Fitness is often measured through numbers: how much weight a person can lift, or how fast or far they can run. But one important metric is harder to quantify: mobility.
Mobility gets overlooked, because the relevant exercises do not “have the instant visual appeal of traditional workouts”, says Tyler McDonald, certified personal trainer and senior brand manager for the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Mobility can’t be tracked on a leaderboard, and won’t significantly change how your body looks. But it will help you feel better and do better at just about everything else. As McDonald puts it: “It doesn’t matter how much you can bench-press if your shoulders hurt too much to put a carry-on bag in the overhead bin.”
So what is mobility and how does one start incorporating it into a fitness routine? We asked experts.
What is mobility?
Although “mobility” and “flexibility” are often used interchangeably, they don’t mean the same thing, says Dr Andrew Jagim, a sports medicine expert at the Mayo Clinic Health System.
Flexibility refers to the passive ability of a muscle or joint to move through a range of motion, Jagim explains. Mobility, on the other hand, is more active and incorporates strength, motor control, coordination and stability.
How deep you can sink into a forward fold, for example, is a matter of flexibility. But being able to move from a forward fold into a squat and back again requires mobility.
Why is mobility important?
“The biggest benefit of good mobility is freedom of movement,” says McDonald.
When your body moves in the way it is supposed to, the basic tasks of life feel easier – you can squat down to pick up keys you dropped, reach into the back seat of your car, or run around without your body feeling stiff and painful.
Movement requires a series of complex and overlapping systems in the body to work in sync: joints for bending, hinging and pivoting; muscles for moving the joints; and the brain and nervous system for balance and coordination.
Without good mobility, your body may still be able to accomplish daily tasks, but it will look for shortcuts, enlisting the help of joints and muscles that probably shouldn’t be involved.
“If your hips are locked up from sitting at a desk all day, your body still needs to find a way to let you bend over,” McDonald says. Often, it does so by “borrowing” some of that movement from your lower back. Over time, McDonald explains, this compensation can lead to chronic aches, premature joint wear, and a much higher risk of injury during sudden or heavy movements.
Being able to move efficiently is also essential to ageing independently, and fall risk is a major issue as people age. A 2023 paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that many elderly adults who fall are not injured, but must call emergency services for help because they lack the hip and knee mobility required to get up.
“Those left lying on the floor for over an hour, even without injury, are more likely to die within six months,” the paper read.
Even for those in the bloom of youth, for whom healthy ageing seems like a distant concern, mobility has lots of immediate benefits, including improved athletic performance, says Dr Kelly Starrett, physiotherapist and co-author of the book Built to Move.
“When we have tissues that are more compliant, joints that work better, more efficiency, better recovery, power goes up,” Starrett says. This allows an athlete with better mobility to work harder than their competition, because their body is moving more efficiently and not using energy on wasteful movement.
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How do you incorporate mobility exercises into your routine?
Sit on the ground. It’s as simple as it sounds: sit on the ground for 20-30 minutes a day. You can do it while you watch TV in the evening, and move between as few or as many positions as you want. “Sit side-saddle, hurdler, on your knees, cross-legged, it doesn’t matter,” Starrett says. Over time, what starts to happen is “we start to spend time in very fundamental shapes”, he says.
Try soft tissue work. Although not the same as regular mobility work, Starrett says that short sessions of compressing soft tissue (like muscles, tendons, fat and skin) can have huge benefits, including improved blood flow and a greater range of tissue movement.
To do this, place a foam roller or tennis ball on the floor, and simply … roll around on it for a while. Starrett suggests committing to 10 minutes a day.
“Ask yourself: What’s sore? What hurts? What feels stiff?” he says. Then roll on that area. As you do so, make sure you can breathe; if the sensation is too intense and you can’t breathe, back off a bit by putting less weight on the roller or ball. If that’s still too intense, you can also practice in a chair or against a wall.
Compression should be limited to soft tissue, meaning you shouldn’t roll directly on a joint, as this can cause the joint to overextend. Roll above or below the knee, for example, but not on the knee itself. If you have a torn muscle or broken bone, speak to a doctor before doing any soft tissue work.
Integrate “mobility snacks”. “You don’t need to commit to an hour of painful contortions each day,” in order to improve your mobility, says McDonald. Instead, he suggests aiming for 10-15 minutes of mobility work three to four times a week. This can be done as a dynamic warm-up before a workout, or while winding down at night. He suggests prioritizing three foundational movements:
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90/90 hip switches: Sit on the floor with the front leg bent at a 90-degree angle (thigh out in front of you and calf perpendicular to you) and the back leg bent at a 90-degree angle (thigh out to the side, calf roughly parallel to you). Slowly rotate your knees to the opposite side without lifting your feet off the floor. “This is fantastic for opening tight hips,” McDonald says.
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Cat-cow stretch. With your hands and knees on the ground, arch your back towards the ceiling, dropping your head between your arms. Then, slowly drop your back and raise your head and glutes towards the ceiling. This helps with spine mobility.
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World’s greatest stretch. Yes, this stretch has quite the name, but for good reason. Start in a plank. Bring the right leg forward into a low lunge position. Stretch the right arm overhead towards the ceiling, twisting the upper body. Then, bring the right hand behind the head and attempt to touch the ground with the right elbow. “It hits your hips, hamstrings and upper back all at once, making it incredibly efficient,” says McDonald.