Mobility and flexibility
- By Darryl Lampen
“Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits!”
It’s a mantra I go by for my clients’ journeys, as well as my personal one.
In my 20s, I was the guy who:
Was prone to being injured – wrists, shoulders and hips, to name a few
Had poor range of motion generally – I was the guy who couldn’t touch his toes
Had a body that didn’t “behave” properly – some muscles were lazy, some muscles were working overtime
Only went to see a chiropractor out of desperation
It was only during my late 20s, when I got sick of getting injured and frustrated with how my training had started to plateau, that I began to explore mobility and flexibility work, as well as start regular chiropractic care.
Before I delve into the benefits of mobility and flexibility, I’d like to touch on the differences between them.
Passive Flexibility or passive range of motion (P-ROM), refers to the maximum ROM that can be produced by imposition of an external force without causing joint injury. Active Flexibility or active range of motion (A-ROM) – and often referred to as ‘mobility’ – refers to the maximum ROM that can be produced under active muscular control for a particular degree of freedom of any joint.*
Your flexibility (passive flexibility) will always be greater than your mobility (active flexibility), though with specific mobility training you can reduce the difference between the two. Moreover, increasing flexibility will increase the capacity and availability for more improvement with mobility (you can’t actively stretch to a point that you can’t passively get to).
The benefits of flexibility and mobility work include:
Reduced risk of injury
Improved movement quality
Increased strength
So how does chiropractic care tie into this? Chiropractic care has helped me improve joint mobility and function, as well as helping the tighter muscles ‘loosen’; and thus, has been complementary to my mobility and flexibility work. So regardless of where you are with your flexibility and mobility training, whether you’re doing rehab, prehab or pursuing goals like the splits, there will be some extra benefit.
As my 32nd birthday approaches, I’ve come a way away from the guy in my 20s! To see just how much improvement I’ve made from the easily-injured man who couldn’t touch his toes, simply check out my website or Instagram.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about functional range mobility training, please feel free to contact me at my website or Insta. I’ll be starting mobility classes on Zoom in October, too.
Otherwise you can find me at The Berkeley Clinic, where I offer sports massage services. Just contact reception if you’d like to get in touch or book a massage.
*For further reading, see reference Supertraining.