What Is Loss of Mobility & How Can You Reverse It?

As we age, the little things we take for granted, such as getting up from a chair or walking across the room, can become increasingly complex. Sometimes, it’s just part of getting older. When the loss of mobility begins to interfere with daily life, it can be frustrating and even intimidating. The good news is that you don’t have to accept it. This article will cover actionable steps you can take to prevent and even reverse loss of mobility so you can maintain your independence and stay active as you age.

Pliability's mobility app can help you achieve your mobility goals, so you can get back to doing the things you love and living life on your terms.

What Is Meant by Loss of Mobility?

Mobility is essential for performing everyday tasks, from getting out of bed in the morning to walking around the house and climbing stairs. Maintaining an adequate level of mobility ensures we can live independently and safely.

As we age, our bodies undergo various physiological changes that can diminish our strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance, leading to reduced mobility. This gradual loss of physical function can begin as early as our thirties. If we don’t take steps to counteract this decline, we may become dependent on others for the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) as we age.

What is Loss of Mobility?

Loss of mobility refers to the inability to move around freely and without pain. The term can describe a range of conditions, from difficulty walking to losing the ability to climb stairs or getting in and out of a car.

While the causes of reduced mobility can differ significantly, some are a natural consequence of aging, while accidents, neurological damage, or other physical incapacities cause others.

Top Causes of Severe Mobility Loss

According to the CDC, one in every seven adults in the United States experiences some form of severe mobility loss that significantly impacts major life activities. These disabilities can vary in severity and are caused by a variety of factors. But what are the most common causes of mobility loss?

A Sedentary Lifestyle

It may come as a surprise to learn that living a sedentary lifestyle is one of the most common causes of mobility loss in adults. As technology has advanced over the decades, Americans have become increasingly less physically active, transitioning from physically demanding jobs to ones that are desk-based and computer-oriented.

This decrease in activity levels can begin to impact your mobility levels as early as the age of 30. At that age, individuals can start to lose as much as 3-5% of muscle mass every decade, which can lead to drastic mobility loss by the time you reach your senior years.

Boost Mobility with Simple Daily Activity

The best way to combat this muscle loss is, of course, physical activity. That doesn’t mean you have to start pumping steel every day of the week. Simple changes, such as taking the stairs or going for a daily walk, can pay off over the long run.

Additionally, it’s never too late to start increasing your activity levels. Even if you struggle with mobility now, increasing physical activity under a doctor’s guidance can help you to reverse loss of muscle mass and improve mobility in the future.

Obesity

Being overweight puts a considerable strain on your heart and consequently reduces your ability to be physically active. Avoiding mobility loss involves maintaining a healthy weight, a balanced diet, and a healthy lifestyle. 

Obesity can incline you to lead a more sedentary lifestyle when what is needed is an active lifestyle. Overweight people are also more likely to have hip and knee problems.

Cognitive Conditions

Every part of the body is connected, and cognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease can impact far more than just the mind. These conditions can often lead to the loss of muscle control and, as a result, independent mobility.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with one of these cognitive conditions, consult a doctor about strategies to help mitigate mobility loss and exercises to slow the progression of memory loss.

Chronic Medical Conditions

Chronic medical conditions can cause progressive mobility loss that is difficult to combat. For example, osteoarthritis, neuropathy, and other similar conditions can cause pain and weakness in the muscles and joints, making it difficult to engage in any physical activity. This leads to a more sedentary lifestyle, and, as we stated above, results in a loss of muscle mass and overall mobility.

Staying Active with Chronic Conditions

While the idea of engaging in physical activity with a chronic medical condition might seem impossible, properly treating your condition can help make it more achievable. Discuss options for medication, exercises, and lifestyle changes that can help to reduce your pain and weakness from your chronic medical condition.

Experiment with different physical activities, with proper support and supervision, to find movements that don’t agitate or inflame your existing conditions. This can help you find ways to be more active and maintain greater mobility, while keeping your medical conditions and their symptoms under control.

Physical Injuries

As we age, our bodies become less and less capable of recovering from injuries. Bones are more brittle, and even simple abrasions on the skin can take weeks to heal.

So, when a more serious physical injury occurs, such as a broken bone, it’s common for senior citizens never entirely to recover from the injury. This is especially common in joints, such as the knees and hips, which often require replacement later in life.

Lasting Impact of Injury on Mobility

When these injuries occur, some loss of mobility is always a distinct possibility. While you may not entirely lose mobility in the impacted limb, additional pain and stiffness can limit your range of motion or otherwise reduce your ability to bear weight or use the affected limb. This mobility loss often persists throughout a person’s lifetime and can sometimes worsen over time.

