scottfsmith

I have recently started on a mobility routine and I am truly impressed at this point how it is making me feel much more balanced and ready to go for it. It also seems to be helping with various aches and pains issues I have had for years.

In the last ten or so years it has been slowly dawning on me how messed up my posture has been (swayback, posterior pelvic tilt, outward hip splay, toe-out, shoulder blades frozen, etc etc etc). Lots of body problems arose from this mess which I will spare you the details of. There are mobility routines designed for these issues I learned. Note I did do PT for ~5 years and that did help, but it was focused on stretching and strengthening, not mobility. Mobility from my understanding is more about movement while stretching and a lot more rotation as opposed to straight-line. For example squats with hands wrapped above head and weight on one leg only, marching the legs while side planking, etc.

The routine I am currently doing is called "SMM", by Tom Morrison. There is also a good one by Eric Wong at Precision Movement. These are all on-line with training videos etc for $50-$75 lifetime cost. I noticed my gym also has mobility classes which I never had noticed before and may sign up for one of those just to see what they are doing.

Folks here tend to know more than me about various exercise regimens so I assume some others are doing mobility routines? I'd be interested to hear opinions.

terrymorse 

I don't know if it qualifies as mobility training, but I do my own barre routine (a remnant from my many years of dance training).

It makes doing everything easier.

1989Pre

Eliminating starches from my diet had a huge effect on my flexibility/mobility. Outside of that, yoga, dumbells, chin-ups, jump-rope and kung-fu stance work.

scottfsmith

There is definitely some overlap with Barre and mobility, at least based on what I hear from my wife who is a Barre regular. Barre is more on the strength/stretch side and less on the twisting/moving side. Not so much with yoga but I think it also overlaps with martial arts training somewhat. The thing I like about mobility is it is aimed at the common modern problems many people have in terms of posture and movement issues due to sitting nearly all day. Other methods can be good but they lack this focus.

Wildwood

For those of us who do not sit much of the day and regularly: walk, hike in the woods (stopping often to bend and 'smell the roses'), maintain a medium-large property (with digging/pruning/push mowing/weed whacking/etc), play with young grandchildren, regularly shop at warehouse stores w/ heavy carton quantities, plus the cycling bit. May we skip this thread without guilt or sense of loss?

Forgot: also, actively training multiple next-gen outdoor enthusiasts!


yesterday

edit: I have no ill will toward the limited use of ibuprofen.

scottfsmith

Anyone who doesn’t spend many hours a day sitting can skip this. But I have been very active outside of my job and still have many problems from all the hours of sitting.

rje58_too

Thanks for posting this topic! I was not familiar with term "mobility training". I am going to research it and see if I can benefit.

gobicycling

If anyone comes across a good DVD on Mobility training, please share.
I currently participate in a Saturday morning aquaerobics class with an instructor who has us doing a huge amount of whole body movements (kicking, jumping, stretching, striding, etc.) for a straight hour with only short water breaks. I think this is a form of mobility training. but I will ask him next session. It is different than other aquaerobic classes. (He is a pilot for SW airlines, but does not fly on Saturday - he is in TOP physical shape!) But, at 83, I can keep up.

The online demonstrations seem to feature sleek, skinny, perfectly balanced young women who appear to already be in great "mobility" shape - not like klutzy me!! They don't do much good for me.

Maelochs

Good issue for the 50+ community.

I was in great shape until i got a desk job and a car. Only then did all the old cycling and other injuries start to choke out my mobility, to the point where it is hard to dress myself some days. This is a good reminder to add some more mobility exercises to the workout I don't do every day.

scottfsmith

The aquaerobics surely has some good mobility to it. It is not optimized for mobility though I would say.

Re: finding a good DVD, I think the stuff at https://tommorrison.uk is very good. Their "Simplistic" mobility method is very simple. They do have a very flexible woman demonstrating but they have a whole long video of what they call "regressions" which are ways to scale back an exercise to something more manageable. The idea is to slowly remove the regressions over time. The program costs something like $75 lifetime fee but they have plenty of free YouTubes to get an idea if you like their style.

😆

I am horrible about planned workouts myself. The only reason why I am doing it now is I had PT-prescribed exercises which I felt I had to do and that finally got me in the habit.

smurfy

Is this the same as ROM (range of motion) training?

