Top 3 mobility exercises for athletes

Having a good level of flexibility is often a desirable quality for many athletes and sports coaches. The term flexibility actually refers to the range of motion within a joint but we also need to be able to control that range of motion in order for it to be useful in sport. You may see a hypermobile athlete able to get into the splits with ease but that does not mean they have full control over this motion and in some cases, repeatedly going into these extreme end range positions with little control may not be too good for the surrounding joints.

As mentioned, the ability to execute movements whilst reaching into controlled, near end range positions is important for many sports (think tennis shots taken from a wide lunging position at full reach!). This becomes especially important during rapid growth spurts in young athletes where the bone grows rapidly whilst stretching the existing muscles and tendons, resulting in reduced range of movement. You could also argue that without adequate levels of mobility, you are increasing your risk of injury. 

A simple method we use for all of our athletes is to utilise big ‘bang for you buck’ mobility exercises within every warm up to ensure that athletes are exposed to regular mobility training! We also use yoga flows which is a series of movements blended together for the cool down period which is another time efficient method of getting your mobility work in and include some breathing techniques – WIN WIN!!

OK, so here are my top 3 mobility exercises we love to use with our athletes…

• Adductor rock backs – targets the adductors (groin/inside of the thigh) in an abducted hip position and really helps to open up the hips. Adductors are very important for helping to stabilise the hip and this is a great exercise to create some control and length to this area.

• Spiderman with reach – targets hip external rotation (allowing deeper squatting position, for example), the chest lift as you step forward allows some good extension of the upper back (important if you have a rounded upper back) and the reach adds a fantastic upper back (t-spine) rotation element. Very important, especially for athletes who have a rotational element in their sport (e.g. boxing, rowing, rugby etc.)

• Hand walk-outs – gradually lengthens the posterior chain and you walk your hands in and the added shoulder/trunk stability is a BIG bonus to this simple exercise

Let me know what your favourite mobility drills are below!