Mobility and flexibility are essential concepts, not just for athletes but every individual’s daily life . It is hard to imagine not being able to pick up anything off the floor or even sweep the house when needed. Both help with these routine movements to avoid overloading your joints .
If you regularly exercise, you probably already have some routine to gain lean mass or strength, for example. However, it is also essential to include specific workouts in your schedule to become more mobile and flexible.
In this article, you will understand the difference between mobility and flexibility, as well as how to assess and improve these capabilities. Keep reading and stay on top of the subject!
What is flexibility?
We call flexibility the ability of an individual to move a joint through a full range of motion . In other words, it is the extent to which the muscle is capable of stretching , an intrinsic property of soft tissues that is controlled by the nervous system.
This concept is influenced by internal and external factors. The first group includes the extensibility of tendons, ligaments and muscles. The second group includes aspects such as sex, age, heredity, temperature, physical condition, breathing and concentration.
What is mobility?
Mobility, in turn, is the ability to make movements within a large range , voluntarily. It is related not only to the ability of the bones that make up the joints and the cartilage between them to move, but also to the flexibility of the muscles that help in executing the desired movement.
One way to exemplify mobility is when, during a squat, the practitioner is able to keep the heels in contact with the ground while the thighs are parallel to the floor.
Mobility requires strength, since active thigh flexion will not achieve a large range if the abdominal muscles (local and global) are weak, even if the individual achieves large ranges in passive thigh flexion.
How to assess flexibility and mobility?
It is possible to assess flexibility gains from tests, which are divided into three categories. The first is angular tests , which present their results in angles, the measurement of which is called goniometry . This is the method most applied in the literature regarding flexibility and joint mobility .
The second category is dimensionless tests . Here, the results are expressed without a conventional unit, such as angle and centimeters. In general, they do not depend on equipment for measurement. In most cases, only predefined criteria or analysis maps are used.
Finally, there are linear tests , which express results on a distance scale (in centimeters or inches). For this, instruments such as tape measures, metal tapes and rulers are used. The best-known methods are the Wells bench (also called sit and reach) and the Shober test , which measures the distance between the fingers and the floor.
In terms of mobility, the gains are not measurable. The progress is felt by the practitioner, which means that the analysis is based on subjective perception . For example, a person may start to warm up with squats and feel stiff, but they will loosen up as the series progresses.
How to improve these two elements?
Simple: exercise. Here, the training strategy will depend on your condition and the goals you want to achieve. It is possible to be very flexible and not very mobile, just as it is possible to be very mobile and not very flexible. Therefore, there are different exercises for these two variants.
The former are recommended at the beginning of a workout, as a way to “warm up” the body and prepare the muscles with a better range of motion. The latter tend to work more after a workout, when the already warmed up muscles have more elasticity.
See below for exercises and techniques to work on flexibility and mobility.
For flexibility:
- relaxed stretching — hold a position, such as the side leg split, for about 30 seconds until you can relax and no longer feel pain or discomfort in your muscles;
- proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) — contract the muscle you are stretching for a few seconds, then relax and increase the range of the stretching position a little, repeating the process;
- stretching with weights — you can do exercises like the good morning , using a weight plate, kettlebell , a weighted barbell or even a backpack with a weight inside.
For mobility:
- neck — look in four directions in sequence (up, down, left and right);
- shoulders — rotate your outstretched arms clockwise and counterclockwise;
- spine — flex and extend your spine, moving your torso forward and backward slowly;
- hips — with your hands on your waist, rotate clockwise and counterclockwise;
- knees — sit down and bend your knee until your thigh is close to your chest, then repeat with the other leg;
- ankles — flex and extend your feet in four directions (up, down, left and right).
What are the benefits of these workouts?
Sports performance depends on flexibility and mobility exercises. Thus, they bring a myriad of benefits to health, well-being and, above all, injury prevention. This is due to the fact that:
- reduce muscle tension;
- improve body awareness and coordination;
- help correct muscle imbalances and joint dysfunctions;
- maintain the health of ligaments, joints and tendons;
- promote muscle relaxation;
- increase local blood circulation;
- reduce energy expenditure.
Now you know the difference between mobility and flexibility, and why and how to work on each element. It is worth remembering that our exercise tips are not a substitute for monitoring by specialists . Therefore, get a physical evaluation and medical check-up periodically to understand your health conditions and your body’s needs.