Whether you’re a regular gym goer, weekend warrior or CrossFit superstar, mobility training is an essential component of any quality fitness program.

Warming up with some quick, deliberate mobility exercises can be the difference between hitting a new personal record and crushing failure, humiliation and potential injury. (okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but you get the point).

Usually when I mention this to my friends, they say something like “Yeah, I do stretches before every workout… That’s the same as doing mobility right?”  Sounds reasonable, but it’s not accurate… flexibility and mobility are not interchangeable.

Mobility is the ability to move your joints (all of your joints) through their full range of motion, with control and coordination. The key here is that it requires active movement. This is different from flexibility or stretching, which is typically passive and depends on holding a certain position or relying on gravity to elongate muscles, ligaments and tendons.

Not to say flexibility isn’t important, but it’s only one component of being mobile.

Mobility Is The First Pillar Of The Move By Design Training System

Every time you work out you should start off with a combination of different mobility exercises to warm up your body and prepare for the specific work you’re about to do.

So of course they vary depending on what specific exercises you’ll be performing during the skill, and strength and conditioning parts of your workout, but here are some of my favourite mobility warm ups to prep your body and prevent injury (in no particular order.)

Dr. Dave’s Top 5 Mobility Exercises

Passthroughs 

Passthroughs or weighted passthroughs are a great warm up for general shoulder mobility. Using a PVC or wooden dowel, you dynamically activate the prime movers of the shoulder joint while priming your body to perform circumduction and overhead movements. These are essential for overhead squats and snatches.

Ts and Ms

This warm up drill made a big impact on my recovery from a shoulder injury when I hurt myself in 2014.

This exercise is designed to prime your shoulder stabilizing muscles (rhomboids, middle and lower traps, and rotator cuff muscles) to prepare you for things like ring rows, pull ups, snatches, thrusters and overhead squats.

In a bent over position, holding a 2.5lb or 5lb weight in each hand, you’re going to retract your shoulder blades, pulling them down and together and extend your arms straight out to the side (so in the finish position you’ll look like a letter T).

For Ms, assume the same bent over position, retract your shoulder blades and extend your arms back, just out from your sides – kind of like the second half of a butterfly stroke (for all you swimmers).

Mid-back Mobilization With A Foam Roller

I LOVE this mobility exercise.

For a long time posture has been a big challenge for me.

Chronic postural distortions, particularly in the thoracic spine creates a vicious cycle, whereby poor posture creates poor thoracic spine mobility, which further promotes poor posture etc. etc.

Thoracic spine extension is a way of interrupting that cycle.

And not only does it feel really great to stretch the tight ligaments and tendons around my spine, but it gives me a quick energy boost too.

Movement of your joints (especially your spine) is key stimulation for your brain. Whenever you move your spine, signals and stimulation get sent to the parts of your brain that relate to movement, planning, processing, problem solving, vision, and the list goes on!

Foam rolling is a great mobility tool for the whole body. Click below to get free access to our complete Soft Tissue Mobility program so you can see how we apply foam rolling to all the main muscle groups.

Deep Squat

Hip mobility is a significant challenge for a lot of people – myself included. Practicing getting into and holding a deep squat is one way to overcome this.

For a complete breakdown of how to squat properly, check out the video below.

Jefferson Curls

Jefferson curls are a great exercise for stretching the hamstrings, as well as improving control and coordination of movement in the spine. For anyone who sits at a desk or on a couch for long periods of time, this is a MUST!

The Secret Sauce

Whether you include these exercises, or have your own routine, there is one universal key to improving your mobility:

CONSISTENCY!

Working on your joint mobility every once in a while isn’t going to make much of a difference…

To really see changes in your mobility (or health in general for that matter…) daily, incremental effort is required.

Make a habit of doing these 5 mobility drills every time you work out and I promise with time and consistency, you’ll see a huge difference!

Dr. David Hawkes is a wellness expert and martial arts enthusiast. Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, Dr Hawkes’ passion for health and wellness has led him here to Kanata, literally halfway around the world. After graduating from Murdoch University, Dr. Hawkes ran a successful practice in Perth’s western suburbs before moving to Ottawa. Dr. Hawkes has a special interest in family wellness, as well as Peak Performance. He is passionate about helping individuals and families lead their extraordinary lives.