More Than Static Stretching: Mobility and Recovery

When I’m working with a client to make adjustments to their fitness routine, one of the most important aspects is making sure they have balance between the “Three Pillars of Fitness”. To me, those three pillars are strength, endurance, and mobility (you may find some sources that say there are Four Pillars, but I like to combine flexibility and balance together under the umbrella of mobility), and very often an athlete will focus on one or two of those pillars and ignore the third.

These are some the reasons I hear when a client says they don’t do mobility work, and how I help them incorporate it into their routines:

1. Static stretching is boring.

   If holding a stretch for 30 seconds sounds like a dull time, try dynamic stretching. Loosen up your muscle tissue, lubricate your joints, and get your blood flowing all at the same time. While dynamic stretching is usually a warm up routine to get the body ready for activity, it can also help prevent post workout stiffness and help your body cool down from the intensity of exercise.

Explore our playlist of over twenty dynamic stretching videos.

2. Stretching takes too long and I don’t have the time.

   Hey, I get it… life gets in the way. Between work, partners, pets, kids, parents, cooking, cleaning, and commuting, taking time out of your workout to devote to stretching can feel like wasted time. For the busy athlete, there are methods of stretching that may be more time efficient. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) is a method of stretching that “tricks” the nervous system into releasing a muscle faster than a static stretch might. Luckily for you, many Psoas therapists are trained in PNF techniques that can be incorporated into a session AND we can show you how to do them yourself at home.

Dynamic Assisted Stretching at Psoas Massage + Bodywork

3. It hurts too much when I stretch.

   If holding a static stretch is painful it might not be the right tool for your body to work on mobility. This is especially true if you’re dealing with hyper-mobility (yes, stretching is important even if you’re hyper-mobile). If this applies to you, try mobility exercises like the ones below instead of static stretching. True mobility is not how much you can move a joint, but how much control you have when you move a joint. This routine strengthens your core and can help you stay in control of your body and increase your pain-free range of motion.

Try This Full Body Mobility Routine

Neck Circles to loosen up your cervical spine.

Side-Lying Windmills to increase shoulder mobility.

The Barrel Roll is the next level for the cat/cow move.

Open up your rib-cage with this Thoracic Rotation exercise.

90º/90º Hip Openers can progress from a static stretch, to a core and glute exercise.

Downregulate your nervous system with the Around the World exercise.

Of course, if you do love static stretching, our Stretching Guide is full of images and detailed instructions to lead you through static stretches. If you’d like a personalized stretch routine, book a session with one of our Psoas therapists and let them build one just for you.