Simple Aging

Of course, aging is always a factor to consider when discussing mobility loss. While other factors are usually at play when talking about severe loss of mobility, aging contributes to a great deal of the physical disabilities that senior citizens face.

Several primary issues often lead to a loss of mobility among seniors, but fortunately, some of these issues can be prevented.

Osteoporosis

Occurs when seniors have greatly diminished bone density that can lead to fragile, brittle, and breakable bones. Fortunately, this cause of immobility is preventable if seniors start following a healthy diet at an early age. It is essential to get enough calcium and vitamin D to build healthy bones.

Living with a serious health condition can make it challenging for seniors to age in place. They can maintain a higher quality of life with the help of professional live-in care. Roseville seniors can benefit from assistance with meal prep, bathing, transportation to the doctor’s office, medication reminders, and much more.

Accidental Falls

Broken bones, strained tendons, and muscle tears can limit a senior’s mobility, and these accidents tend to happen more often in old age. Try to remove hazards that could lead to falls, and ensure all areas of the home are well lit.

Seniors can also reduce the risk of falls by building muscle through exercise, as extra muscle helps increase balance and protect bones in the event of an accident.

Impaired Mental Function

Conditions that affect the brain, like dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease, can limit mobility. These mental conditions can impair the body's ability to control muscles and bones effectively. Parkinson’s disease can damage neurons and affect areas of the brain that control coordination and movement.

Respite Care Support for Seniors with Limited Mobility

Seniors with limited mobility may require assistance with daily activities. Some seniors require occasional assistance at home, and often, the family members who care for them need time away to run errands, take a nap, go to work, or take a vacation.

Roseville, CA, respite care experts from BeyondWell Home Care are available on an as-needed basis, giving your family peace of mind that your loved one will remain safe and comfortable. At the same time, you relax or focus on other essential responsibilities.

Obesity

Obesity among seniors is on the rise. Extreme obesity can cause seniors to become housebound, and being slightly overweight can make it difficult for them to move around. Higher levels of weight put more strain on the muscles and require more effort to move around.

Obesity can also contribute to issues like osteoarthritis and diabetes that further impair mobility. To prevent this dangerous health condition, seniors should maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and consult their doctors about any medications that may be contributing to weight gain.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of immobility among older adults, occurring when the cartilage that protects the joints breaks down. Osteoarthritis can cause immobility due to pain, or it can make the joints stiffen and lock up.

Seniors can reduce the risk of developing arthritis by maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood sugar levels, engaging in regular gentle exercise, and avoiding repetitive motions that put stress on the joints.

Related Reading

• Body Awareness
• What is Functional Movement
• Functional Strength Training
• Does Yoga Help With Mobility
• How Long Does It Take to Improve Flexibility
• Why is Range of Motion Important
• How to Fix Tight Hamstrings

Why Mobility Matters for Healthy Aging

Mobility is how you move. More specifically, it’s how well your ​joints​ move through their full range of motion.

The value of being able to take a joint through its range of motion (say, extending and flexing an elbow or ankle) is that it supports your ability to move or walk freely and easily. That’s critical for functioning well and living independently, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

What Does That Look Like in Real Life?

Examples include reaching into the cupboard for a cup (shoulder), walking up and down stairs (ankle), and bending down to pick something off the floor (hips and knees), Joe Castelli, DPT, founder of S.P.O.R.T. Physiotherapy and Wellness in New York City, explains.

How Mobility Affects Independence, Quality of Life, and Long-Term Health

In its simplest terms, mobility is how you move. More specifically, it’s how well your ​joints​ move through their full range of motion, Sabrena Jo, CPT, senior director of science and research at the American Council on Exercise (ACE), tells LIVESTRONG.com.

The value of being able to take a joint through its range of motion (say, extending and flexing an elbow or ankle) is that it supports your ability to move or walk freely and easily. That’s critical for functioning well and living independently, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

What Does That Look Like in Real Life?

Examples include reaching into the cupboard for a cup (shoulder), walking up and down stairs (ankle). And bending down to pick something off the floor (hips and knees), Joe Castelli, DPT, founder of S.P.O.R.T. Physiotherapy and Wellness in New York City, explains.

Over time, a lack of mobility translates into less independence, as well as a greater risk of falls, disease, loss of function, and even death, according to the NIA. Without good joint mobility, you may also feel stiff and achy, making it more difficult to participate in activities or perform daily tasks.

Regain Mobility for a Better Quality of Life

Losing mobility can significantly impact your quality of life. Fortunately, improving your range of motion can decrease pain, anxiety, depression, and enhance the ability to do day-to-day activities and personal-care routines, per an August 2017 study in ​PLOS ONE​.

