Your body makes up for these deficiencies by putting more pressure on another part of the body.
For example, if you have limited mobility in your ankles, your body will compensate by putting more strain on your lower back.
So, when you go to do a simple squat, you might feel pain in your back instead of your legs, all because your ankles aren’t mobile enough. If ignored for an extended period of time, you can actually injure yourself and require much more than a few minutes of mobility exercises before a workout.
This is exactly the sort of thing that the fitness community is looking to rectify. Increasingly, fitness studios, personal trainers, and even big-box gyms are offering mobility-focused workouts to help people become hyper-focused about their bodies and correct imbalances.
How Can I Improve My Mobility?
There are multiple ways to improve mobility. I
f you have a specific imbalance, you might need to work individually with a trainer or physical therapist if you have serious issues. But generally, here are a few ways to improve your mobility for better performance in and outside of the gym:
1. Foam Rolling
This is great before and after any workout to loosen up muscle tissue and get rid of lactic acid, which leads to soreness. Rolling out your muscles also increases blood flow which all together can help to increase the mobility of that muscle. Check out trainer @gymhooky for a demonstration.
2. Hip & Leg Circles
If you ever ran track, then you may already be familiar with this move. You start standing on one foot. Then you bend one knee toward your chest at a 90-degree angle and draw a circle with your knee in the