If you train at CrossFit®, are a professional athlete or are simply interested in sports-related topics, you may have already found the term "mobility" in some articles and understood. how important it is for anyone's physical development.
Unfortunately there is still so much misinformation, despite the fact that we are talking more and more about well-being and abandoning a sedentary life. Many of the contents found online have no scientific basis and the result is so much confusion for those who are looking for useful information for their physique.
At CrossMag we care about your health and so we decided to explain in this article what is mobility in CrossFit® and why it is so important.
Index
WHAT IS MOBILITY?
Are you able to stand vertically without leaning against the wall? Or even walk? Here it is.
We can define mobility as the ability to move the body into a large breadth of space and movement.
Every part of our body has a natural limit that acts as a mechanism against injuries to our joints.
Inadequate sporting practice, long periods in wrong positions or insufficient daily activities can cause a noticeable reduction in this range of motion. Lack of mobility of a joint can lead to increased stress on neighboring joints and, consequently, injury.
WHY ...
LESS MOBILITY = MINOR PERFORMANCE = GREATER RISK OF INJURY
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THE CROSSFIT®?
- Amplitude of movement: This is very important for CrossFit® because in addition to gymnastic exercises, includes Olympic lifting movements. In these cases the athlete must activate the muscles to resist high loads in very large positions;
- Exercise efficiency: the increase in mobility is directly related to the increase in efficiency in the execution of a certain movement. The more power is achieved, the less energy is lost;
- Joint stabilization: developing the ability to stabilize the joint during movement increases performance and helps prevent injury;
IN WHAT WAYS DO MOBILITY LIMIT DEVELOPMENT IN THE CROSSFIT®?
- The lack of mobility prevents the perfect execution of the movement and consequently the athlete loses power during the exercise;
- Mobility limits require more energy to perform the exercise. The more energy is spent on each movement, the less energy will remain to finish a WOD;
- The mobility deficit makes the exercise more difficult, both in terms of dynamics and stabilization (e.g. shoulder / scapula stabilization during the OverHead Squat);
AND THEN HOW TO IMPROVE MOBILITY?
Mobility training consists of a series of complete movements aimed at developing the force and flexibility of the practitioner, as well as stronger tendons and joints resistant to various exercise loads.
Basic exercises with elastic and PVC help a lot in the evolution of the lower, upper limbs and trunk. Moreover, the barbell itself can be used to perform some mobility exercises.
There are some apps, like the GOWOD, which allow for personalized work on mobility.
We have selected some short videos that can be useful:
You have understood? Now go to the box to try them!