3 Simple Stretches to Prevent Losing Your Mobility
Stretching is not just for dancers and gymnasts. Stretching is important for everyone.
I have always been naturally flexible, but it can easily leave me if I don’t keep working on it. Like most kids, I was a rubbery kid. I remember being 6 and lying down on my stomach to touch my feet to my head, then my nose, then my chin in a backbend. I danced, and although I lacked the strength to balance my flexibility, it didn’t matter so much back then. I had fun.
When puberty hit, I started having knee pain and I stopped dancing for about a year. When I started again in high school, I had lost a lot of my flexibility, but quickly gained it back through dance classes and actively stretching. I was never quite as flexible as I was pre-puberty, but I was more mobile than most people my age.
When I started taking yoga classes at 23, at the suggestion of one of the choreographers that I worked with, I became aware of my joint hypermobility and found a path of more ease as I continued to work on my flexibility. There is a difference between joint mobility and muscle stretch, though they are related.
Joint mobility
Joint mobility is the range of motion you have in a joint, like the knee or elbow. This relates to how tight or loose your ligaments are, and this is something genetic that you have from birth. It is something that is consistent throughout your whole body. This cannot and should not be changed. Stretching your ligaments is called Sprain, like when you twist your ankle. Not good. Tight ligaments keep your joints safer from injury; with looser ligaments, you need to rely more on your muscle strength to keep your joints stable.
If you are hypermobile, your range of motion doesn’t stop at straight, but goes beyond straight, to bending in the opposite direction. This creates instability in the joints. People with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder, often have more extreme hypermobility where their joints can dislocate doing simple movements. I have a more run-of-the-mill hypermobility which can cause joint and ligament injury if I’m not careful.
Muscle mobility
This can change and is something that varies according to what you do with your body. This refers to the amount of stretch you have in your muscles. You can have more mobility in some muscle groups over others, as it’s not universal in your body, like joint mobility. You might have tight hamstrings, but open hips, or vice versa.
What you do with your body affects how it functions. Sports like golf or tennis, which are one sided, might create more mobility on one side of your body than the other. Also, we don’t lead symmetrical lives and we are one-side dominant creatures. Your body reflects what you do with it. That’s why practices like yoga, which are bilateral (you do the same thing on both sides), can be useful to balance out your body.
Your ability to touch your toes, cross your ankle over your knee, and reach behind to touch your hand between your shoulder blades all depends on how much you can stretch your muscles. Your end range will be determined by the structure of your joints, and everyone’s anatomy is different.
It’s always important to work with the body that you have, not what you wish you had.
Maintaining Mobility
Regular stretching can help you maintain and even gain mobility, since you lose it as you age. What you do with your body matters. If you only work on strength, you will lose mobility. If you’ve ever been to the gym and seen those guys whose muscles are so big their arms don’t touch their sides, that’s what I mean. They are strong, but they can’t easily touch their toes unless they also work on mobility.
If you only work on mobility, however, you’ll lose muscle (which also diminishes as you age). Muscle strength creates stability, while muscle stretch creates mobility. You need both to feel the best in your body. That’s why I love yoga, it cultivates both strength and mobility.
Yoga has given me much more mobility than I ever had dancing, even to this day, at age 52. While I have less mobility than I had when I was in my 20s, I can still fold in half, do Wheel Pose, do splits with both legs, and stack my shins in Ankle to Knee pose. I no longer put my foot behind my head, nor can I touch my feet to my head in a backbend, but that’s okay.
Mobility vs Flexibility
Mobility is functional. I purposefully use that word instead of Flexibility, as I attribute Flexibility to tricks you can do on the mat, rather than being able to comfortably move my body through the day. Mobility is what you need as you age. Putting your foot behind your head, while cool looking, doesn’t serve any functional purpose in daily life. Being able to touch your toes, however, does.
3 Simple Stretches
Cat/Cow
This first one is actually 2 poses, and moving back and forth between them gives wonderful spinal mobility, especially when you connect your breath to your movement.
Cat: Start in Table pose with your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees on your mat. Spread your fingers apart and connect every knuckle of your palm into the floor. Inhale. As you exhale, start with the pelvis, and round the spine one vertebra at a time from the tail to the head. Move sequentially to get the most out of this pose. Your shoulder blades spread apart, and move toward your waist and you press the palms into the floor. Feel your front body moving toward your back body.
