abilities.

Mobility is defined as the ability to demonstrate strength through an entire range of motion. This is in contrast to flexibility, which is more about being able to get our bodies into various positions.

Mobility = active + dynamic

Flexibility = passive

Reduced mobility can lead to all sorts of problems. When a part of your body has limited mobility, other areas start to compensate, often leading to pain and even injury. Issues such as back pain and knee pain often stem from reduced mobility in another part of your body.

Recently, I’ve been talking to my 1:1 clients, and they’re experiencing pain with basic movements and many have injuries or limitations, especially with overhead movement. We should be able to move well at any age, but unfortunately, mobility is not prioritized—even in standard training programs and work with personal trainers.

As we age, staying mobile becomes even more crucial. Mobility relates to longevity. The ability to move our bodies through their full range of motion means we’re less likely to experience falls and more likely to be able to be up and walking around for a long time to come.

But mobility is also important for young people. Lifting weights and playing sports without a full range of motion is a recipe for injury, which can require time off to recover.

Most of us spend time in the same three positions every day: sitting, lying down, and standing up. How often do you put your arms over your head? How often do you get into a spinal twist? When we only move through a limited range of motion, we get very tight, especially in areas like our hips (from all the sitting) and our backs.

Working on your mobility on a daily basis will improve your ability to move well, which will help with physical performance but also will improve your energy and vitality throughout the day. You’ll feel less achy when sitting at your desk, you won’t feel stiff, and you’ll experience a boost in your energy levels.

Implementation

The best way to implement a daily mobility practice is to bookend your day with mobility.

5-10 minutes in the morning and evening adds up to over an hour per week. This is plenty of mobility work.

Doing your mobility as soon as you wake up and right before bed also has the added benefit of improving your sleep quality. Moving in the morning is one of the best ways to reset your circadian rhythm, which will optimize your sleep for the following night.

Doing a few minutes of gentle mobility before bed will help upregulate your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system and downregulate your sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system. This will improve the quality of your sleep.

Bookending your day with mobility is also a great way to check in with your body and mind in the morning and again in the evening. There are myriad ways to incorporate a mobility practice into your day. There are thousands of follow-along videos on YouTube (I will link to some below). Or, you can simply listen to your body and do what it needs at the time.

Learning to listen to your body and “take inventory,” as the creator of the term mobility, Kelly Starrett, says, is so important. Every body is different, and your body will change day to day. Being able to take stock and see what needs work every day will be the most effective way to approach your mobility practice. Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen.

Building on this point, don’t solely focus on the movements that are easy for you. You need to work on the movements and positions that are challenging. The fact that they challenge you means they need work.

One thing that is really important when working on your mobility is to demonstrate to your body that you’re safe. Your body will not release and relax into the position unless it knows you’re safe. When you hold your breath, or you wince, or you otherwise express pain, your body thinks you’re in danger, and it’s actually going to tense up. Slow down, and ease off until you can breathe and relax.

“As you’re rolling around, I want a five-second inhale and a five-second exhale, because it turns out that’s a really good way to get my brain to chill out.” - Kelly Starrett

Key Movements

Keep your practice simple. Focus on a few key movements that work for your body and that you get maximum benefit from.

Here is an article where I outline the key 8 movements (in my opinion) that you should focus on:

https://twitter.com/_AshleyRichmond/status/1674859660589793281

Other Resources

There are 3 YouTube channels that are my go-tos for mobility routines:

• 5 Minute Morning Mobility Routine - Tom Merrick

• Full Body Stretch with Strength (10 min. Follow Along) - Strength Side

• Silent Full Body Morning Stretch Yoga for Athlete Flexibility - Breathe and Flow

These are just my favorite channels. Try them, look for others, and stick to what resonates with you. There are so many free resources out there.

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