Essential Guide to Mobility vs Flexibility for Better Movement

 We’ve all struggled to reach a tough spot while attempting a yoga pose or warming up for a workout. You might feel tight, and your first instinct is to stretch. While this approach isn’t inherently wrong, it might not get to the root of the problem. If you’re having trouble with movement, it could be a lack of mobility rather than flexibility. While they sound similar, mobility and flexibility exercises are very different, and knowing the difference can help you overcome your movement issues faster. In this article, we’ll break down mobility vs flexibility and how improving both can enhance your movement, reduce injury risk, and boost overall physical performance. 

Pliability’s mobility app is a valuable tool to help you achieve your objectives by improving your understanding of both terms, how they differ, and how improving both can help you move better and enhance your performance.

Why are Flexibility and Mobility Important?

Whether you're attempting a new workout or simply getting out of bed in the morning, flexibility and mobility determine how well your body functions. These components of physical fitness are essential for everyday tasks, athletic performance, and injury prevention.  

Improved flexibility and mobility contribute to better posture, reduced muscle soreness, and enhanced recovery, ultimately improving your quality of life as you age. 

What is Flexibility? 

Flexibility is the ability of a muscle to lengthen during movement. More technically, it describes how well body tissues, including:
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• Muscles
• Tendons
• Ligaments
• Stretch and elongate

For example, if you reach down to touch your toes, you are testing the flexibility of the muscles in your back and legs. The better your flexibility, the more quickly you can perform this task. 

What is Mobility?

Mobility describes how healthy joints move through their full range of motion. Simply put, an individual can move freely and easily. Good mobility is crucial for athletic performance and basic tasks like sitting, standing, and walking. 

For example, your performance will improve if you can quickly move your shoulders and hips while cycling. If you have poor mobility in these areas, you might experience pain or perform worse. 

The Importance of Flexibility and Mobility for Performance

Mobility and flexibility are critical for moving your body with ease, whether during an intense workout or when doing everyday tasks like housework or shoveling snow. But it would be a mistake to use the terms interchangeably. While mobility and flexibility are connected, there are differences between them. 

Factors That Influence Flexibility and Mobility

Several factors can influence how flexible and mobile a person is, including:
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• Age
• Genetics
• Injury

For example, both flexibility and mobility tend to decline with age. Hormones can also play a role; pregnancy hormones, for instance, can increase the elasticity of connective tissues, improving flexibility. Gender may also impact your scores: research shows females tend to be more flexible than males. 

Flexibility and Mobility Promote Recovery

Not only do flexibility and mobility play a role in how well you perform during a workout, but both are also key for staying injury-free. This is because, with proper flexibility and mobility, the body can move quickly during a workout without strain. 

By improving mobility and flexibility, individuals can enhance their fitness levels and reduce the risk of injury. A wide range of motion allows individuals to perform exercises and activities with proper form and efficient muscle recruitment. This can improve:
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• Muscle power
• Speed
• Endurance
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During workouts or sports activities. 

The Importance of Mobility and Flexibility in Active Recovery

Evans says the role of mobility and flexibility in active recovery is often overlooked. Engaging in flexibility routines promotes:
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• Easier breathing patterns
• Leading to relaxation
• Stress reduction
• Overall improved recovery
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Good flexibility also helps the body recover faster because it helps with circulation and blood flow to the muscles, which is key for recovery and not feeling sore.

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• Sports That Require Flexibility
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• Why Do You Think Flexibility Is Important for Team Sports
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Mobility vs Flexibility for Optimal Health and Injury Prevention

You may use “flexibility” and “mobility” interchangeably, but in the medical field, especially in physical therapy, they are two different assessments of how you move. You can be mobile without being flexible, and while mobility and flexibility can be helpful for daily movement, both are not essential.

Mobility Is Dynamic

Dynamic movement means your muscles are lengthening and shortening while the joints also move. Your muscles and joints work together to move your body through a range of motion, and practicing mobility can help you move better and more manageable. Think of when you’re doing arm circles. This commonly-used upper body warm-up uses the shoulder joint to rotate the arms and can help prime the arms and shoulders for an upper body day.

Flexibility Is Passive

Flexibility is passive, meaning a person can move their connective tissue with the help of another person or tool, while their muscles passively allow the movement to happen. Typically, passive flexibility is more significant than active flexibility since an external force helps your muscles stretch. 

