This is Your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.
Even if you don’t prioritize mobility in your training, you likely know it’s important. After all, good mobility is key to executing moves with proper form and staying off of the proverbial disabled list. But in order to build mobility, you also need to understand how it’s different from flexibility.
Many guys don’t understand the distinction, and if you’re one of them, don’t sweat it—trainers often confuse the two terms as well. Here’s the distinction: mobility has to do with joints, and flexibility has to do with muscles.
More specifically, mobility is the ability of a joint to move freely through a full range of motion without pain or discomfort. Flexibility, on the other hand, speaks directly to the ability of a muscle lengthen fully.
If you’ve ever found yourself red-faced and shaking during a yoga session, you’ve likely lamented your lack of flexibility. And if you’ve ever struggled to drop into a deep squat, you know what it feels like to have restricted mobility.
A deficiency in either skill can inhibit movement and affect athletic performance, so if you want to optimize both, you’ll start paying more attention to your range of motion during your workouts—and actively trying to improve.
Your move: Don’t skip your warm up or cool down. Dynamic stretching (pre workout) and static stretching (post workout) are highly effective at improving both mobility and flexibility. Bonus points if you also stretch between workouts and include yoga in your weekly routine.
Also, just to help yourself out in general, don’t cheat during exercises. Advanced training strategies such as partial reps (like quarter squats) have their place in a well-designed workout program, but true strength means being able to handle a load through a full range of motion.
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