Mobility?

​Preparing yourself for what lies ahead…

Very often, when you walk out into the main floor in CFA, 15-20 minutes before or after a class, you will see several people stretched out on the floor or maybe at the rig with a resistance band set up. Or even on a bench, moving around tiny dumbbells or fractional plates. If unfamiliar, you might ask yourself, ‘what are these people doing?’

The answer, usually, is that these people are either mobilising a particular part of their body for their training that day, or working on extra mobility after a workout they’ve just done. And you can be sure that they know exactly what they’re doing.

As part of our class routine in CFA, there will always be a structured group warmup, led by the coach, that nobody is exempt from. The purpose of this warmup is to have you as ready as possible for the workout ahead. The coach will tell you what to do, show you how to do it, and more importantly, tell you why you are doing it.

A big part of this warmup will be specific mobility. Many have heard the term ‘mobility’ but what does it actually mean?

It’s defined in the dictionary as ‘the ability to move or be moved freely and easily’

This can be applied to ourselves as humans. We have the ability to move our joints through a certain range of motion. The extent of that range of motion will define our level of mobility. Someone with poor mobility, may not be able to squat deeply or extend their arms above their head in a safe manner.

It is part of our job as coaches to ensure that each and every one of our members is able to move as well as they possibly can. And we do that by applying simple, but effective principles in the group setting, in a way that allows each member to not only participate, but take home the knowledge and apply it themselves when required.

Being mobile is just as important, if not more so, than being able to lift a heavy weight or running a 5k in 20 minutes. The fact that you are mobile, and that you work on your mobility during, before, and after class, will keep you lifting heavy and running fast, much, much longer than you will think possible.

Happy stretching!