Preserving and knowing how to regain mobility are critical for healthy aging. And it's never too late to start.

Why Mobility Worsens With Age

​Some mobility losses are a natural part of aging. "A natural consequence of aging is the breakdown of collagen, a structure that holds water, which provides fluid and suppleness to joints," Jo says. That makes it harder for joints to access their full range of motion.

How Aging and Habits Affect Mobility

As you age, certain conditions, such as hypertension, heart disease, heart failure, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis, are associated with mobility loss, according to a study in the ​Annals of Medicine​ in March 2019.

Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, can also contribute. But as far as natural changes with age go, that's about it. (And age-related muscle loss isn't a guarantee if you stay active. The primary reason joint range of motion declines with age is due to our habits. Think: If you don't use it, you lose it. Plus, over time, repetitive motions get ingrained.

One Classic Example? Typing at a Keyboard

Jo explains that typing shortens the muscles in the front chest. If you're also hunched forward (a typical at-your-desk posture), then you are over-stretching the muscles in your back. "Over the years, if you don't do anything to counteract that habitual activity, the muscles on one side of a joint become chronically shortened and the muscles on the opposite side become chronically lengthened," she says.

For instance, even when you're not at your desk, you may still experience that imbalance, contributing to a loss of mobility. The danger is that this can cause wear and tear on joints, which, over time, can lead to chronic pain.

Inactivity’s Role in Age-Related Mobility Loss

Finally, if you're not physically active, you're not conditioning your joints to move through their full intended range of motions. This can also cause loss of mobility in older adults, Jo says.

As it stands, 27.5 percent of people globally do not engage in enough physical activity, according to a September 2018 study in The Lancet Global Health​, which surveyed nearly two million people. (Sufficient physical activity was defined as at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.)

Related Reading

• How to Get a Crook Out Your Neck
• How Does Flexibility Work
• Flexibility Gymnastics
• Are Women More Flexible Than Men
• What is the Impact of Age on Flexibility
• What is Passive Stretching

What Can I Do to Counteract the Loss of Mobility?

As we age, our bodies naturally lose flexibility, making it harder to perform everyday activities. But that doesn't have to be the case. You can easily retain or regain some of your mobility with a few simple strategies.

‍"We are not doomed to frailty just because we grow older if we are willing to stay active and make wellness a priority," says Michelle Rogers, CPT, a certified personal trainer and senior fitness specialist. "Remaining active and living a healthy lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for your present and future self." To get started, Dr. Kelly Starrett, a physical therapist and former professional athlete, recommends getting your body into different shapes.

Hang for Three Minutes a Day

If you're experiencing aches and pains in your shoulders, neck, or back, Starrett has a fix. "I want you to hang for three minutes a day," he said. You can hang in many different ways, he said, by grabbing the edge of a sink or a doorframe or, better yet, a pull-up bar. Just get your arms above your head and stretch a bit.

Why Posture Tests Like Downward Dog Matter

Even the yoga pose "downward-facing dog" counts as hang time, he added. "That would fundamentally change your posture, change neck pain, change your breath, change your shoulders, make it so you're more durable. I mean, that is a foundational posture," he said.

‍"Go to the airport and watch people in the (body) scanner. You'll see why we have that as a test (in the book), because people literally, cannot put their arms over their head anymore."

Walk More (for a Surprising Reason)

To keep stiffness at bay and maintain mobility, Starrett advises everyone to engage in plenty of walking every day. "If I could give everyone in my family a pill that reduced all-cause mortality and morbidity by 51% , that's walking 8,000 steps a day," he said.

"If you want your bones and tendons and ligaments and perceptive systems to work, you have to physically load them," he said. "Right now, we're seeing an epidemic of osteoporosis, osteopenia, sarcopenia; people are losing muscle, losing bone. That's because this body is an adaptation machine, and if you stress it, it adapts, and if you don't stress it, it adapts (in an undesirable way).”

How Walking Supports Your Body’s Cleanup System

Walking loads our bones, connective tissue, tendons, and musculature. Additionally, walking helps the body decongest and clear waste, Starrett said. "Your body makes about 3 to 4 liters of lymphatic fluid every day," he explained.

‍"And the lymph system is the sewage system of the body: all of the broken-down cellular material, all of the waste, all the proteins that are too big to come in through your capillaries, all go out through your lymphatic system.”

Movement Helps Your Body Heal and Detoxify

"What we need to do is appreciate that that sewage system of the body has been bootstrapped through our muscle system," he said. "And so, if we want to decongest, move the waste along, then we have to keep moving."

