At our facility, we hold ourselves to a high standard when it comes to mobility. We evaluate our clients on specific movements and criteria that help us gauge their overall health and fitness level. Having good mobility is important for everyday life. Not only can it help reduce the risk of injury, but having healthy movement patterns can also promote better posture, increased energy levels, and improved overall performance. Good mobility can also help improve joint health and range of motion, allowing us to perform activities that we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. All of these benefits can help us live a healthier, stronger life in the long run. Here are some of the standards we look for in terms of good mobility:
Dowel Dislocates: This movement involves moving a dowel or broomstick from in front of your body to your backside while keeping the arms straight. across your back as you work to externally rotate your shoulders. Doing this helps assess shoulder mobility and range of motion as they externally rotate. If you can fully rotate the dowel from the front of your hips all the way around and back without bending your arms or having one arm lead, we would consider this a 10/10 for shoulder mobility.
Ankle Mobility: To test ankle mobility, stand with one foot on a flat surface with your big toe approximately 5 inches from and upright object. The goal is to see if you can touch your knee to the upright object without lifting your foot off the ground. If you can’t, then your ankle mobility may be limited. We look at whether or not you can touch your knee to the object, and if so, whether or not the heel has popped up off the ground.
Touch Your Toes: This is a classic movement to assess hamstring mobility. See how far you can bend forward and touch your toes without using momentum to help you get further. Strive for full range of motion here. Standards we look at here are whether or not you can reach the ground, and if not, how close you are.
Deep Squat: This movement tests a variety of areas including hip mobility, ankle mobility, and core stability all at once. Start by standing with feet shoulder width apart, then lower down into a squat position so that your knees are bent at 90 degrees, keeping the chest up and arms out in front for balance if needed. We are looking for a couple of things here. Is the back rounded, have the hips tucked under the torso, and are the feet completely flat on the ground?
Jefferson Curl: To assess spine mobility, perform a Jefferson Curl. From a standing position, start by tucking your chin into your neck, then round the shoulders forward. Slowly roll down the spine one vertebrae at a time until you’re in a deep forward fold. Then reverse the movement by rolling back up one vertebrae at a time until you’re back to standing. Your ability to move through this sequence fluidly shows us if there is any limitation in movement with the spine.
These are just some of the standards we look for in terms of good mobility. We believe that this criteria help us assess overall health and fitness levels, as well as injury prevention. So if you’re looking to get a better understanding of your mobility, give these standards a try!
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