Do You ALWAYS Feel Tight No Matter How Much Mobility Work You Do?

Are you one of the dedicated few who always show up to class early to do mobility work?
If so, congratulations! It's no surprise that you are one of your gym's top athletes because of all the extra work you put in to keep healthy and move well.

But have you ever asked yourself WHY you need to spend an extra 30+ minutes before
every single class?

How come you don't seem to keep; that mobility that you've earned through hours and hours of stretching, foam rolling and trigger-point releases?
It's a constant tug-of- war battle, going back and forth. If there was a way to save that time
and have full mobility straight away, would you be interested?

Read on.

Fact: Your brain will do whatever it can to protect itself

There have been stories of soldiers in war who have been stabbed in the torso, but are
completely oblivious to it because they are running away from deadly gunfire. This is
because the brain knows that gunfire is a more immediate and dangerous threat - the pain
from the stab wound pales in comparison to death

So if you have too much mobility without being strong enough to control it, your brain will stop you from moving too far.  It';s smart enough to prevent you from excessive flexibility because it realises the danger of being hypermobile, floppy and weak. In other words, you will become tight again!

So the solution to your constant mobility problem is... you need more STABILITY.  Instead of stretching your muscles and joints to their limit, they actually need to be strengthened in that end-range.

If we're talking about shoulder mobility, instead of doing a Lats stretch into shoulder hyper-
flexion (mobility drill), try doing some Band-Assisted Lift-offs (stability drill).

These are deceivingly hard to do...

Try a set of 10 and hold the top position for 3-5 seconds 

If you struggle with this, how can you safely hold a heavy barbell over your head when you
do overhead presses or snatches?

The same principle is true for the other areas of your body (tight hip flexors, anyone?)
So before you stretch/foam roll/trigger ball/smash/barbell EVERYTHING, ask yourself WHY am I so tight all the time?
​
It could save you a lot of time and frustration and get you closer to your fitness goals.

​Liked this content? Follow us on Facebook @ActivTherapyCasula for the latest updates.

About the Author:
Lawrence Khuu is a qualified Physiotherapist and Movement Specialist. His mission is to help motivated clients perform at their highest level through a combined hands-on treatment and exercise rehabilitation approach. He currently treats clients at Activ Therapy Casula.