Mobility, Flexibility, Stability, and Balance
It's not just about "stretching". To be well balanced in all your fitness goals, these four ingredients of your body's foundations need to be addressed.
Let's define each term:
Mobility
The ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion.
Flexibility
The ability of muscles to lengthen.
Stability
Your ability to control your body during movement.
Balance
Even distribution of weight enabling you to remain upright and steady.
We need to be thinking about all of these to create a resilient body. It is not just for sports but also for everyday life, for longevity, to get the most out of everything you do and tackle what life throws at you.
None of these 4 ingredients exist on their own. They are all tied together. If you improve your stability, your balance will improve. If you improve your mobility (your joints), your flexibility (your muscles) will improve too. But you can't just focus your work on one!
They make up the foundation of your body's ability, and if you are weaker in one area, it will affect your potential performance overall.
Your core also plays a vital role in all 4 foundational ingredients - it quite literally holds everything together.
When someone comes to me for PT or a Strong Club class, they are often looking for a particular result or goal. To achieve it, I always start with the foundational ingredients. 99% of the time, addressing the foundations makes their goal more achievable, and that's why there will always be foundational movements in everyone's program.
And it's not just "stretching". I incorporate a mixture of different movements that improve the 4 foundational ingredients throughout my programming. You might find yourself doing isometric holds, dynamic mobility, static stretching, controlled articular rotations (CARs), core exercises, and lots more.
Check out December's Strong Club Workouts on IG, where I am focusing on each of these aspects in the weekly Strong Club Workout.
Don't forget, if you're not in the Strong Club yet, you can claim your first class for free!
