Welcome to Mobility-Madness! If you missed it on our social’s we have officially started our Basketball inspired season! This weekend into next, we will be pitting some of our favorite exercises from 4 key regions of the body against each other! We are so excited to be introducing some of our best mobility exercises here. We’ll also give you an opportunity to get into the competition by placing your votes on which exercises you love most! Join us as we introduce our sweet sixteen brackets and go into detail about why these specific exercises were chosen. Get ready for the madness!
The Brackets
With so many parts of the body, it was hard to choose just 4, however we wanted to drop some dimes for you! You can use all of these exercises to promote wellness in your body! Maybe even give them a try before voting.
You’ll notice that some of these exercises may be able to fit into different brackets. That’s because some of them are great for more than one body part. They landed in their particular bracket because they are some of the most popular exercises that we love to do and recommend to our patients. Without further ado, let’s introduce the 4 areas of the body and the exercises that will be competing.
Our Best Mobility Exercises
We’re introducing these exercises from the 4th seat to the 1st! If you’re not familiar with how these brackets work, essentially we’re saving our most popular and best exercises for last! (Hint… the 4th exercise of each body region is one of our most popular and most used)
The Shoulder
Not a stretch, or a strengthening exercise, this is connective tissue mobilization breaks up adhesions and knots in the muscle. Doing this under and in the back of the shoulder can make a big impact on your ability to move your arms overhead! This can be quite uncomfortable, but very effective. – Tutorial here
Amazing for patterning, activation, and strength, bent over W’s help re-teach your shoulders how to move – Tutorial here
This is a sniper of an exercise. You get so much release in the front of your shoulder and through your chest. The position of your shoulder head makes a big difference, so you need to make sure you have the proper form! – Tutorial here
Twisted Angels – This power punched exercise is one of our most prescribed exercises to patients with shoulder problems. Why this made #1? You get stretch in your shoulder, improve how the shoulder blade moves, and an amazing twist through the spine. – Tutorial here
The Knee
If you’ve been following along with us you probably saw these recently! The eccentric contraction is perfect for helping heal your knee. These are all about high reps, low weight to get your body ready to take whatever you want to throw at it! – Learn More
Targeting the groin, quad, hip flexor, and even some hamstring this stretch gets you from all sides!! Many people have knee pain but ignore their adductors that can contribute to some of that knee pain. This stretch will help you get it all! – Tutorial here
You’re probably thinking…. Wait that is for hamstrings… and you’re right! But the back of your leg has just as much to do with how your knee works as the front! This unsung hero is amazing to help get you back on track which is why we chose it as one of our best mobility exercises
Another one of our most popularly used exercises by us (the Mobility-Doc team) and our patients! This stretch is able to tackle the hip flexor and quad! It’s easy to do anywhere and very effective. – Tutorial Here
The Back
This exercise improves strength of your middle back, lower back, glutes, hamstring, and core. This can be a challenging exercise to not let your lower back take over! Lift from the middle back first.
Ever felt like one of your vertebrae was stuck? This will fix it. Jefferson curls helps you articulate each individual part of your spine. Many of us start moving parts of our spine as one large piece instead of many individuals! – Tutorial Here
It may seem counterintuitive but rotational flexibility unlocks movement in your spine! Rotating through your trunk helps to mobilize your entire back! – Tutorial here
Why this is #1? Almost everyone who walks into our office could benefit from this exercise. The thoracic spine or middle back is a silent contributor to shoulder issues, neck issues, and so much more! If you add mobility back into your middle back, you’ll be surprised how many other parts of your body start feeling better! – Tutorial here
The Hips
This classic is good for getting a deep stretch through your quads and hip flexor muscles. It really helps you target the entire quad because of the elevated position of the foot. Doing this provides much more stretch than your typical half kneeling hip flexor stretch! –Tutorial here
Great for internal rotation, this stretch works through your quad and hip into your hip flexor muscles. If you think you’re a pro at this make sure you’re doing it right! – Tutorial here
Improve the strength and stability of your hips individually! Because you’re in an asymmetrical stance, you get the benefit of focusing on one hip at a time! This is important so you can work out any asymmetries you may have from left to right. – Tutorial here
This isn’t just #1 because of the fame! We see people all the time doing pigeon, but not getting the most out of it. In order to get the most benefit, you need your knee to your ankle to be in a straight line and parallel to your hips! If you’re letting your ankle slide in towards your body you lose the effectiveness of this exercise. Elevating your pigeon gives you the opportunity to get the right angles so you can work up to pigeon on the floor! Try it and see for yourself! – Pro Tip here
How It Works
These exercises are our sweet 16 bracket! Each region will compete against each other until a winner is determined. That is where the fun begins! We are asking YOU to vote for your favorite exercises! You can find polls on Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram to cast your votes on your favorite exercises! Make sure you participate to become part of the fun and take part in history as we choose a winner for 2024!
