Athletes tirelessly strive to enhance their strength, speed, and endurance; pushing their physical boundaries to achieve their goals. However, the critical importance of mobility and stability is often overlooked. By exploring how enhanced mobility and stability can significantly reduce the risk of injury, we uncover several crucial dimensions of athletic success.
Mobility and stability training can help reduce injuries, improve overall athleticism, create power, explosiveness, and much more. In this article, we will give you three reasons why mobility and stability training can reduce injuries.
Improve muscular balance and posture.
Mobility refers to a joint’s ability to move through a given range of motion. Stability is defined as maintaining or controlling joint movement or position. In order to develop effective muscle balance—when the muscles surrounding a joint work together harmoniously—you must train both mobility and stability. Training with the intent to improve muscle balance will relieve pressure on weaker muscles working to complement the larger, surrounding muscles. Think about the ankle and the calf working together during a calf raise. The calf is a big muscle that works as a stabilizer when you are active, whereas the ankle supports the calf, but is a smaller muscle that must work harder to keep up with the larger calf muscles.
Posture is another important aspect of training and daily life. If not taken seriously, it can lead to major injuries. Simply sleeping—let alone training—with your neck in a compromised position or a slouched back can cause significant problems. Training for mobility and stability will help you correct your overall posture and prevent nagging and significant injuries.
Increases your range of motion and alleviates stiff joints
Range of motion is the measurement of maximum potential movement around a joint or body part. Improving upon this range of motion is vital to athletic performance. You need a good range of motion to throw a ball, jump, extend to make a catch and make sudden movements. Range of Motion is not only important for sports but also for daily living.
Training mobility and stability will improve performance and general wellness
If your body is stiff with a limited range of motion, you are far more likely to pull or strain a muscle when you try to make a sudden movement or extension. Training for mobility and stability will increase your range of motion, heightening your athletic potential, and making everyday activities simpler. When it
comes to joint stability, strong ligaments and muscles provide support and help to maintain correct
posture. A stable joint has enough ligament and muscle strength to hold a fixed position, but is also
flexible enough to move. Therefore, you do not want stiff joints or bad posture. Both will lead
to injuries if not properly addressed.
Improves bone density and muscle strength.
Exercise is great for everyone, it has many health benefits and studies show that daily exercise can lead to a longer life span. One of the greatest wonders to date is how exercise and strength training can increase bone density and muscle hypertrophy. Implementing mobility and stability training will force you to focus on the strength of smaller, complementary muscles. This will lead to greater overall health and muscle composition. Weight-bearing, flexibility, and bone-strengthening exercises keep your bones, muscles, and joints strong. Strong bones, muscles, and joints lead to higher productivity in the weight room and on the court or field.
Dell Johnson is a gold-level basketball coach who has completed over 1,200 sessions with CoachUp athletes. He is based in central Michigan and can be contacted through his profile here!
