Tag: mobility
The Best Daily Mobility Exercises for Men
Speaking as a typical man, I can honestly say I’d rather be lifting weights or doing push-ups than stretching. Heck, I’d even prefer to do cardio!
However, not stretching can have an adverse effect on flexibility, mobility, exercise performance, posture, and joint health. You might not notice the consequences yet, but as you get older, the effects of not stretching become more noticeable.
The good news is that, like your biceps and quads, your flexibility and mobility are highly trainable. And it doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to improve them.
In this article, we reveal the best daily mobility exercises for men.
Why You NEED to Do These Exercises Daily
Your body was designed to move. Muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, intervertebral discs – all of these structures get healthier and stronger when you move your body.
However, unless you have a manual labor job, the chances are you don’t move enough to be healthy. Prolonged sitting can do a real number on your musculoskeletal system, leaving you sore, stiff, and immobile.
Regular workouts can help but aren’t enough to offset the effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. For example, even if you hit the gym for five hours a week, that still leaves 163 hours during which you can be inactive.
Prolonged sitting causes your muscles to shorten and stiffen up. This will adversely affect your flexibility and mobility. Your posture can also take a hit.
Like a machine allowed to rust, this will make your joints more prone to wear and tear and could even stop you from performing movements that should be smooth and painless, such as reaching overhead or touching your toes.
Animals don’t need to be told to stretch and move. It’s something they do instinctively. Watch a cat, dog, lion, or tiger, and invariably, they’ll stretch briefly but regularly throughout the day. That way, they’re always ready for action; you don’t see big cats warming up before a hunt!
Humans would do well to take a page from the animal fitness guidebook and stretch little and often to break up periods of inactivity. This would alleviate many of the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting and sedentarism.
But which stretches should you do? After all, fitness experts often recommend dozens of different and often convoluted exercises, which is one of the things that makes stretching so unattractive.
It doesn’t matter that most men know they need to stretch more; the moment it becomes inconvenient or seems more trouble than it’s worth, they quit doing it.
So, we’ve boiled things down to a short list of six simple movements most men should do daily. These big-bang-for-your-buck exercises focus on the areas most likely to be tight, i.e., the hips, back, and shoulders.
Sure, you could do more if you want, but that may mean you get bogged down and, due to lack of time, don’t stretch and mobilize at all.
Like most animals, who only do a couple of different stretches, it’s better to do less but do it well than try to do more and fail to do it at all. So, we’re aiming to be good and consistent rather than perfect but inconsistent.
By keeping things simple, you can work on your mobility in less than ten minutes a day.
The Best Daily Mobility Exercises for Men
Do the following exercises daily or more often if you have time. You can combine them to make a morning routine, do them before or after your workout, during your lunch break, after dinner, or before going to bed.
Spend longer on the exercises that feel the most difficult. Invariably, these are the ones that you need the most.
Cat/cow
Standing spine twist
Waiter’s bow
Kneeling hip flexor stretch
Yoga push-up
Yoga squat
1. Cat/cow
Target areas: Lower back, upper back, neck, erector spinae, rectus abdominis.
Cat/cow is a pose from yoga, so people have been doing this exercise for centuries. This move effectively mobilizes your entire spine, from your lumbar or lower vertebrae to your cervical vertebrae or neck. It also “flosses” your spinal cord, which can help alleviate issues like sciatica. Your spine will feel fabulous after this exercise, especially if you’ve been stuck in a chair or car for a few hours.
Steps:
Kneel on all fours with your shoulders directly over your hands and your hips over your knees.
Exhale and lift the middle of your back up toward the ceiling. Lower your head and tilt your pelvis under to create a large C-shape with your spine.
Next, inhale and lower your abdomen down toward the floor. Lift your head and your butt to extend your spine.
Smoothly alternate between these two positions for 6-12 reps, timing your movements with your breaths.
2. Standing spine twist
Target areas: Lower back, upper back, obliques, shoulders, hips, knees.
Twisting is a very uncommon movement pattern in modern life. As such, a lot of people are rotationally restricted. So if you find turning your head and shoulders to look behind you difficult, e.g., when reversing your car, this exercise will help. It’s also a great stress reliever and general warm-up movement.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Relax your shoulders, arms, and neck.
