Mobility Exercises for Performance and Injury Prevention | 15 Minutes of Mobility

Mobility Exercises for Performance and Injury Prevention – 15 Minutes of Mobility Exercises

Go-Go-Go!

“I know, I should go to yoga”

Today I want to stress the importance of a proper warm-up and mobility exercises. It is important to do 15 Minutes of Mobility both before AND after any activity. If you do 15 Minutes of Mobility in a mindful way, you’ll get 10x the gain from your workouts and you’ll get less injuries!

I call it “too-much-of-a-good-thing” syndrome.

We love climbing and skiing so much. These activities calm our minds and feed our souls. But too much repetitive movement can create structural imbalances. And left uncorrected, these imbalances can lead to pain and injury. In addition, most of us sit too much: 10 – 12  hours a day on average.

(If you don’t know by now, sitting is horrible for you:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/sitting/faq-20058005

https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/national/the-health-hazards-of-sitting/750/

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/many-reasons-chair-killing-you)

So, even if you think you’re active, you probably sit too much. Even if you always exercise after work and hit it hard on the weekends–you still probably commute to work sitting, and drive a desk all day.

Loss of mobility causes pain whether it is in the back, neck, shoulders, or hips. Loss of mobility creates range-of-motion issues, muscle imbalances, and joint stress.

15 Minutes of Mobility Exercises

Doing these exercises will create a neuromuscular stimulus that turns on under-performing muscles and “chills-out” overactive muscles, increasing mobility over time.  

Execute the movements precisely. Stay in alignment. Build balanced strength. As a result you’ll be stronger and with the added benefit of decreasing your risk of injury.

Remember quality over quantity. Smarter, not harder, creates results.

(Don’t do any of these exercises if they cause pain.)

Before activity stretches should be dynamic: move in and out of the stretch, holding for 3 – 5 secs and repeat 10+ times.

After activity stretches should static: hold for 30+ sec to lengthen the muscle. Longer stretches fatigue muscles, so they shouldn’t be done before training or activity.

15 Minutes of Mobility

Upper body

Hold spine in neutral and core stable so that your back doesn’t arch.

If these are easy, lay on a bench or foam roller to increase available range of motion.

1) Chest Opener

2) Elbows at Sides

3) Overhead Reach

4) Shoulder Openers Video

Lower Body

For all stretches maintain a neutral lumbar spine and do not mash low back into floor

1) Single Leg Hamstring Stretch (Use squat rack or door jam.)

2) Hip Opening 

3) Lying On Back Twist

4) Hip flexor (lie on bench, bed or chair)

5) Frog stretch

6) Quad stretch

7) Calf stretch (Ideally on a ramp but a step will work as well.)

Carolyn Parker

Founder, Instructor, Athlete, Mountain Guide

970-773-3317 work cell

Founder Ripple Effect Training

Coach for Uphill Athlete

AMGA Certified Rock Guide

Gym Jones, Fully Certified Instructor

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