Have you been doing the same fitness activity you love for years but feel like you’ve reached a plateau? Maybe you’ve recovered from injury and want to reduce the risk of recurrence? Or you might have noticed some niggling aches and pains creeping into daily life? The ability to keep exercising should not be brushed aside as a given, being able to move well during exercise and in everyday life is a gift that you need to cherish.  
If you’ve read our previous articles, you’ll know that our love is for strength training and cardio workouts. Whatever your passion, (running, bootcamp, golf, tennis, cycling…) maintaining these actions and performing well is more likely if you incorporate mobility training into your activities. So, what is mobility training and how does it benefit your performance? 
The definition of mobility is ‘the ability to move freely and easily’. We’ve all had times when moving freely and easily is tricky due to joint pain, muscle aches and strains. These restrictions impact day-to-day activities and slow down fitness gains causing discomfort and frustration. Regular mobility training will enhance your ability to move by combining exercises that prioritise flexibility, balance, strength and coordination. A free moving body will work more efficiently and help improve your overall fitness or sporting performance. 
A mobile body can achieve a bigger range of motion, meaning specific joints and muscles can move and stretch further to achieve extended movement patterns. Muscles can then work harder and will in turn become stronger to boost your performance and power. Good mobility will also lead to a reduced risk of injury. Freer, smoother movement patterns prevent jarring or straining keeping you injury free and allowing training plans and goals to be achieved.  
Another benefit of mobility training is the enhancement of joint health. Mobility exercise stimulates the production of synovial fluid in joint capsules, helping joints glide smoothly against each other. It literally oils the joint to aid movement and reduce sticking points from within. Healthy joints act as shock absorbers and maintain stability during fast, powerful movements, improving joint health will therefore benefit ease of motion, speed and agility.   
Finally, if you’re looking to improve coordination and movement flow, mobility work will help by enhancing proprioception. Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense where it is in space, and plays a huge role in balance, coordination, fluidity of movement and posture. All of these help your body to glide through movement effectively and efficiently, getting the most out of each rep, stride or strike you take.  
So, whatever your fitness passion or sporting love, supplement your training with some mobility sessions. These can be tailored to your personal goals to help improve power, strength, speed, and agility, giving you the progress you desire and a performance to be proud of.