Eight days ago I underwent full knee replacement surgery and I will probably start doing ROM training by the beginning of the month when I get the doctor's go ahead.

scottfsmith

I think you will basically get mobility just for the knee with your ROM physical therapy. Mobility training is working on mobility in all parts of the body, not just one part.

I looked around on YouTube and here is a good free mobility routine if you want to see one particular example in detail:

Jjbailey930

4 1/2 years ago an acute L5/S1 disc bulge laid me out for a few months at the age of 57. I was active but started traveling more for work - so planes, trains and bad hotel beds may have contributed alongside too much sitting and not enough stretching. Lucky I was able to avoid surgery through PT and couple of injections. I started some PT exercises with bands and stretching in late 2017. Due to work travel, my road biking practically ceased. Some elliptical and trainers in hotel gyms tho.

Late 2021 the L4 disc started bothering me. Went to different spine doc and got script for PT. I was fortunate to get an experienced and empathetic DPT. Her husband is an avid biker. She enhanced my stretch routines with more core exercises in spring of 2022. A lot of yoga like work and some strength work. Wish I knew more about the core, stretching, etc when I was in my 40s and 50s. Now if I get a little tightness in lower back or hamstrings, I can work it out......

gobicycling

I downloaded the mobility video- thanks. I have it on the computer, and will attempt to add some to my routine. I think there are several (perhaps many) that I will have to modify or not do.

PoorInRichfield

When I was young, I thought all I needed to ride fast was to ride more. Old(er) age has told me otherwise and I've now learned that full body strength and flexibility helps me ride further and in less pain.

I like to practice what is called "primal movement" or "animal flow" routines via free YouTube videos. The movements involve strength and flexibility all-in-one and don't require any equipment, so they can be done anywhere at no cost (which was great when the CVD lockdown shut down all the gyms... I didn't care!)

late

Do this in a kitchen. Stand sideways to the counter. Put a hand on the counter (the lower you can grab, the more resistance you will get, someday I will try this on steps). I also use a small weight.

Rest a hand on the counter, lift a foot (you will do both feet, then turn around and do the other side) and then let your torso bend into a C shape. Bring your torso back into a neutral position with your torso and leg muscles, not your arms.

I also walk forwards, backwards, and sideways against bands. I have some very thick bands, so when I do this a lot, I get tons of resistance.

You will use less resistance sideways, there is also a trick. You step sideways normally, but then use your torso muscles to bring the trailing leg back in.

GhostRider62

I hike in rocky terrain and use a balance board. I don't know if that would be considered training. Lacing up the hockey skates also helps especially drills that focus on rotation and using outer edges.

I have been to four different PT over 6 years and none of them suggested anything about mobility exercises.

scottfsmith

Some PTs do suggest them as I have seen some referrals to the SMM program I am doing now. I should ask my PT what she thinks of it.. also to be clear many of the PT routines are helping with mobility, but most PT-prescribed exercises are just a stretch or just a strengthen, not the two together. Or so is my limited impression based on the PT routines I was taught. I was prescribed squats for example, but they were very shallow ones which did not give much of a stretch .. they seemed to be primarily a strengthener. In the SMM routine the squats are as deep as you can go plus with arms wrapped above head for added stretch plus weight on one leg only to give one side more stretch.

Re: the two videos above, those look like really good exercises but I'm not sure they are complete in terms of covering all the different dimensions of mobility. Things like internal hip rotation, thoracic spine rotation, etc are not found in many programs I have seen. For many years I did Tai-Chi, I would say it is a pretty good mobility workout but also not covering all of the modalities and having a lot of fairly easy moves or repeating the same moves too many times. For every mobility exercise I do I am feeling the burn.

FlyCycle

Last fall, about to turn 66 (!) I started having pain in my left knee that spread to the glut and hip--"piriformis syndrome" or something like that. A pain in the a##, as some will know! Went to a good PT recommended by a friend and my take-aways are: 1) there's no quick fix; 2) mobility training is a) strengthening and b) stretching, never only the latter; 3) I need to do a routine every day--just like the PT does himself. Thanks for recommendations and advice so far on this thread!

Tom in Miami (for now) who hopes to ride a 200K brevet in the coming year . . .

Jjbailey930

Tom, I have that too. Foam roller helps as does massage and dry needling. My last PT was great. She could administer dry needle as part of the PT. Took me a few times to get comfortable with it but she hit the spots which relieved the knots.