Mobility

Mobility is the combination of flexibility and stability. We want to be able to move our joints through a large range of motion and have stability all the way. If you find that you are struggling from restricted motion due to tight muscles there are a number of mobility tools that I recommend that you can use to effectively provide yourself with relief using massage techniques and a little knowledge of anatomy.

STRETCHING AND. SELF MASSAGE

First things first

Before you start worrying too much about anything else, know that you can’t make ‘Basic Adaptation Errors’ like:

Lack of warming up or cooling down
Lack of sleep
Dehydration
Poor nutrition
Prolonged sitting
Chronic inflammation & stress
Poor insulin sensitivity

Terminology & Getting on the Same Bus

Lack of mobility means you are restricted from your potential

There’s a difference between ‘injured’ and ‘hurt’. Injured means you need intervention, while hurt is a bit of how things are for people who use their bodies.

Think of your body as a chain of joints. One joint affects the next. We call these effects ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’.

How Injuries Occur

Everything in life can be categorized as either creating force or absorbing force. Injuries happen when your body is asked to absorb more force than it can handle.

Symptoms are lagging indicators. They alert you to the problem after it’s a problem. Imagine needing to blow up your car engine before you knew you needed to change how to drive.

Our bodies can handle a lot, but just like a paperclip that is repeatedly bent back-and-forth, eventually, a break happens. And just like a paperclip, you can never reverse the injury and un-break the paperclip. You are never uninjured.

Made toast--but burned down the house

You are set up for survival and your body will prioritize movement over pain. These two signals travel on the same pathway in your nervous system. Because of this, your body won’t sense pain and signal movement at the same time.

Quality matters more than task completion. How many people do you see cross the finish line of a marathon looking like death? Sure they finished, but….

Imagine making toast while burning down the house. We cannot prioritize task completion over the quality of movement.

Position → Performance → Results

Your body positioning affects your performance, which affects your results. Improving your position means that you'll be able to accomplish more work in a workout, go harder longer, and take less rest.

Movement cycles executed in poor position leads to a faster rate of damage to tissues. Without poor mechanics, you shouldn’t ‘wear out’. You’re built to be 110 years old.

Sources of Movement & Position Dysfunction

2% from Pathology and Trauma (diseases/conditions and collisions, falls, crashes, etc)

98% of dysfunction comes from these two Faults

Over Tension - including lack of range of motion. For example, having only 50% range of motion at elbow will lead to pain in your neck while eating. Most people lack their mobility in less socially crippling joints like the ankle or shoulder. Your joints should only be stiff at the end range of motion, with no resistance along the way.
Open Circuit - Being out of a stable position. If you don’t create stability, your body will automatically rely on second orders of stability. For example, the difference between relying on elbow tendons (second order) vs. elbow muscles (first order).