Start by rotating your head and shoulders to the left and right. Allow your arms to trail behind, reaching around to touch your hips.
Then, allow your hips and knees to turn with your shoulders. Add a slight lateral weight shift if you wish.
Increase your momentum as your muscles start to loosen and warm up. However, never force the movement or fling your arms. Make “soft and supple” your movement mantra.
Continue for 15-30 reps per side.
3. Waiter’s bow
Target areas: Lower back, hips, hamstrings.
The waiter’s bow is a great way to ease tension from your lower back and stretch your hamstrings, commonly one of the tightest muscles in the body. Tight hammies can cause numerous postural and functional problems and are also prone to injury. Do this exercise anytime you’ve been sitting for a long time, which invariably causes the hamstrings to tighten up even more.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and arms by your sides.
Push your butt backward, hinge forward from your hips, and extend your arms in front of you so your entire upper body is roughly parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back.
Lower your arms and return to the starting position.
Repeat 10-15 times.
4. Kneeling hip flexor stretch
Target areas: Hip joints, hip flexors, quadriceps, rectus abdominis.
Prolonged sitting can leave you with very tight hip flexors, which are the muscles located on the fronts of your thighs and pelvis. Tight hip flexors are a leading cause of low back pain and poor posture. Hip flexor problems can also cause your lower abdomen to protrude, making your belly bulge even if you are very lean. This exercise is critical for anyone who spends long periods sitting – so everyone, really!
Steps:
Step forward and bend your legs. Lower your rear knee to the floor. Adjust your feet so your front shin should be vertical.
Gently push your hips forward to stretch the hip flexor on your back leg.
Take care not to hyperextend your spine. Instead, keep your lumbar spine and pelvis neutral. Do not rest your hands on your front leg; let your arms hang relaxed by your sides.
Hold for 30-60 seconds, and then switch sides.
For added credit, reach up into the air with one arm to stretch your obliques and lats; this stretch feels so good!
5. Yoga push-up
Target areas: Lower back, hips, hamstrings, shoulders, upper back, calves.
While push-ups are usually viewed as a strength and conditioning exercise, the yoga push-up is also a top-drawer mobility exercise. Yoga push-ups will stretch and mobilize your ankles, hips, lower back, and shoulders. In fact, if you only have time for one mobility exercise, the yoga push-up is probably your best choice.
Steps:
Adopt the push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart, arms extended, and body straight. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
Bend your arms and lower your chest down to within an inch of the floor.
Next, push up and back, lifting your hips up toward the ceiling.
Gently push your head between your arms to extend your shoulders, open your chest, and stretch your lats. Keep your legs as straight as possible, and press your heels down toward the floor. Your body should now resemble an inverted V. Hold this position (but not your breath) for several seconds.
Return to the starting position, bend your arms, and repeat for 4-6 smooth reps.
6. Yoga squat
Target areas: Lower back, hips, inner thighs, calves.
This exercise is a variation of the famous Asian squat but with more emphasis on opening the hips and stretching your inner thighs. While this exercise might feel awkward at first, in time, it will become a relaxing resting posture. Practice it often to mobilize your hips, knees, and lower back. Look for opportunities to drop into a squat throughout your day.
Steps:
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
Raise your heels and descend into a deep squat.
Next, lower your heels to the floor and press your elbows against your inner thighs to open your hips and knees.
Sit in this position for 60-90 seconds.
Rest your heels on one-inch blocks if you are unable to keep them flat on the floor. Lower the height of the blocks as your flexibility improves.
Mobility Exercises – FAQs
Do you have a question about these daily mobility exercises for men? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!
1. Do I need to warm up before doing these exercises?
While you could warm up before these exercises with some light cardio, it shouldn’t be necessary. Instead, start each movement slow and easy, and only increase your range of motion as you feel your muscles start to relax and your joints begin to loosen. Use the first few reps as your warm-up.
Also, the exercises are listed in approximate order of difficulty, so each one will prepare your muscles and joints for what comes next.
Finally, if you do the exercises several times a day, especially to break up long periods of sitting, you should find they get more manageable as your day progresses.
