Mobility Vs. Flexibility – What Do They Mean?
Viktoria Hogan is a personal trainer and online nutrition coach who runs Tori Training, an online solution to your health and fitness goals. She lives in the U.S., but is originally from Sweden. She played soccer up through college and has always had a passion for training and nutrition.
What do people actually mean by mobility and flexibility? Have you ever wondered what the differences are between these words that seem to be used interchangeably in the fitness industry? How much time and effort should you spend on improving your mobility and flexibility? In this blog post, I will clarify the differences between mobility and flexibility as well as exploring why they are important and what you can do.
Mobility vs. flexibility
Mobility is moving your joints through your active range of motion while flexibility is how far you can extend muscles in a passive state. For example, being able to perform a split on the floor would be considered flexibility because you are stretching your muscles, but a gymnast jumping up and performing a split in the air would be considered mobility. Mobility needs flexibility (the muscles must be flexible enough to do the split), but it also encompasses strength and stability to perform the movement. Flexibility primarily has to do with muscles while mobility includes joints, tendons, ligaments, and motor control in addition to muscles. Someone can have good flexibility without having good mobility. However, if you have poor flexibility, you will also have poor mobility.
Why are flexibility and mobility important?
Having poor mobility and/or flexibility can affect you both in your workouts but also in daily living. If you have poor flexibility or mobility, you won’t be able to perform exercises in your workout with the best form which could not only lead to injuries but will also determine the effect of the workout. For example, if you are someone who wants to get bigger glute muscles and is squatting to do so, if you are not able to get low enough in that squat your glutes won’t be nearly as engaged. Instead, it will be your quads doing most of the work.
Being immobile can also put you at risk of injuries, such as strains. If you are exercising and pushing yourself or if you are playing sports, there is a high risk of injuries if your muscles and joints are not able to move efficiently.
Regardless if you work out or not, poor mobility and flexibility could potentially cause harm. Having good mobility and flexibility makes everyday activities such as sitting, standing, and bending easier. If you are unevenly flexible or mobile it could cause common posture deviations. For example, if you work in front of a desk all day, chances are that you are sitting slightly hunched over with a forward head posture. After sitting with a deviated posture for longer periods at a time it could cause you to have permanent posture deviations. If you want to read more about posture deviations, check out this article about posture correction.
What can affect flexibility and mobility
There is more than just movement, or lack thereof, that affects your flexibility and mobility. Factors that affect flexibility include your genetics as some people are born more flexible than others, females tend to be more flexible, and even hormones can affect flexibility (for example, when you are pregnant), but potential scar tissue from injuries and age can also make you more or less flexible.
Scar tissue and age are factors for mobility too, as well as which joint you are trying to mobilize, what the flexibility of the soft tissue around the joint is like, and what your health status is as some conditions can alter mobility, but also excess fat mass or excess muscle mass can restrict mobility.
How to improve flexibility and mobility
Depending on where you are when you start, it can be more or less difficult to reverse immobility or inflexibility. You might need to see a professional to find out whether or not you have any muscle imbalances and how to treat them. There are, however, a few things you can do on your own to improve your flexibility and mobility. For flexibility, you can do static stretching. Contrary to some beliefs, static stretching does not make you lose strength if done correctly. There is a common myth that performing static stretches would cause your strength to suffer. In fact, engaging in static stretches can give you a better performance as flexibility plays a role in both mobility and performance. There has been research that shows that holding long static stretches in the warmup could be harmful, although more research needs to be done to determine in which settings this would occur. As a general rule, you would want to mobilize tight muscles and activate lengthened muscles. If you are unsure what you need, save the static stretches to the end of your workout and use them as a cooldown. Another great option to improve flexibility is to take a yoga class where you go through controlled poses at a set pace.
For mobility, working through specific exercises can be very helpful. In contrast to static stretches where you hold it for longer periods, dynamic stretches are great for mobility and can easily be part of your warmup routine to get yourself ready for your activity. Foam rolling also helps improve blood flow and can help your mobility. Resistance training is an additional way to help improve your mobility when you work on correct form and through your range of motion. The more you perform a squat, the better you will be at it.
A few examples of good mobility exercises are ankle articulations with a band, hip openers, low squats, and a chest opener. Once you have started to improve your mobility, incorporating these exercises into your warmup when you work out will help keep and improve mobility. If you want to learn more about warming up and cooling down, check out this article about warming up and cooling down.
You can also check out these YouTube videos if you find watching a video easier to follow than reading an article: Upper Body Warmup, Upper Body Cooldown, Lower Body Warmup, Lower Body Stretch, Upper Body Mobility, Hip Mobility.
Another way to help your mobility is to not be too stationary during the day but to try to move as much as you can to avoid getting stiff which also will help with blood circulation.
Conclusion
Mobility vs. flexibility are both important and have different functions for your body. Trying to incorporate these into your routine can have huge benefits for your performance, but also on quality of life. Even though it is something that feels redundant at times or perhaps “too easy,” it can be detrimental to your health if you don’t give it the time it needs.
Viktoria Hogan, Personal Trainer and Online Nutrition Coach
Viktoria Hogan is a personal trainer and online nutrition coach who runs Tori Training, an online solution to your health and fitness goals. She lives in the U.S., but is originally from Sweden. She played soccer up through college and has always had a passion for training and nutrition. As a trainer since the beginning of 2020, she has trained a multitude of clients and gained several specialization certifications within her field. Her main mission is to improve people's quality of life.
References:
International Sports Sciences Association. (n.d.). Mobility vs. flexibility: What's the difference? Retrieved May 22, 2024, from https://www.issaonline.com/blog/post/mobility-vs-flexibility-whats-the-difference
Well+Good. (n.d.). Static stretching before a workout: Why you should skip it. Retrieved May 22, 2024, from https://www.wellandgood.com/static-stretching-before-workout/
