Mobility tips for athletes

Tips for improving mobility

1)      Make dynamic stretching part of your DAILY routine. Dedicate up to 15-20 minutes before every swim, bike and run workout to warming up your body, before you “warm-up” and an additional mobility session before bed (or after long periods of sitting).
This means before you jump into the pool, get on your bike or start a run, you need to perform dynamic stretching. Do not neglect this important habit of being a mobile athlete.

With our coaching, we are always looking for ways to help our athletes train smarter with the least amount of training stress possible. Improving mobility can help!
Dynamically stretching moves your body through different movement patterns to actively stimulate muscles, tendons, ligaments, fibers, tissues and joints.
You will also notice that dynamic warm-ups increases blood flow to the working muscles which gives you energy before you start working out. This will help you improve your range of motion, which will improve your power and speed. And, you'll find yourself more motivated to work out.

2) Do not go long hours sitting. There are several work break timers which remind you to stand up and move when you are at work. Consider sitting on a stability ball, standing every 60 min for 10 minutes, sitting less and standing more, walking around or doing yoga poses each hour while at work. When you sit, shoulders should be relaxed, arms close to sides, elbows bent at 90 degrees, feet flat on the floor and your lower back should be supported.

3) Move your body. If you are only working out once a day, consider adding walking, riding your bike “for fun” or yoga to your daily routine. If you think about it, even if you work out for 2 hours a day, 92% of your day is likely spent sitting in a crunched, tight position.
Sadly, many athletes who engage in endurance training to become fitter actually become more sedentary because training becomes so exhausting that athletes actually sit more and move less than before they started training.
Regular movements are key to a healthy life, mind and body.

4) Stop the self-manipulating and visit a trained sport massage therapist. It’s very common that athletes will feel tight and with every niggle, will immediately resort to deep trigger point, foam rolling or excessive stretching. Many times, athletes increase inflammation and create more damage to already tight muscles.
By adding regular (1-3 times per month) massages into your training regime, you will find yourself more mobile when you train. A trained massage therapist can help you understand your body. However, he/she should not “spot” massage for more than 20 minutes as many times, your symptoms for pain/tightness are likely from a different source (ex. foot issues could be from tight calves). It’s best to get a massage before you need it and to stay up on massages at least 1-3 times per month. The best days to get a deep tissue massage are 24-48 hours after a hard workout. Allow up to 48 hours to recover from a massage and be sure to stay well hydrated.

5) If you are experiencing chronic issues with tightness, mobility issues, aches or pains, it’s important to connect with a trained PT who can assist in your athletic journey. Despite all the steps that many athletes take to prevent injuries from happening, some bodies are more fragile and/or weak than others.
Don’t let a weakness or mobility issue be an excuse and don't assume that "this is just the way I am" as if you are no treatable or fixable.

I come from 6 years of chronic hip and back issues which took me out of running for 1-3 months every year for those 6 years. I found myself rehabing before a race instead of training for a race.
I became so frustrated that I even told myself I would never be healed and this is just the way I am and convinced myself that I would never be a successful triathlete because of my body.
Well, I am now going on almost 3 years of no injuries. Although I do have to do a lot of extra work when I'm not training to keep my hips and back healthy and strong and I still get some niggles that remind me that I am not injury-proof, I was able to treat what I never thought was treatable.
(I did get a lot of help along the way - Thanks Gloria and Chris!)

If you are injured or recovering from an injury, don't give up!
Always focus on your individual needs for your body.  

Mobility for athletes

Good mobility and great performances are closely tied to one another.

As it relates to performance declines and/or injuries, lack of mobility can be a culprit.

I'm a huge proponent of mobility work and I often spend up to 15 minutes before a swim, bike or run workout slowly working my body through a range of dynamic and mobility exercises to warm-up, before I warm-up. Going on almost 3 years without an injury, routine mobility work (I never stretch, trigger point or foam roll) is one of a few key improvements that I have made in my training regime to help reduce the risk for injury.

Why is mobility important?
If you cannot move your muscles, limbs and joints through their full range of motion and you are limited to one plane of movement, your body is not being used to its full potential. When mobility suffers, performance suffers because you can no longer generate the power and speed that you are capable of producing.

What happens with poor mobility?
Aside from not being able to train to your full ability, when one part of your body (ex. hips, knee, ankles, shoulders) loose full mobility, those muscles, joints or ligaments can become weak or tight. To compensate, another part of the body has to pick up the slack. When your glutes are weak, the knees or lower back is forced to take over. Poor ankle mobility or tight calves can contribute to plantar fascia issues. A tight neck can cause back issues.
It’s much safer and healthier for your body to train when you can move through full range of motion when you train as this will reduce the stress on your entire body.

Why you need to improve mobility
The best way to improve mobility is to reduce the chance for immobility.
 How many times have you visited a massage therapist and said “my x is so tight or stiff!” with hopes that he/she will magically “release” and fix you in an hour.

 Many athletes neglect mobility for two reasons:
1) They don’t/have make the time for mobility work
2)
Ok, so there is really only one main reason.

Athletes love to prioritize cardio or strength training over mobility work because mobility work takes away valuable training minutes.

If you say "I don't have time for mobility, I only have x-minutes to train," I want you think about this.

Your ability to have a great workout is affected by many things - sleep, nutrition, motivation, economy, muscle strength, etc.
When considering the importance of spending 5-15 minutes to mobilize your body before you start your workout, if you could go into the workout with better range of motion and a more relaxed body, even if it means working out 5-15 minutes less if you are crunched for time, you wouldn't only enjoy the workout more because you felt better when training but you would actually improve performance because you could go a little harder and a little faster (perhaps even going a little further) with less work.

Great idea, right?!
That's what we call training smarter to train harder.

Every time you take a stroke and kick in the water, pedal on the bike and run forward, you are forcing key muscles, ligaments, joints, tendons and bones to work. When you go into a workout tight, your warm-up can only loosen you up to a certain degree. You may think that because you are time-crunched that you have to make every minute count for cardio (or strength training), but the main goal of training is to have quality workouts.
With poor mobility, economy decreases. And when economy decreases, it’s more difficult to be fast, strong or efficient when training.

Seeing that you work so hard to improve your cardio fitness, your strength and your stamina, it’s important that you can ensure full range of motion with every stroke, foot strike and movement forward.

It can be very frustrating to feel like performance is declining, despite you feeling like your cardiovascular system is very robust and your mind is completely committed.  But this is a common occurrence that athletes will train and train and train and get tighter and tighter and tighter. Eventually, you get an injury that may have been prevented from an improvement in mobility. 

In my next blog I will provide a few helpful tips for improving mobility.