If watching Olympic gymnasts leaping, twisting, and flipping has you realizing your flexibility isn’t quite there anymore (ever?), we have the solution for you: A quick, full-body mobility workout that taps into your desire to get a little more bendy.
Note here that we’re focusing on mobility rather than flexibility; while the two terms seem similar, there are actually some important differences between them. “Mobility” is the ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion (ROM)—and how well you can perform those movements with proper motor control, Amanda Ting, DPT, CSCS, a personal trainer at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC, tells SELF. Flexibility, on the other hand, is defined as your muscle’s ability to lengthen passively through a range of motion, Ting adds. “The key word here is passively: Most stretching is static, with the muscles at rest.”
So if you want to move better, mobility training is more effective than focusing on just stretching exercises for flexibility, since it’s focused on action and motor control—not the muscle’s capacity to stretch in a rested state. “Accessing our body’s full ROM will help put the joints in the best and most efficient positions to then work on strength, cardio, or our sport or activity of choice,” Ting says..
In turn, mobility work will also help boost your flexibility: “It helps joints move through a larger ROM and into a better position, which in turn gives the muscle or muscle groups additional room to stretch,” Ting says.
FYI, it’s important to keep in mind that adding mobility training isn’t going to transform you into the next Simone Biles. “Olympic gymnasts have been training for many years, and the incredible movements they complete require insane amounts of motor control, mobility, and flexibility as compared to everyday activities,” Ting says.
The everyday activities and exercises that general mobility work can improve that we’re talking about here—say, getting down onto the floor and back up again, or lifting and carrying heavy groceries from your car into your house—generally don’t require those end-ranges of motion like with gymnastics feats. And if you attempt to do those splits, twists, and leaps out of nowhere, it probably won’t go so well. “Pushing ourselves without maintaining the appropriate motor control and strength in our movement can lead to imbalances and possible injury,” Ting says.
Still, working on mobility—within your own personal limits—is an important part of a well-rounded fitness routine; it can transfer to everyday activities, helping you do them better and with more comfort. Plus, being able to move your joints through their full range of motion can help keep you from accidentally straining yourself and ending up hurt.
There’s never a bad time to work on mobility, but Ting recommends doing the below moves in a circuit as a warm-up. Or, pick a few that target your tight spots, and add them to your go-to warm-up or cooldown. “Exercises can also be done separately throughout the day to break up periods of sitting or standing, or as part of a bedtime routine,” she adds. Basically, there’s no wrong time to get limber!
The Workout
What you need: Just your bodyweight. If you’re doing this on a hard floor, you’ll also want an exercise mat to protect your hands and knees.
Exercises
- Down Dog to Runner’s Lunge
- Cat Cow
- Thread the Needle
- Ankle Circles in Lying Figure 4
- Handcuff Drill
Directions
- Do each of the five exercises below for the listed number of reps.
- Rest for as long as you need in between each exercise. (The moves are not meant to be done so intensely that you lose your breath or feel like your muscles are pushed to their limits.)
- Rest for as long as you need after the last exercise.
- If you feel like you need to loosen things up more, do the whole circuit a second time.
Demoing the moves below are Amanda Ting (GIF 1), DPT, CSCS, a personal trainer at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC; Rebecca Davis (GIF 2, 3), a yoga and cycling instructor at Lifetime Fitness and Bakerstreet Yoga; Nicole Figueroa (GIF 4), a NASM-certified personal trainer and online fitness coach; and Caitlyn Seitz (GIF 5), a New York-based group fitness instructor and singer/songwriter.