Improving your mobility comes with a whole host of health related benefits. There are the obvious ones such as reducing aches and pains but has so many benefits that you would never even imagine. For the purpose of this article, mobility simply refers to the range of motion at a joint and how well you can manoeuvre your body into certain positions.
Mobility is important for physical health
Starting with the obvious benefits which is in regard to it improving physical health. As established earlier, mobility helps reduce aches and pains. It does this through relaxing the muscles and aiding their movement. By advancing your flexibility you will naturally improve and increase blood circulation through the muscles which enhances function and lowers the risk of injury. A meta-analysis on exercise routine outcomes shows mobility has a substantial impact on basic daily tasks for older people even after 6 months after the intervention here. Studies have also shown it can meliorate athletic performance and aids with coordination and proprioception. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, engaging in regular range of motion training is shown to reduce cardiovascular disease by 20% and is associated with significantly lower mortality rates.
Mobility is important for mental health
While less obvious, mobility is also linked with various mental health benefits. It has been proven to reduce anxiety, stress while stabilising your mood and sleep here. Many of the mental health benefits of stretching come from the fact that it incorporates controlled breathing. Studies have shown this increases perceived creativity, productivity and problem solving. This is why it has become a pillar of our app and what we advertise for our corporate wellness program find out more. It does seem crazy that simply doing daily stretching can enhance your mental health in such astonishing ways but it has been proven in several studies.
What can I do to improve?
Improving mobility can seem like a lost cause for some. Maybe you believe its too late to start or that nothing has worked for you so far. When in fact research shows that flexibility is able to improve at any age. All you need is to stay consistent and follow a routine that will actually help YOU. ACSM (arguably the best exercise research institute) asserts that you should stretch at least 3 times a week. They recommend stretches each major muscle group each session and hold stretches for around 30s.k. Using this information you can easily create your own basic and effective routine.
However, time for our shameless plug. In Thriive, your daily routines are focused on your own specific data and context. We use our expertise and your information to tailor a routine specifically for you. This ensures you will improve your mobility and experience the benefits above find out more.