2. Some exercises are more difficult than others. Is this normal?
Most people have some muscle groups tighter than others. For example, you may have overly tight hamstrings while the rest of your muscles are relaxed and supple. This is completely normal.
Mobilizing your entire body is an excellent way to identify localized areas of tightness. If you find any such places, just spend a few extra minutes on them. With this extra attention, they’ll soon catch up with the rest of your muscle groups and cease being the tight link in your kinetic chain.
3. When is the best time to do mobility exercises?
There is no single best time to stretch and mobilize. It’ll do you good almost any time of day. That said, there are times when it might be marginally more beneficial or convenient, such as:
Shortly after waking as part of your morning routine.
Before or after exercise.
Before bed.
To break up long periods of sitting.
After long journeys.
During TV ad breaks.
To reduce stress or promote relaxation.
Anytime you need to wake up and energize.
Try to set a mobility schedule to ensure you do these exercises regularly. Doing them at the same time each day is a great way to make mobility training more habitual so you’re less likely to forget to do it.
4. Do I have to stick to the prescribed number of reps for each exercise?
The prescribed number of reps is merely a suggestion. If you feel like you would benefit from doing more, then please do so. Continue doing each exercise until you feel it’s done its job, i.e., stretched your muscles and mobilized your joints.
However, remember these are not conditioning exercises and, as such, should not be fatiguing. Rather, you should feel energized but relaxed after completing them.
5. Do I need to do all the exercises in sequence?
While these mobility exercises are presented in a sequence, you don’t have to perform them that way. If you only have time to do a couple of the exercises, that’s what you should do. Any mobility training is better than none.
Choose the exercises that target known areas of tightness. This is usually the hips and shoulders for most men but can vary from person to person.
6. Can I do these exercises more than once a day?
You can stretch and mobilize as many times a day as you want or need to. In fact, the more often you do these exercises, the better you’ll feel, and the longer-lasting their effects will be.
The entire sequence of exercises should take no more than ten minutes, so you should have no problem doing it 3-5 times per day.
That said, even once per day will be beneficial if you do them consistently, i.e., daily for several months. However, do your best not to skip a day. Daily mobility training is a must.
Closing Thoughts
Modern living means that many people are tight and stiff, unable to perform everyday movements comfortably or efficiently. Prolonged sitting and other sedentary activities are primarily to blame. The less you move, the more difficult moving becomes.
Working out can help, but a few hours of gym time cannot make up for an otherwise sedentary, inactive lifestyle. Your body is the master adapter, and muscles soon shorten with lack of use.
Thankfully, in the same way you can develop your aerobic fitness or build bigger biceps, you can improve mobility and win back lost flexibility. All you need to do is move more.
Use the exercises in this article to restore lost mobility. Do them at least once a day and more often if you can. They might be difficult at first, but that’s precisely why you need to do them! Focus on the exercises that feel most challenging.
Just a few minutes a day is all you need to regain your mobility. You don’t have to be sore and stiff and remember that even old big cats are still supremely supple. Why? because they stretch every day!
Why Wrist Mobility Matters For Bodybuilders And How To Improve It
Often forgotten, your wrists can make or break a great lift with poor mobility.
We often over-look certain joints in our body and take them for granted. Our bodies are fairly resilient, right? While that may be true, for those of us bodybuilders looking to make big gains without feeling the pressure of unwanted pain and strain on our muscles, joints, and ligaments, then it is important to notice when things just don’t feel quite right. Our wrists and their mobility are crucial to our ability for big lifts and gains, and they should not be a limiting factor in our development.
Poor wrist mobility can lead to time away from the gym where those gains happen and unfortunate pain in a vital joint for simple everyday movements. In terms of lifting, if you are going to lift, your wrist will be involved and while wrist injuries are unfortunately unavoidable, they can be minimized with proper care and mobility work to ensure those big lifts don’t take a toll on your wrists.
With many athletes like CrossFitters and Olympic weightlifters, wrist straps are common as a source of support for their otherwise heavy movements. The amount of weight and pressure we ask our wrists to handle everyday can be exhausting and if we neglect the proper attention to flexibility and form, our risk of injury and damage really increases. But we can prevent this as much as possible through mobility exercises and proper form.
