Flexibility and mobility have become buzz words in the fitness industry over the last decade. Today, I’m going to share with you the 3 P system I use to help clients improve their movement quality.
Before we dive into the countless methods available to improve range of motion, it’s important to distinguish the difference between flexibility and mobility.
Flexibility is defined as the ability of a muscle or muscle groups to lengthen.
Mobility is the ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion.
Most people don’t randomly decide to improve joint mobility or flexibility- normally they have a reason or goal. The goal could be to improve function, decrease tweaks and twinges, or even improve performance.
If you’re looking for information on how to improve flexibility and or mobility, you can do a quick search on Google and get thousands of links. It’s overwhelming!
Today I’m going to share with you a simple 3 step system to follow that will enable you to improve your overall movement quality.
A Simple Guide to Improve Your Movement Quality
Step #1 Parts
Step #2 Positions
Step #3 Prying
Step #1 – Parts
Focus on the parts that make up a compound movement. For example, a quality squat requires adequate ankle dorsiflexion, internal and external hip rotation, sufficient adductor length and the ability to demonstrate thoracic extension (even though true thoracic extension doesn’t exist).
It’s also important to understand the difference between passive and active mobility.
Passive mobility is the movement potential of the joint. It’s essentially available ROM that you do not have control of yet. To make it simple, passive ROM is your movement potential.
Active mobility is the mobility you currently have and you can control. Active mobility is movement ownership.
If your goal is to improve mobility, start with assessing your passive mobility and then move on to active mobility.
When it comes to stretching and improving flexibility, there are several options to choose from. I normally start with a little bit of soft tissue work to loosen up the tissue and temporarily down regulate muscle tone. This creates a temporary window to improve your flexibility. From there you can use whatever method your prefer
Step #2 – Positions
Once the parts are optimized, it’s time to focus on specific positioning.
The position should be similar to whatever you are doing in your workout on that day.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s use the squat pattern. I like to use a light kettlebell to start dialing in the squat. This is also known as a goblet squat. Is this mobility? Yes. Is this low level strength training? For some – also, yes!
Step #3 – Prying
Finally, it’s time to take the pattern and get the most out of it via prying.
What do I mean by prying? In a nutshell, you start to explore the position through gentle rocking, actively firing specific muscles and shifting your weight in various directions.
Our body is designed to move in various planes, directions and ranges of motion. Exploring these positions via movement will keep you healthy and hopefully maintain and/or improve function.
It’s also important understand that improving movement quality will take some time. Treat your movement like a big lift. Give it the time it deserves. It shouldn’t be easy, it should be work. Improving your movement quality requires deliberate effort, patience and consistency.
Prepare Your Body for Exercise By Improving Movement Quality
Today I’m going to outline three different exercises and give you some highly effective ways to prepare your body to perform them.
Exercise #1 – Squat
Exercise #2 – Split stance and/or lunge pattern
Exercise #3 – Overhead press
Improve Your Squat
Parts
- Ankle glides x 20 each side
- Calf stretch with posterior weight shift x 12 each side
- Adductor rocks x 12 each side
- 90/90 Pigeon :30 -:40
- 90/90 Internal hip rotations x 12
- 90/90 Bretzel 2.0
Pattern
- Goblet squat w/counterbalance
Prying
- Prying goblet squat 2x :20
- Prying goblet squat with press outs 2x :20
Improve Your Split Stance and/or Lunge
Parts
- Ankle glides on wall x 20 each side
- 3-way toe mobility x :30
- Half kneeling hip flexor stretch 5 sets of :5 holds
- Half kneeling couch stretch :45
Position
- Hands to instep- this is a reciprocal lower body pattern
Prying
- Hands to instep with prying
Improve Your Overhead Press
Parts
- Thoracic spine
- Scapula positioning
- Glenohumeral joint
Position
- Bilateral hanging/unloading
Prying
- Hanging/ unloading with a posterior pelvic tilt
- Torso and neck rotations
- Torso and neck rotations with a lower body reach.
Just a reminder, these exact exercises will not work for everyone. The goal is to find what exercises are the most impactful for you and your clients and use those.
There are various ways to improve joint mobility, but consistency is key.
In the video below, I talk more about movement quality and show you all exercises mentioned above.
Watch: Improve Your Movement Quality with Parts, Position and Prying
I’ve used this simple recipe for years. Give it a try, put in some honest work, and let me know how it goes.
– Coach Mike
PS – wanna learn more on this? Listen to Episode 10 of The Minimal Effective Dose Podcast with Mike.
thank you!
very helpful