Well hello… Happy Sunday!

Jumping right to it – I am sharing an article from The Guardian about mobility.

In a previous email I shared with you that mobility work – stretching, yoga, anything that creates “opening” and “lengthening” in the body is part of my weekly workout routine and I strongly encourage you to make it part of yours because, as the article will tell you – those who have poor mobility are 5-6x more likely to die earlier.

Now, is lack of mobility a literal cause of death? No. Not necessarily. But, I would argue that good mobility can absolutely save your life in certain circumstances, especially as we get older.

For example – slipping on ice or something wet, missing a stair, tripping, etc – the more mobile you are, the more likely you will be to catch yourself – not to mention the more likely you will be to catch yourself in an awkward position without breaking something.

The first paragraph of todays article shares the “gold standard” for testing how mobile someone is. Take a look at it now – I’ll pause while you test it on yourself.

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How’d you do?

If it was a piece of cake – awesome. Whatever you’re doing is working. Carry on.

If it was a challenge – I encourage you to consider adding an at least weekly stretch session or easy/slow flow yoga class to your routine – today’s article shares some insight into various stretches to do.

It doesn’t have to be a whole hour dedicated to stretching. It could be a commitment to 5 minutes daily. That’s really all it takes.

If you’re an avid “worker-outer” and you don’t want to spend allotted workout time on this – use your day off for something like this – it’s terrific active recovery.

And if you are trying to get into a workout routine – this is a wonderful way to start.

Reminder: to increase mobility – it’s important to hold stretches for 30-60 seconds. This is not something you want to do before a workout as it will actually weaken the muscle (because a lengthened muscle is less powerful at driving force).

So, before a workout – you want to keep any mobility work “dynamic” – aka in motion or not holding more than 10-15 seconds. And do more concentrated, static stretching after your workout as a cool down. Bonus points if you foam roll before stretching as breaking up the muscle tissue will create more pliability in the muscle, therefore making stretching easier.

Here are is a stretch and foam roll routine I’ve found on YouTube that I like.

The foam roll routine would be best used as a warm up before a workout or before stretching. The stretch routine would be best used after a workout or a foam roll session.

15 mins Stretch

15 mins Foam Roll

Happy stretching!

If this is new for you – I PROMISE you will observe feeling better after just a couple of weeks.

Set your intentions!

I’m here for questions!

Sending a BIG hug to each of you!

xoxo

Alix