Cow: As you inhale, reverse the curve in your spine, again starting with the pelvis, moving one vertebra from the tail to the head. Lift upward out of your shoulders so that you are not shrugging. Your shoulder blades will move toward your waist and slightly toward each other.
Go back and forth between Cat and Cow trying to time the movement with the breath. The amount of time it takes you to inhale is the amount of time it takes you to get into Cow pose. The length of your exhale determines how long it takes to get into Cat pose. If your breath is a continuous flow from inhale to exhale to inhale, so should be your Cat and Cow. Go back and forth 3-5 times.
If getting on the floor is challenging for you, there are 2 other ways to practice these poses. Watch this video for 3 versions of Cat and Cow.
Standing Forward Bend/ Uttanasana
I love this pose for many reasons. It stretches the hamstrings as well as the spine. If you have advanced osteoporosis, severe spinal stenosis, or a similar condition, I recommend keeping your elbows on your thighs while keeping your spine straight. You can also place your hands on blocks.
Stand with your feet parallel about hip distance apart. This is the distance apart of your sit bones, not how wide you think your hips are. If you find your belly gets in the way, you can stand with your feet a bit wider. Bend your knees and hinge forward at the hips keeping a straight spine. If you choose to keep your spine straight because of reasons stated above, place your elbows on your knees or your hands on blocks. Otherwise, from your flat back, let the spine round, dropping your chest toward your thighs. Clasp opposite elbows with your opposite hands (right hand to left elbow, left hand to right elbow).
Keep your knees bent, or lift your hips upward to work toward straightening the legs. Activate your quads to support your knees; avoid pressing your knees backward. Your hips should be the highest point on your body. If you lower back is higher than your hips, keep your knees bent and think about tipping the pelvis. Let your head be heavy, creating a gentle traction of the neck. Feel your elbows dropping as you relax your shoulders. Let your ribcage be heavy, creating length in the lower back and spine.
Breathe deeply, filling the torso with breath, then emptying out completely. Halfway through, switch the forearm that’s on top. Stay a total of 6-10 breaths, then bend your knees and hinge back up to stand, pressing through your heels to activate the glutes as you come up.
Watch this short video on proper form for forward bending, as well as twisting, related to last week’s post “Twisting is Magic, but Only if Done Right.”
Reclining Supported Chest Opener
This pose is a restorative yoga pose, and feels amazing if you typically slouch or sit at a desk “for a living.” Gravity and poor posture pulls the body forward into a rounded position, and this stretch counteracts it. Deep, slow breathing will enhance its effects, as it focuses on opening the chest, heart, and lungs.
If you struggle with poor posture or frequently catch yourself rounding, start with a smaller prop. You can roll up a blanket or beach towel, or if you have a yoga bolster, you can use that. If you are looking for more opening, you can use a foam roller with a blanket placed over it for more cushioning so that it doesn’t dig into your back.
Choose your prop, then lie down on it lengthwise, so that the prop is in the direction of your spine. Sit your hips on the floor and let your head, mid- and upper back rest on the prop. It should feel comfortable. If it doesn’t, slide the prop in the direction of your head until it does. If it’s still uncomfortable, use a smaller prop. You want at least the rib cage and head resting on the prop. You can also place an extra towel or pillow under your head.
Let your arms fall open to either side of your torso, with the palms facing the ceiling. If this bothers your shoulders, place blocks under your elbows/forearms for support. You can also place your arms on rolled towels or pillows, depending on how much support you need. Legs can be extended, bent with your knees resting together and your feet apart, or with your feet together and your knees apart. Place blocks or blankets under your thighs if your feet are together to support your hips.
Stay as long as feels good. That might be a minute, it might be 5-10 minutes or more. Breathe in deeply and exhale slowly, filling and emptying the body with breath. Relax into the pose. Listen to your body to decide when you are done. You should feel a gentle stretch across your chest and shoulders, but should not feel struggle or strain. Let gravity do the work for you. When you are done, carefully roll to one side and slowly sit up.
End of Year Yoga Launch starts next week, are you signed up yet? Join me online December 9-20 for 15 minute yoga classes to stretch, strengthen, work on balance, and settle your mind during this chaotic time of year. All classes can be taken live or on demand. Included with a Purple Room Yoga subscription or $15 for all 10 classes! Click the button below for the schedule of classes, more information, or to sign up!
Janine, I am like you, run of the mill hypermobile. I'm looking forward to trying a modified version of Reclining Supported Chest Opener and seeing how my shoulders do. My strength and range of motion is so much better on the right. 3 more PT sessions and I am done for while.