It also happens that as congested tissues get stiff, they don't heal as well, he said. By decongesting our tissues, we get improved blood flow, which is also good for the brain.

Play More

Exercise doesn't need to be all work. "We started to treat the health of the body as like some onerous task," said Starrett, noting that play has been lost in our modern lives. "When's the last time you did a sport or jumped into a dance class?

‍"One of my favorite tools that I use even for my elite athletes (are videos by) Caleb Marshall, who is The Fitness Marshall. We use (his free three-minute dance routines) to warm up, to have fun, to laugh. And what it does is it gets me moving in a novel way. It gets me interacting with my friends. It's super fun."

Play as Everyday Movement

Starrett also carries around a flying disc in his backpack so wherever he and his wife go, they can have spontaneous play during a moment of free time.

"Play could be a continuum," he said. "Going for a walk with your friends in the evening, I'm going to call it play. Exploring your neighborhood on a hike could be play. Humans are best when we're playing. And that will solve a lot of movement problems."

Don’t Neglect the Basics

For robust physical movement, Starrett recommended a balanced diet with sufficient protein and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Starrett recommended aiming for 800 grams of fruits and vegetables a day. "That could be frozen, that could be fresh, that could be beans, that could be potatoes, that could be fruits and vegetables -- not just kale," he said.

‍"It's about fiber and micronutrients. I need you to have all the vitamins and minerals on board so that you can have healthy tissues." He recommends getting at least 0.7 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. "It's about, 'Hey, I want to have enough protein on board to be able to build muscle and build bone.'"

Mix Up Your Moves

It's great to find a workout you love, but doing the same exercises every day isn't ideal for joint mobility. Better are exercise sessions that look different on different days of the week. (Don't worry, you can, and should, repeat your workouts from week to week.) "A combination of activities, like strength training, cycling, running, and yoga, will move your joints in all the ways possible," Jo says.

For instance, she says, if you make all of your workouts cycling ones, you will move joints in a single position, which can cause your hips, back, and chest to become tight and achy. You can decrease that risk by opening up the front of your body through exercises like strength training and yoga. "If you keep a varied schedule of activities to move your body in different ways, you don't have to worry that much about mobility loss," says Jo.

Take Standing Breaks

If you have a desk job, you spend long periods sitting at your desk. And you might be able to relate to the sensation of feeling tight and achy after sitting for a while and then getting up. "One of the ways we can counteract that is to move often," Jo says. If you're in a desk job, that can look like standing up and walking for five minutes every hour, she recommends.

The earlier you can start this habit, the better, but it's never too late. For older adults, those who took more breaks per day, including moving from a sitting to a standing position, were more likely to have better physical function, as assessed by a senior fitness test, according to a January 2015 study in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

Stand Up Often—Even If You’ve Worked Out

Standing up to interrupt time spent sitting engages large skeletal muscles and, when consistently performed throughout the day, activates thousands of muscular contractions, the researchers note. Standing up more, regardless of your age, is essential, even if you've done a workout that day.

Get Bendy

Stretching exercises that target your shoulders, spine, hips, and calves can help combat chronic stiffness, which contributes to mobility losses in older adults, says Jo. Stretching, both with static (bend and hold) stretches and dynamic (flowing) ones, is an excellent opportunity to move your joints in ways they might not do otherwise on a regular basis.

Stretch Without Strain

Many yoga workouts also include a flexibility and mobility component, Jo says. You decide to bend and stretch, focus on challenging yourself, but always without pain. Pushing too hard into stretches can damage your joints and increase the risk of injury.

The goal is to feel a gentle, pleasant stretch in your muscles. If something doesn't feel good, listen to your body and pull back a bit or avoid that stretch altogether.

Related Reading

• What is Static Exercise
• Dynamic Movement
• Why Does Stretching Hurt
• Yoga Poses for Flexibility
• Hip Opening Yoga Poses
• Proprioception Exercises
• Neck Mobility Exercises
• Flexibility Goals Examples

Improve Your Flexibility with Our Mobility App Today | Get 7 Days for Free on Any Platform

Pliability offers a fresh take on yoga, tailored for performance-oriented individuals and athletes. Our app features a vast library of high-quality videos designed to improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion. 

Pliability offers daily-updated, custom mobility programs for individuals seeking to optimize their health and fitness. It also includes a unique body-scanning feature to pinpoint mobility issues.

Move Better With Pliability

If you're feeling limited by pain or your ability to move, Pliability aims to complement your existing fitness routine and help you move more effectively.

Sign up today to get 7 days free on iPhone, iPad, Android, or on our website. Our mobility app helps improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion.

‍