Quick Breakdown Of The Wrist
Your wrist is actually a multi-joint muscle that spans several joints. They start in your forearm and cross between your radius and the bones in your wrists. They also span into your hands and fingers allowing for all of that movement we humans are fortunate enough to have. With multiple ranges of motion, we can move our palms backwards and forwards (flexion and extension) and from side to side (adduction and abduction). Allowing for our grip strength, if our wrists lack mobility, we often rely on our shoulders and elbows for compensation (1).
Mobility Matters
Wrist mobility matters for our overall health, but for us bodybuilders, they allow us to execute lifts properly with great technique. Staying on top of form while also working on wrist mobility allow us to stay on top of our game and injury free. If your job requires you to sit at the computer or use a phone, the chances are high that your wrists become fairly stiff ruining our range of motion (2).
With weak or stiff wrists, we rely on not only shoulders and elbows, but also our forearms which can add unwanted stress to that muscle as well. Often times you will see Olympic lifters bounce the bar off their shoulders in efforts to re-grip the bar so they take the stress off their joints and other muscles to properly correct form and lift heavy weights for competition.
Strong wrists will encourage the right grip, align your body for proper form, and make sure there is a good path for the bar to travel to ensure you get all the benefits of whatever lift you are doing (3). If you do find you have wrist pain when you lift, or even during everyday tasks, it is not too late to change this. Mobility and strengthening exercises will ensure your wrist health stays in peak shape as well as all of your workouts.
Let’s Fix It
These wrist strengthening and mobility exercises are great for a warm-up stretch, mid-workout check-in, or post-workout recovery and really help get rid of unwanted pain and work for your overall benefit.
Wrist Rotations
Wrist rotations are a basic way to improve wrist mobility. These can be done anywhere and at any time to really work on getting those wrists to where they need to be. Wrap your fingers together and move your wrists around in different positions. If one spot feels tight or sore, pause on that spot and really work out the kinks.
Prayers
A very simple way to stretch the wrist flexor muscles, these can also be down anywhere and whenever you feel like working on some mobility. Start with your palms together and raise your hands over your head. Keeping your palms together, move your hands down as far as they will go. Hold for around 10 seconds and repeat the exercise for your desired numbers of times.
Wrist Walks
Wrist walks are great for really working range of motion. Starting with your palms on a wall, extend your arms. While keeping contact on the wall, walk your hands down as far as they will go. Once you reach your limit, turns your hands so your fingers are pointed to the ground and walk your wrists back up the wall.
Desk Wrist Leans
It is important to not go too far past your limit to cause more pain and keeping contact with the desk is key. Lean against a desk or table with your arms extended and palms flat. Rock back and forth gently as you really feel that stretch. For side to side movement, turn your hands on the desk so your fingers face opposite each other. Rock gently from side to side working them from a different angle.
Planche Push-Up
The Planche push-up position may be too much for some, so if you need to, drop to your knees for a modified version. In a plank position with your arms fully extended, turn your hands so your fingers face your toes. With a tight core, shift your body slightly forward so your shoulders are over your wrists. Hold for around 30 seconds, rest, and continue for your desired number of reps.
Wrap Up
Our wrists take a beating every day. We use them for everyday tasks as well as those tough workouts and big lifts. Having solid wrist mobility not only aids in your overall health, but allows for those big gains to shine through, something we all strive for. From promoting proper form to allowing us to lift big, our wrists are crucial for our bodybuilding goals. Try these wrist mobility exercises to really aid in growth and get rid of unwanted pain to keep working hard in the gym without needing any days off.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Berger, Richard A. (1996). “The Anatomy and Basic Biomechanics of the Wrist joint”. (source)
Ryu, Jaiyoung; Cooney, William P.; Askew, Linda J.; An, Kai Nan; Chao, Edmund Y. S. (1991). “Functional ranges of motion of the wrist joint”. (source)
Lee, Julia-Ann; Sechachalam, Sreedharan (2016). “The Effect of Wrist Position on Grip Endurance and Grip Strength”. (source)
8 Mobility Exercises You Need To Do Before A Workout
Improve Your Mobility With These Movements
The worst thing you could do when you enter the gym is to go straight into your workout – and it’s exactly what most people do. Warming up by doing a few mobility exercises can greatly reduce the chances of an injury.
