Mobility Assessment

Podcast Version
(With NotebookLM)

Self-Assessing Your Body Movement and Mobility: Executives versus Athletes

As we go about our daily lives, it's easy to overlook the importance of body movement and mobility. However, maintaining good mobility is crucial for overall health, well-being, and quality of life. 

This week, I bring in GR&AT Endurance partner and expert: Sarah Monaghan: Bsc. DC (Doctor of Chiropractic), to explore how to self-assess your body movement and mobility, and why it matters for sedentary executives and athletes alike and how to improve it.

​1. Why Mobility Matters
 
Mobility refers to the ability to move freely and easily. It encompasses flexibility, strength, and balance. Good mobility allows you to perform daily activities with ease, reduces the risk of injuries, and contributes to better posture and overall physical function.
 
Reduced mobility, on the other hand, can lead to stiffness, pain, and a decreased range of motion. It can also increase the risk of falls and limit your ability to engage in physical activities you enjoy. It is often the first step on a slippery slope to further inactivity and its consequences.
 
The importance of body movement cannot be overstated for both executives and athletes alike. Here are some key reasons why:
 
For Sedentary Executives
 
1. Reduced risk of chronic diseases: Regular movement and physical activity can help prevent obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. Excessive sitting, now common in modern life, is linked to many of these diseases.
 
2. Improved mental health: Daily movement, even light to moderate activity, has been proven to drastically improve memory, mental clarity, and emotional regulation. It can help combat depression and anxiety.
 
3. Better posture and balance: Good posture, which is maintained through regular movement, is important for balance and reduces the risk of injuries. It also helps maintain correct form during exercise.
 
4. Increased productivity: Movement and good posture can improve productivity at work. Standing desks, regular breaks to stand and stretch, and walking meetings can all help combat the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
 
For Executive Athletes
 
1. Enhanced performance: Proper movement patterns and techniques are crucial for athletes to perform at their best and gain a competitive edge.
 
2. Injury prevention: Athletes exposed to rapid movements need a high level of dynamic joint stability and control of whole body movement to decrease the risk of injuries. Incorporating proper movement patterns into training is key.
 
3. Mental well-being: Despite the pressures they face, athletes can benefit from the mental health boosts of exercise by including light to moderate conditioning sessions in their training plans. This can help with emotional regulation and memory.
 
In summary, regardless of athletic status, prioritizing regular movement through exercise, stretching, postural habits, and even daily activities can have far-reaching benefits for physical health, mental well-being, and overall quality of life. For athletes, optimizing movement is additionally crucial for performance and injury prevention.

2. How to Self-Assess Your Mobility
 
Here are some simple tests you can do at home to assess your body movement and mobility:

Shoulder Mobility Test

• Stand with your back against a wall, feet shoulder-width apart.
• Raise your arms out to the sides, then bend your elbows to 90 degrees, with your palms facing forward.
• Slowly raise your arms overhead, keeping your elbows and wrists against the wall.
• Note any discomfort or limitations in the range of motion.

Thoracic Spine (upper/mid) Mobility Test

• Start on hands and knees, with hands under your shoulders, knees hip width apart
• Press through your hands, rounding your upper back, tuck your chin to your chest (cow)
• Return to Neutral
• Push your chest down and arch your back, lift your chin up, look upwards (cat)
• Note discomfort, stiffness or limitation in movement

Hip Mobility Test

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Cross your right ankle over your left knee.
• Gently pull your left knee towards your chest, keeping your lower back pressed against the floor.
• Repeat on the other side and note any differences in the range of motion or discomfort.

Ankle Mobility Test

• Stand facing a wall, about a foot away.
• Step forward with your right foot to about 4 inches (10 cm from the wall), keeping your heel on the ground.
• Bend your right knee, trying to touch the wall with your knee while keeping your heel on the ground.
• Repeat on the other side and note any limitations or discomfort.

If you are wanting to have a more in depth look at mobility and movement it’s always recommended to consult with a professional for a Functional Movement Screening (FMS) or an Athletic Ability Assessment (AAA), both of which can be done at our partner Costa.

• The Functional Movement Screen (FMS)

 
The FMS is a popular screening tool used to assess fundamental movement patterns that underlie both sport performance and injury risk. It evaluates basic movements like squatting, lunging, stepping, and reaching. Whilst the FMS provides valuable insights, some practitioners feel it may not adequately assess the more demanding movement abilities required in sports. That's where the AAA comes in. 

• The Athletic Ability Assessment (AAA)

 
The AAA is a movement assessment protocol designed specifically for athletes. It evaluates an athlete's movement competency under load and greater levels of complexity compared to the FMS. Each exercise is scored on components like trunk control, range of motion, and lower body alignment. A score of 1-3 is given for each component, with a maximum score of 9 per exercise in sequential order: 1. Prone hold, 2. Side holds, 3. Overhead squat, 4. Single leg squats, 5. Walking lunge, 6. Hops, 7. Bounds, 8. Press-ups, 9. Chin-ups
 
3. Improving Your Mobility
 
If you identify areas where your mobility is limited, there are several things you can do to improve it:

• Stretch regularly: Incorporate stretching into your daily routine to improve flexibility and range of motion.
• Practice yoga or Pilates: These low-impact exercises focus on improving flexibility, strength, and balance.
• Stay active: Regular physical activity helps maintain muscle strength and joint mobility.
• Use foam rollers or massage balls: These tools can help release muscle tension and improve circulation.
• More about this in next week’s blog post

 
Conclusion
 
Self-assessing your body movement and mobility is a simple yet important step in maintaining overall health and well-being as an executive, as much as an athlete. By identifying areas where your mobility may be limited, you can take proactive steps to improve it through stretching, exercise, and other techniques. Remember, good mobility is key to staying active, independent, and enjoying a high quality of life. By identifying movement dysfunctions and asymmetries, targeted training programs can optimize everybody’s functional capacity, performance, and resilience over time.
 
Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:
You can often work on muscle stretching and joint mobility as individual exercises to alleviate the immediate discomfort of impeded mobility, but sometimes the cause can be found in an underlying skeleton imbalance or blockage. That is why I recommend physical therapists which are also chiropractors, like Sarah Monhaghan at Costa Health, as she can look deeper to resolve the original cause of the restriction for longer term resolution.
 
Share this blog / newsletter with your friends, family and colleagues who are also pursuing a sportier and healthier lifestyle!