Modern life has us spending hours sitting at a desk, commuting, or slouched on the sofa gazing up at the TV screen. As a result, you might notice stiffness creeping into your daily routine, or even worse, when you're trying to get comfortable for a good night's sleep.
Instead of ignoring the tension or twinges, you can benefit from working some mobility exercises into your routine. The good news is that this needn't take up hours of your week.
Enter this six-minute, no-equipment mobility routine from personal trainer James Stirling. Whether you incorporate this routine into your morning wakeup routine, during a break from your desk, or at the end of a gym session, you'll find that these simple exercises can make a significant difference in how you feel and move afterward.
It's not essential but we recommend rolling out one of the best yoga mats to make the exercises slightly more comfortable and less of a strain on your joints.
What is the 6-minute mobility routine?
In the post below, you'll find helpful demonstrations performed by Stirling. Taking time to get the form and sequence of movements right will help you target the correct areas of your body and avoid injury.
If you have any pre-existing medical conditions or are recovering from an injury, please seek advice from a healthcare professional before attempting this routine.
- The World's Greatest Stretch
- Arm Circles
- Thread the Needles
- Cobra to Downward Dog
- Squat and Extend
- Side Bends
- 1 minute on each
Thanks to Stirling's routine you'll target various important parts of the body including the spine, shoulders, hips, and legs.
If mat work isn't your kind of thing, you might find it reassuring to hear you don't have to be a seasoned yogi to be able to get stuck into this mobility routine. It's designed for people of all fitness levels and it doesn't take anywhere near as long to complete as a typical yoga session does.
Regular mobility exercise is a sure way to build, maintain and improve your flexibility and range of motion. As we meddle through our busy lives, our muscles and joints can become stiff from sedentary habits as well as repetitive movements. Thanks to mobility exercises, they can help to stretch and lengthen muscles and make it easier for your joints to move through their full range of motion.
Good mobility can have a real positive impact on performance in sports like running. Increasing the mobility in the hips and ankles can allow runners to have a more efficient stride and better shock absorption, which helps reduce the risk of injuries such as strains or shin splints. Investing in a good pair of the best running shoes will also help out here.
Similarly, if you enjoy weightlifting, mobility is crucial for executing exercises with correct form and a better range of motion. Better mobility can not only maximize the effectiveness of your strength training but also lower the risk of strains in areas like the shoulders, hips, and lower back.
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