When was the last time you picked up a fitness or bodybuilding magazine? If you are like me you are totally sick of them and it has been a long time! Think about every fitness mag you have ever flipped through and think about the images and ideas they sold you. Thoughts that will come to mind are probably lean abs, nice muscles, firm buts and for guys magazines, feats of strength. Now, big strong muscles, lean abs and a firm but are all worthy goals to achieve and should be given the attention they deserve. But as a former bodybuilding magazine subscriber who bought into the image of huge muscles and ripped abs having the ability to magically attract the opposite sex, I never noticed probably the most important aspect of fitness that was missing from all of these magazines.
This missing link of fitness is mobility. That is right, mobility. Now I know that sounds boring but I will tell you why. Number one, if you are stiff and you train hard and push yourself to the limits you will injure yourself. Take me for example, at 25 my right hip seized up on me and I couldn't walk or train right to 10 weeks!! That is a serious problem when you have a powerlifting meet coming up let me tell you. My hips were tight, I knew it, and did nothing about it! As I became stronger and stronger in the squat my hips continued to stiffen until one day my right hip had enough and that was it. If I had addressed my problem with hip mobility and joint health early on, this never would have been an issue.
Now think about this; as you age your mobility will decrease steadily. Wouldn't it be better to get a head start so you are not as mobile as the average person once you are in your golden years. Mobility at that age can be the deciding factor for freedom and independence so it is not something to just snuff off.
Lastly, I maybe most importantly, doing mobility drills and movements will simply make you feel better. I have never done Yoga, but I bet one of the main reasons for it's popularity is that it makes you feel great afterwards. I know that after a half hour mobility session my back and hips feel like new. This is super important for an ex jock who sits at a desk for a living!
What can you do to improve your mobility? Well, the best bet is to get a book or DVD on the subject and follow the program every day for several months. Once your mobility is where it should be, go into a maintenance mode of every other day or so. I recommend Magnificent Mobility by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. Each time I go through the mobility drills I feel like a new man. Plus it is an effective warm-up for pretty much any type of training session. And if you think this stuff is for wimps, just check out the video of Eric pulling 600 lbs!
This missing link of fitness is mobility. That is right, mobility. Now I know that sounds boring but I will tell you why. Number one, if you are stiff and you train hard and push yourself to the limits you will injure yourself. Take me for example, at 25 my right hip seized up on me and I couldn't walk or train right to 10 weeks!! That is a serious problem when you have a powerlifting meet coming up let me tell you. My hips were tight, I knew it, and did nothing about it! As I became stronger and stronger in the squat my hips continued to stiffen until one day my right hip had enough and that was it. If I had addressed my problem with hip mobility and joint health early on, this never would have been an issue.
Now think about this; as you age your mobility will decrease steadily. Wouldn't it be better to get a head start so you are not as mobile as the average person once you are in your golden years. Mobility at that age can be the deciding factor for freedom and independence so it is not something to just snuff off.
Lastly, I maybe most importantly, doing mobility drills and movements will simply make you feel better. I have never done Yoga, but I bet one of the main reasons for it's popularity is that it makes you feel great afterwards. I know that after a half hour mobility session my back and hips feel like new. This is super important for an ex jock who sits at a desk for a living!
What can you do to improve your mobility? Well, the best bet is to get a book or DVD on the subject and follow the program every day for several months. Once your mobility is where it should be, go into a maintenance mode of every other day or so. I recommend Magnificent Mobility by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson. Each time I go through the mobility drills I feel like a new man. Plus it is an effective warm-up for pretty much any type of training session. And if you think this stuff is for wimps, just check out the video of Eric pulling 600 lbs!