A mobility programme can be the source of your pain.
Too much of anything is a bad thing.
The same goes for mobility work – you can have too much mobility for your sport. In this instance, more is not necessarily better.
Why are women most often the go-to models for mobility?
Because genetically, women are more flexible than men. BUT….this extra flexibility has a caveat – mobile people look great at using lighter weights when training and moving into the bottom of a squat.
But the more mobile people are often prone to weakness in getting out the squat, with the beautiful form soon disappearing under heavier weights.
Often the people in your gym with more mobility and flexibility are rarely the strongest and often spend years with plateaued strength numbers.
Here comes the science…
Flexibility training influences the nervous system by reducing its sensitivity to motion. The two primary proprioceptors (nerve receptors within the muscles and tendons) are the muscle spindles and Golgi tendon organs (GTOs). Muscle spindles detect the rate of the tension within the muscle belly, creating a muscle contraction (a stretch reflex reaction)—the GTOs detect the amount of tension.
The science of stretching means that when muscles are stretched at their end ranges, it creates an inhibition of the nerve receptors allowing the muscle to lengthen further.
However, this often results in a loss of tension and, therefore, reduced power due to neurological relaxation.
To overcome the external loads or forces, we are exposing ourselves to, the body will search and find tension in other areas.
It is typically overloading the connective tissues and joints in nearby structures.
For people with very mobile hips, this often results in chronic low back pain, with overactive spinal muscles (erector spinae and quadratus lumborum muscles) taking the load and protecting the body as best as possible.
The current fitness trend promotes that more mobility is better, and we should all be stretching and mobilising to correct our injuries.
Yes, we require a range of motion in joints to execute excellent movement. However, this is SPORT-dependent.
If you want to pick heavy weights up off the floor, you do not need the front or box splits. At JJ Perform, we commonly treat ex-gymnasts, dancers with chronic lower back pain who have started weightlifting programmes.
Better mobility does not equate to fewer injuries; it equates to different injuries for some people.
Therefore, stretching the muscles in the required range for your sport while maintaining tension that’s the sweet spot we need to work on for you – finding your mobility sweet spot.
The different ranges of movement are covered within the JJ Perform Programme, designed to improve your controlled range of motion within coordinated movement patterns.
We’re here to find your mobility sweet spot.