5 warm up exercises for better mobility

Nikki Naab-Levy February 15, 2016 Comment

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of doing prehab/stability and mobility exercises before a workout to improve range of motion and reduce stiffness and pain.

And while you could take my word for it, I thought I’d use this post to give you a little of the science behind why these exercises are so beneficial.

Many people find that when they workout – especially as they get older – that they start to stiffen up and lose mobility. Oftentimes, they chalk it up to the aging process and assume nothing can be done, when actually corrective exercise can help.

Why gentle mobility and stability exercises improve range of motion and alignment

When we move with poor biomechanics (in the gym or daily life) or we don’t move enough, our nervous system senses that we don’t have good support or stability around the joints. And as a way to protect the compromised area, our nervous system sends a signal to the large muscles around the joint to “tighten” up to decrease our range.

The cool this is that when you take a time to work the stabilizing muscles and mobilize some of the more stuck structures, balance in the body and range of motion can return fairly quickly. It’s almost like it resets a switch in the brain to say “it’s safe to go into this range again.”

Now you could do these exercises at any time outside of a workout and there are hundreds of stability and mobility to choose from, but I’ve created a short routine of some of my favorite moves for you.

These moves hit some of our most stuck spots and target stability for the hips and shoulders. Try them before or after a workout or use them as a gentle routine when you get up the the morning…after you’ve had your coffee of course. 😉

Enjoy!