Mobility has become increasingly fashionable in recent years. Maybe that’s because more of us are getting into pilates and yoga and want to be able to rest in frog pose without feeling like our adductors are about to explode. Or it could be that all this walking and hiking has left us feeling stiff and in need of a few, deep quad rockers. Whatever the reason, interest in mobility is on the rise and with good reason. 

Working on your range of motion has so many benefits to offer, both in terms of your other workouts but also for everyday movement. Sick of getting out of bed in the morning and having to hobble to the bathroom? Mobility can help. Struggling with various running niggles? Having a proper stretch and mobility regime will do you some good.

The best thing about mobility? It takes next to no time to reap those benefits. In fact, just 15 minutes once or twice a week is enough to transform the way you move.

Mobility workouts are all about increasing your range of motion. Unlike certain forms of yoga which require you to stay in poses for one or two minutes to increase flexibility, mobility is more about using movement to deepen exercises and make other forms of movement more accessible. 

If you weight train, you might want to work on deepening your squat, for example. Rather than staying in a deep yogic squat, a mobility workout would have you holding onto your toes while you move between bent and straight legs (or squatting and standing). 

We could all do with more mobility in our lives. Runners are notorious for neglecting other forms of movement, despite the fact that running tends to make hips tighter. We forget to move side-to-side or to stretch out the posterior chain (the glutes and hamstrings).

You don’t have to spend lots of time stretching on your days off to make a difference either; think of this weekly 15-minute period as the WD40 to your workouts – a chance to oil creaky joints and soothe any niggles.

We already know that active recovery can reduce muscle stiffness; movement can remove harmful waste build-up and increase endorphins. Anything that encourages blood flow to the muscles is going to mean a better supply of nutrients like glucose and oxygen too – the stuff that muscles need to rebuild. But why should you go for mobility over, say, a yoga class or gentle jog?

Mobility increases flexibility

To be flexible, you’ve got to have good mobility. That’s because mobility “improves our joints, muscles, and tendons’ ability to move through a full range of motion,” SWTC trainer, Emma Obayuvana explains – meaning that in order to touch your toes, your joints have to be able to move freely.

That increased range can lead to “improved movement patterns, strengthening the mind-body connection.” When we learn how to move well, we map out new neural pathways that enhance the control we have over our bodies. You don’t have to move fast or strong, you just have to move accurately. 

It helps us to build strength

Mobility exercises can strengthen muscles slightly (a pike or downward dog pose, for example, works the shoulder muscles) but they work more as a strengthening aid.

Improving your mobility will allow you to get into the best positions for certain exercises, which as Obayuvana points out, “will contribute to better muscle development and, in turn, strength”.

Mobility reduces injury risk

Rest days are important for a few reasons – one of them being injury prevention. So often, we pick up niggles and strains from overworking certain areas, allowing tendons to become overly tight and failing to rebalance under-active muscles. Having days off can help reduce the load, while mobility actively prevents issues from happening in the first place.

Studies have shown that having a greater range of motion in your joints (mobility) can reduce your risk of injury. There’s also plenty of evidence to suggest that practising mobility can improve your posture – which again, reduces your risk of chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. In fact, one study found that good pelvic mobility may be linked to a healthy spinal posture while another concluded that hip immobility (attention, all you runners!) can affect the natural curvature of the lumbar spine. 

In other words, if you find yourself hunching over while you run, it’s time to try some gentle hip-openers – like a kneeling hip hinge.

“Better mobility means that you’re able to perform exercises with correct form, which allows you to get the most out of your strength training,” Obayuvana continues. “Being able to drop into a deeper squat, for example, will enable you to build even stronger legs.” That better movement and stronger legs will protect you during those longer runs, when you want the force from each stride to be equally distributed. 

Mobility workouts are super quick

A yoga class tends to take at least an hour. We’re asking for just 15 minutes of your time to do a few full-body stretches. This is speedy, targeted and in the long run, time-saving.

It helps to keep us active for longer

Perhaps the most important reason to make mobility your non-negotiable rest day activity is the fact that it’ll help keep you active well into the future. The natural mobility of our joints starts to deteriorate when we’re just 30 years old. If you want to jump, run, lift, row or cycle when you’re older, mobility has to be on the weekly menu.

While there are plenty of set mobility workouts out there, the joy of doing a mobility session is that you can choose what you do on any given day. 

Mobility for runners

If you’ve gone on a long run or a fast 5K, you might be feeling tighter in your lower body. 

Try the following exercises, spending a minute on each before repeating three times:

Inchworms

1. Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands on thighs
2. Slowly begin to roll the spine, allowing the hands to move further down the leg
3. Once your hands reach the ankles, place them on the floor and start to walk them forwards – bringing your bodyweight forward as you go
4. Eventually, you’ll end up in a plank position
5. Hold for a few seconds before slowly walking your hands back towards your feet
6. Gently roll back up to standing

Cossack squats

1. Stand in a wide legged position
2. Bend your right knee, keeping the left leg straight
3. Gradually start to ‘sit’ into the squat, moving the left leg out as you do so and bringing the left toes off the floor
4. Continue to bend the right knee so that your bum is now an inch or two off the ground
5. Slowly come out of the squat and go on the opposite side
6. If you’ve never done cossacks before, you might struggle at first so don’t be afraid to use your hands on the floor for balance, or to hold onto a chair as you go

Pigeon pose

1. Start on your hands and knees
2. Bring your left knee forward and out to the left side, so that your calf is kind of horizontal on the mat in front of you – knee to the left, toes to the right
3. Slide your right leg back and tuck your right toes under
4. If this feels good, slowly start to lower the upper body to the mat (you can have your forearms on the ground with your hands cupping your forehead)
5. Repeat with the opposite leg

Quad rockers

1. Start on all fours
2. Move your knees out so they’re wider than the mat
3. Keeping your forearms on the floor, slowly push your hips and torso back until your bum is an inch or two away from your heels
4. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position

Images: Getty; Stylist