The Importance of Including Flexibility and Mobility Training in Your Fitness Plan

After a long week or weekend, you may not be ready to go as hard at the beginning of the week as you normally would. Sometimes, a day off or Mobility Day may be for a Monday morning. However, you do not need a reason to take workout time and devote yourself to stretching and moving. If you need to work on flexibility in your muscles and mobility of your joints, these life-changing workouts can help.

What Is Mobility Day?

While there may be many different versions of a day of stretching and moving, the one we created about a decade ago looks like this and only takes about an hour:

Repeat five times.

• Bike, row, elliptical machine or swim/tread for five minutes.
• Stretch, foam-roll or use massage tools for five minutes.

So this is no "day off," just a different dose of intensity and focus on what we often neglect -- stretching, foam rolling/massage and nonimpact cardio. See the Mobility Day walk-through video to understand better how it flows.

This nonimpact cardio and stretching combination was developed after trying yoga and spin classes for more stretching and less running. However, an hour of both each day did not match my schedule, so I broke up the benefits of both into five-minute segments. This combination allowed for some form of cardio exercise to take place, with many of the basic stretches found in yoga to help with muscles and joints. The nonimpact cardio option also helped with my feet, knees and hips. The combination perfectly blended cardio, flexibility, mobility and time spent in a day. Mobility Day was born.

The younger generation may want to start the week more intensely with a tougher Day 1. However, you may change your mind if you spend the weekend on longer-than-average workouts (runs, rucks, lifts), racing events, or moving furniture and other manual labor. If you are still sore, have had a horrible night's sleep, have been traveling all weekend or for no reason whatsoever, try adding a second Mobility Day during the week. I have found these single Mobility Days per week life-changing for my 56-year-old hips and knees, and I recommend a second Mobility Day to most people who are beginning or over 50, regardless of their physical conditioning.

Try a Pool Day for Mobility

Another option to "top off Mobility Day" is to do your cardio in the pool. Swim or tread water (moving arms and legs) for five minutes, then stretch in the shallow end or pool deck for five minutes. Continue this for 40-50 minutes and mix in aqua-jogging or dynamic stretches in chest-deep water in place of swimming if you are not great at it. This version is water aerobics, mixed with stretching, and is very helpful if you are nursing joint pains in the knees, hips and back. Try these dynamic stretching movements in the pool's shallow end to loosen the joints.

You may think that this workout "looks" easy because it is not running and lifting weights, but it is still difficult, even if you are flexible. You will find that maintaining flexibility and joint mobility is perishable as you age and needs time each week to focus on typical painful joints and sore or tight muscles.

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