3 Reasons Why Your Poor Mobility is Holding You Back

So many lifters are willing to complain ad nauseam about their lack of mobility, but very few of those people are willing to get up and fix it. Most individuals would prefer to deadlift heavy and get their heart rates up than spend about 10-15 minutes addressing their muscular imbalances and chronically tight areas.

What those people might not realize, is that their lack of mobility is actually sabotaging their progress. Instead, they'd rather just cut to the chase and dive face first into their workouts. They see the value in heavy lifting and pushing hard, but they neglect the accessory mobility work. It's easy to ignore, because the immediate pay-off might be minimal. They release a tight muscle once or twice, and don't make any lasting changes. Like strength training, though, consistency is the key. Doing a handful of stretches, some self-massage, and corrective exercises every few days will go a long way. Not only will you feel more loosey-goosey, but you may even PR your lifts just from adding some more range of motion to your joints!

If your overhead squat looks like that of the guy on the right, this article is about you.

Hopefully, this post will help knock some common sense into you and remind you to pay more attention to the corrective exercises. Here are three major reasons why your limited range of motion is holding you back from getting stronger:

1. You can't get into the right positions. Movements like the front squat require a considerable range of motion. If your latissimus dorsi and pectoralis minors are tight, you won't be able to achieve an ideal position in the lift. No matter how many times a coach may say "elbows up," you just can't get them any higher. Your mobility is going to hinder your progress, because if you cannot keep your torso upright, then you won't be able to support a significant amount of weight in that position. I have met plenty of people who have ample strength, but stagnate on the clean, because their chest drops every time they catch the barbell. Their legs can support the weight without a problem, but their shoulders aren't having it. If these people did some work on the areas in question (pecs and lats), they would, undoubtedly, get an immediate PR on their cleans.
2. Your potential for force production is limited. A muscle has to lengthen before a contraction. A length-tension of a relationship of a muscle explains that a muscle can produce an optimal amount of force at a certain length. For example, if you were to pick up a heavy book, you wouldn't do so with a fully extended elbow. Instead, you would probably bend your elbows a bit. Now, this continuum of ideal length is a balance. If someone is too flexible, force production will be limited, and the opposite is also true. If you are inflexible, the muscles are constantly partially contracted. Take a look at the diagram below of a muscle cross-section. The top model (a) cannot produce enough force because there is too much of an overlap, whereas option (c) can't produce optimal force because there's no overlap at all. Option (b) is just right: a little bit of overlap so that the muscles are at their ideal length for force production. So, if your hamstrings are "tight" you won't be able to produce true power on a sprint or a vertical jump, for example.
   
3. Muscles are not firing in the proper sequence. If you're tight, you're more than likely compensating in ways you don't even realize. For example, if your ankle mobility needs some help, chances are, you're using the muscles on the medial portion of your leg (hip adductors) way too much, while the lateral muscles (abductors, gluteus medius, tensor fascia latae) aren't working enough. Every time you squat, lunge, or sprint, your mechanics are altered. Because your muscles are not in symbioses, this could mean a slower 400 meter time or a weaker back squat. Once the kinetic chain works as it is supposed to, your mechanics are more efficient and you might find that previously challenging movements are a bit easier!

Bodyworker Thomas Myers notes, "organismic movement and stretching – yoga‬, pilates, training‬, manual therapy – can help cells to their proper tension environment by relieving pressure or strain, and this results in better functioning all over." It's great to work hard and get stronger, but it's also important to give your muscles some love and alleviate tension in the body.

Ultimately, if you find that your performance has plateaued, perhaps it is time to finally work on improving your tin man status of mobility and join the supple side.

Works Cited:

1. Baechle, Thomas R., and Roger W. Earle. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
2. Clark, Ross A., Brendan Humphries, Erik Hohmann, and Adam L. Bryant. "The Influence of Variable Range of Motion Training on Neuromuscular Performance and Control of External Loads." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25.3 (2011): 704-11. Web.
3. Myers, Thomas. "Biomechanical Auto-Regulation." Anatomy Trains. N.p., 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.