And why you need them all!
Before I start training with any of my clients we go over what I would call the “Foundation”. You wouldn't want to build your dream home on a crappy foundation, the same can be said about your dream body. A good foundation can get rid of a lot of the aches and pains you commonly experience in life and within the gym. This foundation is broken into 3 major parts.
Flexibility - the ability for your joint(s) to move through a full range of motion
Mobility - The ability for the muscle to control the joint through a range of motion
Stability - The Balance and control over your body through varying ranges of motion and loads.
“You wouldn't want to build your dream home on a crappy foundation. We want to treat your body the same way.”
Create a better foundation
Without these three core fundamentals, your body cannot move in the way it needs to, to workout both effectively and safely. If you start working out with complex movements and a poor foundation, it's not a matter of if you will hurt yourself but when. Creating an even, pain free, smooth moving body is always our first goal. Once that is established you can really start pushing yourself and striving for your goals.
There is a lot of confusion about the differences between flexibility, mobility, and stability, so I'm going to try and break it down the best I can.
Flexibility is forcing a joint into a certain position. The force can be gravity, leaning, weight, or even a partner pushing you. How far your body can physically be pushed (stretched) before reaching its limit. This always needs some form of outside force. Your flexibility affects the range of motion your body can move through. If you're not flexible enough your joints won't be able to be put in the proper position to perform physical exercise effectively.
-Ex. Standing and using your arms to pull your knee to your chest. How far you can move your knee with force is Flexibility.
Mobility is the ability of the muscle to move the joint through a range of motion with no outside force. The muscle and the muscle alone move the joint through a full range of motion. Mobility is how we begin to train positive motor functions. Our mobility program teaches how to move through the most basic fundamental ranges of motion, like a squat. There is the ability to move through the motion, but then there is the ability to duplicate the movement exactly in perfect control and that comes from stability
-Ex. Standing and lifting your leg on its own as high as you can. That range of motion would be your mobility.
Stability is the ability to control and balance your body through the range of motion. Stability is like your accuracy to movement. With good stability, you are more accurate and will have a higher success rate with your movements. You will also be less likely to catastrophically fail if something were to go awry. Good Stable movements should be smooth and feel good to perform.
-Ex. Being able to lift your leg on its own while being stable and in control. (not falling over) If you do begin to fall your body has the ability to correct itself .
With These 3 things combined you create the perfect foundation in which to push yourself and strive for your goals. Building these core fundamentals takes time, focus, energy ,and education. You can still do other workouts while working on your fundamentals. Being able to move well takes precedence in our gym. We would rather take our time and do things the right way, then to rush into a tough training program you aren't physically ready for.
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