Working on your mobility can prime your joints and muscles for your workouts and facilitate your mind-muscle connection and pumps. In short, you should make performing the mobility movements an indispensable part of your warm-up ritual.
Shoulder Rotator Cuff Dumbbell Extensions
Your shoulder cuffs are a stiff muscle group and don’t have a lot of mobility. Not warming them up before a workout can lead to discomfort or an injury. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand and lock your elbows to your side. Bend your arms at the elbows so your lower arms are parallel to the floor.
While keeping your elbows pinned, slowly turn the dumbbells outwards as far as you can by moving at your forearms. Reverse the motion and turn the dumbbells inwards. Perform this exercise until you feel your shoulder joints have warmed up.
Foam Rolling
While there are hundreds of mobility and flexibility exercises out there, in this article, we’ll be focusing on the exercises you can do on your own. Foam rolling is a great way of loosening up your tense muscles.
It’s a form of self-myofascial massage which can be done for the majority of muscle groups. Foam rolling before a workout can help with mobility and can help speed up the recovery process when done after a workout.
Hip Openers
Hip openers are a great exercise for people who have problem squatting. Stand upright with your hands placed on your sides. Raise your right leg so your upper leg is parallel to the floor while keeping your left foot planted on the floor.
Make a circle with your right knee by bringing it across your body, and then out to the side. Repeat for the recommended reps and switch to the left leg.
Shoulder Pass Throughs
Stand with your feet placed shoulder-width apart. Hold a broomstick overhead with a grip that is as wide as possible. Bring the broomstick behind your back as far as you can without bending at your elbows. Return to the starting position and bring the stick forward so it rests against your quads. Repeat for the recommended reps.
Low Lunge With Push Back
Start with placing both your hands on the floor and in a low-lunge position with your left foot in front. Bring the left foot back to meet the right, send hips high, and press your chest back while coming into a bent-knee downward dog position.
Shift forward, stepping the right foot forward to the outside of the right hand, coming into a low lunge on the other side. Then step the right foot back and return to the downward dog position.
Seated Toe Touch
Seated toe touch is one of the most common stretching exercises. Sit on the floor with an upright torso. Lean forward to touch your toes without lifting your hams off the floor by bending at your knees.
Thoracic Bridge
Start in a kneeling push-up position. While keeping your left arm on the floor, rotate your body to the right side while keeping your heels planted on the floor and thrust up with your back and glutes to form a bridge while extending your right arm overhead and to your left side. Return to the starting position and repeat with your left arm.
Bicep Stretches
Stand beside a wall and place your right hand on the wall so your arm is perpendicular to the wall while your body is parallel to it. Rotate to your left while keeping your right arm stationary. Repeat with your left arm.
Header image courtesy of Envato Elements
How much time do you spend doing mobility exercises every day? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
How To Improve Your Mobility For Maximum Gains and Functionality
Take Your Gains To The Next Level With Better Mobility
Have you ever noticed almost every single person has a different way of performing the same exercise? Let’s take squats for example. While John might be able to squat with a full range of motion (ass to the grass), Tom might only be able to go 3/4th of the way down.
Let’s assume both these people have the same height, weight, coach, train in the same gym, use the same weights, and have approximately the same strength. What do you think is causing the squat depth discrepancy? No, little Tommie is not a sissy.
Mobility is the culprit here. Squats are a compound lift and involve the recruitment of multiple muscles. A stiffness in any muscle group like the arms, upper or lower back, quads, hamstrings, knees, shins, calves, or ankles could limit the mobility on the squats.
What is Mobility?
Mobility is the ability to move a muscle group through a range of motion in the joint socket with control. Mobility is how well and efficiently we move. When we talk about mobility we’re usually referring to joint mobility.
Joint mobility is the degree to which an articulation (where two bones meet) can move before being restricted by surrounding tissues- ligaments/tendons/muscles. Joint mobility directly determines your posture and movement.