Think of an active chest stretch. You can stretch your chest muscles by holding your arms like a goalpost and retracting your shoulder blades, but you can stretch them more by placing one arm on a wall and leaning forward.   

Mobility Requires Strength

The most significant difference between mobility and flexibility is that you need strength to move a muscle through its range of motion with control (mobility). Wickham says mobility better indicates how well and efficiently we move. Flexibility is one part of mobility. Strength, coordination, and body awareness are also at play.  

Timing Matters: Mobility vs. Flexibility

Mobility Before Your Workout

If you’re late to your workout, you may be tempted to skip mobility, but it can play an essential role in lifting heavier weights and moving better in general. Doing mobility before your workout can help prime your muscles and joints for the more intricate work. 

Not skipping out on mobility can help improve your overall strength and lower your risk of developing pain. 

Flexibility After Your Workout

After finishing a challenging workout, you likely are ready to rush out of the gym and get something to eat. Taking a few minutes to practice flexibility after your workout can help relax tense muscles, reduce the strain on your body, and potentially reduce your risk of an injury. Increasing your flexibility through stretching may help improve blood circulation and decrease DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness).

Similarities Between Mobility & Flexibility

If not practiced, you can lose mobility and flexibility, potentially putting your body at a higher risk of pain, injury, and limited function. Old age is a common reason to lose either, but it can also be due to injury or lack of exercise. Hitting the weights and doing regular cardio can benefit your overall health, but it’s also essential for any movement.

They Affect the Range of Motion

Inflexible and immobile muscles alike inhibit your body’s overall kinematic potential. Without a healthy combination of mobility and flexibility, you may be unable to squat with the correct technique, catch or throw a ball on the court, or even maintain proper running technique. 

Flexibility Can Affect Mobility

They may differ, but mobility and flexibility can go hand-in-hand. Flexibility is a mobility component, but extreme flexibility isn’t necessary for most exercises. That means that flexibility can limit mobility, but super-flexibility is unnecessary for most strength athletes.

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How to Improve Mobility and Flexibility

Both naturally decline, impacting daily functioning and quality of life. For example, if you struggle to get up from a chair, it can make it challenging to perform transfers in the home, increasing your risk for falls and injury. 

That’s why it’s essential to understand how to maintain and improve mobility and flexibility as we age.   

How to Increase Mobility 

If holding and controlling the barbell overhead is your weakness in overhead squats, the good news is that you can take steps to increase your mobility. The first and most obvious step is to start practicing your mobility consistently. 

Practice Mobility Exercises

Before your workout, take some time to circulate through some intentional exercises that can benefit your upcoming workout program. For example, if heavy deadlifts are on the docket for today, you may start your mobility training with internal and external hip rotations, t-spine rotations, and controlled leg swings.

The critical thing to remember about increasing your mobility is to make the movements dynamic. Allowing the joint to move helps improve its range of motion and enhance your muscle performance. 

Get a Foam Roller

Incorporating a foam roller into your mobility routine can also help increase it. Using this self-myofascial stretching technique can help increase blood flow to the targeted area and loosen up tight muscles and joints, which can ultimately help improve your range of motion. 

Foam rolling may also produce the added benefit of reduced DOMS and better muscle recovery. You can use a lacrosse ball or barbell if a softer foam roller doesn’t do the trick.

Incorporate Functional Fitness

Mobility work doesn’t always have to be done before a workout, as you can incorporate it within your routine with functional fitness. Including moves that closely resemble actions we perform daily, like:
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• Lunges
• Squats
• Push-ups
• Pull-ups
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Functional fitness can help build muscle strength while exercising your nervous system to prepare your body for everyday bending better, twisting, pushing, and pulling.

How to Increase Flexibility

Just like with mobility, you can increase your flexibility, but you must do it consistently. Flexibility is temporary, so you can lose it quickly if not practiced.

Try Static Stretching

There are several ways to stretch your muscles, but static stretching involves holding a muscle in the lengthened position for an extended period. Static stretching can help increase your range of motion, limit muscle stiffness and soreness, and improve blood flow.

Taking the time to stretch your muscles for 15-30 seconds apiece during your cool-down can help increase your flexibility. If you’re looking to challenge your flexibility more, stretching with a load can help further improve your range of motion and muscle stiffness. 

