Mobility: Moving Well, Moving Often, Moving with Control
Mobility is one of those terms that gets used a lot, often interchangeably with flexibility and often misunderstood. For some, it conjures images of long stretching sessions or extreme ranges of motion. For others, it feels irrelevant unless something is already painful or stiff.
In reality, mobility sits at the centre of how we move, perform, recover, and protect our bodies. It’s not about forcing range or becoming “loose” — it’s about having usable movement that supports everyday life, sport, and long-term joint health.
Mobility vs Flexibility — What’s the Difference?
Although they’re closely related, mobility and flexibility are not the same thing.
Flexibility refers to the ability of a muscle to lengthen, often passively (for example, holding a stretch).
Mobility is the ability to actively move a joint through its available range with control and strength.
In simple terms:
Mobility = flexibility + strength + coordination.
You can be flexible without being mobile — for example, able to stretch into a position but unable to control it during movement. True mobility requires strength and awareness through the range, not just access to it.
Why Mobility Matters
Everyday life
Mobility underpins how we move through daily tasks:
Walking, bending, squatting, reaching, turning
Getting up from the floor
Carrying and lifting objects
When joint movement is limited, the body compensates elsewhere, often placing unnecessary strain on other areas over time.
Sport, performance, and load sharing
In sport and physical activity, mobility plays a key role in spreading load efficiently across the body.
When joints can move as intended, forces are shared rather than concentrated — which can improve performance and may help reduce the risk of overuse injuries.
Examples:
Limited thoracic spine mobility can increase stress through the shoulders in activities like throwing, swimming, or gym work.
Restricted hip mobility often leads to excessive movement through the lower back.
Rotational sports such as golf and tennis rely heavily on adequate mobility, for example through the thoracic spine and hips — without it, the lower spine and shoulders often take more of the strain.
Good mobility allows movement to be smoother, more efficient, and more resilient.
Mobility in Injury and Rehabilitation
After injury, restoring movement is often one of the first priorities.
Regaining joint range helps re-establish normal movement patterns and supports a return to everyday function before higher loads are introduced.
A clear example is the knee:
Terminal knee extension (the ability to fully straighten the knee) is essential for normal walking mechanics.
Without it, gait becomes inefficient and compensations can develop higher up the chain.
Mobility lays the foundation — strength and load build on top of it.
Common Signs of Reduced Mobility
Stiffness after sitting or first thing in the morning
Needing longer or more intense warm-ups than previously
Discomfort reaching overhead, squatting, rotating, or bending
Compensating through other areas (for example, moving through the lower back instead of the hips)
These signs don’t always indicate injury — but they are useful signals that certain areas may need attention.
Screening Yourself — Get to Know Your Own Body
You don’t always need complex assessments to understand your own movement.
Simple exploration through comfortable ranges can reveal a lot:
Can you rotate both directions evenly?
Does one hip feel different from the other?
Can you raise your arms overhead without arching your lower back?
Do certain movements feel restricted or awkward?
Start with awareness, you can’t improve what you don’t know about. Noticing patterns helps guide what might be worth working on.
How Mobility Should Be Trained — A Balanced Approach
Active mobility
Mobility training works best when it’s active, controlled, and consistent. This means performing controlled movement through full range, prioritising quality over forcing depth or speed and being consistent, combining mobility with strength, gradually adding more load.
Can static stretching still play a part?
Static stretching can still have a role in improving flexibility and mobility.
Static stretching may be useful when you are not able to access or work into full end range in other ways. Using load and holding for longer durations may help the tissues adapt to better end range positions. It may help temporarily increase tolerance to a position, aid relaxation and perceived feeling of stiffness. Some people like to use it after activity as part of a cool down when the muscles are warm.
Best practice for static stretching:
Use it as a complement, not as the only strategy
Avoid aggressive or painful stretching
Hold stretches comfortably, without forcing end ranges
Pair static stretching with active movement and strength work to make gains usable
Stretching alone doesn’t create long-term mobility — but when combined with strength and control, it can support overall movement health.
When Stretching Shouldn’t be the Priority
One important thing to note is more range is not always better.
Some people, particularly those who are naturally hypermobile, already have plenty of range. For them, the challenge isn’t accessing movement — it’s controlling it.
In these cases:
Excessive stretching can worsen symptoms
Stability and strength becomes far more important
Controlled movement through range is prioritised over gaining more range
A muscle group can feel persistently tight if it constantly being overloaded
Final Thoughts
Mobility is one part of that bigger picture. It works best alongside:
Strength training
Sensible load management
Adequate recovery
Hands-on care can be a little extra help to restore joint movement where restrictions exist, while exercises can also help plus maintain and reinforce those improvements.
The goal isn’t endless stretching, chasing extremes or being flexible just for the sake of it— it’s maintaining access to movement that supports what you want your body to do.
Move joints well.
Move them often.
Support them with strength.
The aim isn’t just more movement — it’s better movement, helping you live well, move confidently, and enjoy the activities that matter to you.
