Mobility… what is it? Why do I want it? Does it come with abs? First and foremost, people tend to mix up Mobility with Flexibility. They are very similar, but mobility is more of how well a joint moves, whereas flexibility is more of how
far it moves. Mobility is a fantastic tool that helps to keep a lot of muscles working as you age, not to mention it can protect you against injuries like strains or sprains. If you master mobility enough, you can even use it as a tool to increase the intensity of your workouts. Continue reading to learn about the best exercises to increase your mobility, using TRX!
Now that you have an idea of why you want it, let’s show you how to get it! We’ll start at the top (shoulders) and work our way down into back and hip mobility. The most important part of training mobility work is to maintain slow, deliberate movements, keeping ideal form without much pressure. You’re teaching your body to move in a completely new way, so have patience with it!
Each of these movements should be practiced for about two minutes at a time, nonstop. Again, this is slower and with intention. These movements should be saved for the end of a workout or on a recovery day. Think of this almost like yoga in terms of breathing and control – it’s wildly beneficial even if you’re not jumping around and breaking a crazy sweat!
1. TRX Wall Slide
To keep pressure off your shoulders, start by standing nearly upright when first starting the exercise, lightening the load. As you get more confident and gain the working range of motion in your shoulders, you can add more load by stepping in toward the suspension trainer more and more over time. The more shoulder mobility you gain, the more overhead reach you’ll have, most noticeable with overhead lifts like press jacks, overhead squats and overhead press!
2. TRX Golf Swing
Much like everything else, the TRX Golf Swing is a slow, purposeful movement that should almost feel like a stretch. To increase your twisting range of motion, really try to get your arm around the back of your body. Most importantly in this exercise, you will need to focus on form! Your knees will try to twist with you and elbows will want to bend. Really think about keeping everything in that starting position with knees forward and arms straight.
3. TRX (Deep) Squat
By using the TRX to lighten the load, you’re able to sit deeper into the squat. Over time, you can use more and more of your body weight, essentially training your body to sit deeper into your regular body weight squats, thanks to that hip mobility!
Mobility is a highly underrated necessity, especially if you want to keep moving the way you do as you get older. For more mobility exercises with or without the TRX, feel free to reach out to any of our trainers and tune into our live Yoga class with Rob.
Don’t forget to show us your fabulous form by sharing pictures and videos in our online facebook group or tag us on instagram!