Take a Yoga Class

Anyone from competitive athletes to regular gymgoers can benefit from hopping into a yoga class one or more times a week. Regular practice can help:
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• Increase flexibility and balance
• Improving cardio fitness
• Body composition
• Overall health

Other fitness classes like Pure Barre or Pilates can help stretch and strengthen your muscles. 

Practice Every Day

Just because you’re not at the gym or it’s your rest day doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be stretching. Sitting at a desk all day, practicing poor posture, and staring at your phone can affect your flexibility.

Find a few minutes each day to stretch your muscles before bed or even on your lunch break. Small changes like this can greatly impact your flexibility and help improve your overall movement. 

Get Loose

Stretching before and after workouts and incorporating yoga into your wellness routine can help with flexibility. The connective tissues you want to keep mobile are closely related to the muscles you want to stay flexible. Incorporate thoracic movements, hip movements, wrist drills, and shoulder exercises to improve mobility.

Whether you add mobility into your routine through an online video series, foam roller, or by focusing on dynamic warm-ups, doing a little bit every day is most important for improving mobility and flexibility. Stretch out and move your muscles the next time you have five minutes to spare. Your body will thank you.  

Mobility Exercises

Below are three mobility exercises that Evans recommends trying at home to enhance movement and support joint health.

This exercise is perfect for spinal mobility. 
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• Start on all fours, with your hands and knees on the ground and your back flat. 
• Lift your right hand and gaze toward your lifted hand. 
• “Thread” your right hand between the left side of your body and left arm, following the movement with your gaze. 
• Place your chest and right cheek on the ground and hold the pose for five seconds. 
• Slowly come back to the starting position and switch sides.  
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Half-kneeling Dorsiflexion Stretch 

This exercise move helps improve ankle mobility. You need a towel to do it.
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• Start by sitting in a chair.
• Place the towel under your foot, grabbing the ends with each hand. 
• Gently bend your toes toward you, holding for five seconds before relaxing. 
• Repeat three to five times and then switch legs.
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Cervical extension

You will also need a towel for this mobility exercise, which can help improve neck mobility. 
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• Sit in a chair and place a towel around your neck, grabbing each end with each hand. 
• Look straight ahead. Bring your arms out straight in front of you. 
• Gently pull the ends of the towel and bring your head back to gaze toward the ceiling. 
• Repeat three to five times.
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Flexibility Exercises

Hannah says recovery can be a great time to focus on mobility and flexibility. Stretching elongates the muscles, helping to improve flexibility. She adds that foam rolling can also help because it prevents muscles from becoming tense and tight. Below are three flexibility exercises recommended by Evans to try at home, which can be part of your recovery.

Hamstring stretch 

If you have tight hamstrings, this stretch can help. 
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• Start standing up straight in front of a wall. 
• Step your right leg forward and gently flex the foot, pointing the toes up and against the wall while keeping your heel on the ground. 
• Slightly bend your left knee and gently lean forward, placing your hands on the wall.
• Hold for 30 seconds to one minute. Then, switch legs.
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Pectoralis stretch

This stretch helps with shoulder flexibility and can improve posture. 
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• Stand in an open doorway. 
• Bring your hands to either side of the doorframe, bending your elbows at 90 degrees. 
• Lean forward, resting your palms on the doorframe. 
• Hold for 30 seconds to one minute.
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Child’s pose

A common yoga pose is a child’s pose that supports hip and thigh flexibility. 
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• Start by sitting on your knees.
• Lean forward, keeping your butt on your heels and resting your forehead on the floor. 
• Stretch your arms out in front of you. 
• Hold for 30 seconds to one minute.
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In addition to these moves, Evans says that Pilates, yoga, and tai chi are all exercises that help improve mobility and flexibility. Hannah reiterates that foam rolling is another way to support flexibility because it helps relieve muscle stiffness.

Spend at least a few minutes each day doing flexibility and mobility exercises. You’ll likely see improvements in your workouts and feel more comfortable in your body, able to move through the day easier. Prioritizing flexibility and mobility will keep your body functioning as you age so you can keep doing the activities you love. 

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• Band Stretches
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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. Key features include:
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• A vast library of high-quality videos designed to improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion.
• Daily updated custom mobility programs for optimizing their health and fitness.
• A unique body-scanning feature to pinpoint mobility issues

Whether you're limited by pain or movement restrictions, Pliability complements your fitness routine and helps you move better. 

Sign up today for a 7-day free trial on iPhone, iPad, Android, or via our website to improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion with our mobility app. 

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