A quick flick through the trending exercise videos across social media, and you’ll soon find yourself coming across videos promoting exercises for flexibility.
Engaging in mobility exercises at the gym is not only beneficial for flexibility but also for increasing your strength.
Dean Zweck, Product Development Manager at Total Fitness, the leading health club brand across the North of England and Wales, has shared his insights on the importance of engaging in exercises to improve your mobility and flexibility.
Why are mobility exercises so important?
Maintaining Joint Health
Regular mobility exercises play a crucial role in preserving your health and joint functionality.
As you age, joints become stiffer, however, engaging in mobility exercises such as yoga or dynamic stretching can help maintain healthy joints.
The improved circulation associated with mobility exercises can also help facilitate the delivery of nutrients to the joints, supporting overall health and longevity.
Improving Range of Motion
A broader range of motion can help make daily activities including bending, reaching and twisting easier, while also contributing to your overall quality of life and independence, at any age.
Mobility exercises are crucial in enhancing your range of motion and by regularly adding these exercises into your routine, you will be able to move more freely and comfortably in your daily life.
Preventing Injury
One of the key benefits of mobility-focused exercises is its ability to prevent the risk of injury.
Flexible muscles and joints are less prone to strains and sprains and can also help correct muscle imbalances, which is a common cause of injury.
Enhancing Performance
Mobility exercises are essential for optimising performance and reducing the risk of falls and accidents.
They allow you to move with greater fluidity and control, by enhancing your posture, balance and coordination.
It can also improve your overall movement ability, making exercise and physical activity more enjoyable and sustainable in the long term.
The Best Exercises for Increasing Mobility
- Yoga
Renowned for its ability to improve flexibility, mobility and over wellbeing, yoga is an extremely relaxing way to improve your joint mobility. The various poses target different muscles and joints around all of your body.
Practising yoga regularly will improve your flexibility and resilience but can also have benefits for both your physical and mental health.
This relaxing but highly impactful activity will do wonders for your overall wellbeing.
- Pilates
Pilates is a low-impact but highly beneficial exercise, which emphasises core strength, flexibility, balance and coordination.
Movements such as the Roll-up, the Hundred, Spine Twist and Swan Dive help to mobilise the spine, strengthen the supporting muscles and improve overall flexibility.
By strengthening the core and stabilising muscles while simultaneously promoting flexibility, Pilates creates a strong foundation for functional movement and is an exercise people of all ages can take part in with relative ease.
Foam Rolling
Foam rolling is highly effective for improving mobility, as it helps aid muscle recovery when they’ve become tight and restricted due to factors like prolonged sitting, exercise, or injury.
The foam roller can apply pressure to certain places in your body, releasing all unwanted tension and increasing your own comfortability in your body.
By introducing these simple exercises, you can improve your muscle condition and make doing simple daily tasks that little bit easier, no matter what your age or sporting ability.