Mobility is Not Flexibility
It’s crazy how many people confuse mobility with flexibility. Flexibility is your connective tissues’ ability to temporarily elongate. It is an element of mobility just like strength, coordination, and body awareness.
Flexibility can help improve your mobility but extreme flexibility (like you see in some manly videos) doesn’t boost your performance. So, stop trying the dwi pada sirsasana and be content with practicing the full splits.
Benefits of Optimal Mobility
Reduces Chances of Injury
Sadly, people get injured in the gym way too frequently. While there are various reasons why people get hurt, most of it could be boiled down to not being able to perform an exercise correctly due to a lack of mobility.
If you ask people what they felt during the exercise they got injured, most of them will tell you that they were uncomfortable right from the beginning of the exercise. Optimal mobility ensures that there is an equal distribution of stress throughout your working muscles which reduces your chances of an injury.
Improves Joint Health & Reduces Joint Pain
Regular mobility exercises act as lubricants for your joints, ligaments, and tendons and keep them working in optimal condition. The more you work on improving your joint mobility, the healthier and stronger the surrounding muscle tissues will get – helping boost joint health and elevating pain.
Ignites Muscle Growth
Joint immobility hurts your gains in more ways than you can imagine. There is always at least one exercise you feel uncomfortable performing or can’t perform with the full range of motion. It is a sign that you lack mobility in that area.
For a long time, I had trouble performing behind-the-neck exercises like the lat pulldowns and military presses. After I worked on my posterior muscle mobility, I saw my strength, muscle size, and quality shoot through the roof.
Improves Posture
Thanks to the modern lifestyle and now the WFH culture, we spend most of our time hunched over a laptop or looking down at our phone screens. It could be doing a lot for our career, but it surely isn’t helping improve our posture.
Constantly sitting causes your hip flexors to shorten, and your hamstrings to lengthen. This starts a chain reaction that causes anterior pelvic tilt and kyphosis. The next time you feel like Netflix and chilling, remind yourself – we are born hunters and gatherers.
How To Improve Your Mobility
Stretching
Active and static stretching exercises are some of the best ways of improving your mobility.
Static stretching (aka passive stretching) is the common type of stretching that most people are familiar with. It’s what comes to mind when someone talks about stretching.
It involves the use of an external force to elongate or stretch a muscle. In this type of stretching, force is usually generated through your own body weight or by pulling with your arms.
Active stretching is a dynamic form of stretching that involves the contraction of a muscle that is opposite to the muscle that is being targeted for the stretch. As an example, kicking your leg straight out in front of you would actively stretch the hamstrings in the leg that is moving. Most yoga poses are a form of active stretching.
Improve Your Breathing
Ever wondered why breathing is such a big part of almost all kinds of physically intensive activities? Start playing football or tennis, and you’ll be asked to learn to breathe to improve your endurance, join a gym, and you’re told to breathe in sync with your reps, and let’s just not begin talking about yoga.
Connecting your breath with your movement is thought to affect how efficiently you move. Slow and controlled breathing can increase the parasympathetic response which can help in relaxing your body and reducing overall tension.
Self-Myofascial Release
Self-myofascial release is a practice that uses tools like the foam roller and lacrosse balls to target the fascia. A fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue beneath the skin which acts like a spider web around the muscles that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs and helps the muscles retain their shape.
The muscle fascia is also what keeps your muscles from growing bigger. The sensation of a muscle pump is actually your muscle fibers pushing against the fascia and trying to expand it. Tightly packed fascia can also be the reason behind tight joints and limited mobility.
Mobility Exercises
If you’re having trouble performing specific exercises, it’d be best to work your joints and tendons in that same position. For example, little Tommie should hold a squat at the bottom of the movement and slowly move his knees and hip in circular motions to work on his ROM. He should then rock-and-roll while holding the squat to loosen up his shins, calves, and ankle joints.
A few other effective mobility exercises include walking hip openers, thoracic spine windmills on the floor, shoulder pass-throughs, and neck half circles. You should have at least one mobility day a week in your workout schedule to keep your joints, ligaments, and tendons in optimal condition.
Are you facing any mobility issues? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.