When should you time your mobility work – warmup or cool down?
When should you time your mobility work – warmup or cool down?
We all need mobility work, and we all have goals for loosening things up for ourselves. A basic question that isn’t always asked explicitly is: When should we invest our time in mobility work for the maximum benefit? The short answer here is that it depends on what you are trying to accomplish: mobility for your day’s workout should be folded into your warmup, focused medium-term mobility goals should be added to your cooldown, and general ongoing mobility can be added to your evening routine.
Mobility to enable your workout
If you need mobility work to enable you to get into a position demanded by your training session, then add specific mobility to your warmup that day. Here, the goal will be a short term opening and mobility improvement targeted for that specific session. The benefits will be focused on injury prevention during the workout, and the ability to achieve better form during the workout. Both of these will benefit your strength and movement.
For example, if you are having trouble getting full depth out of your squats, then add a squat routine like Ido Portal’s[link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbozu0DPcYI] into your warmup before a squat- or lunge-heavy workout. Or, if you are having shoulder mobility issues, add some light Crossover Symmetry [link] to help you do the shoulder presses and overhead carries you’ve got coming.
Whatever exercise you choose, the key is matching mobility to the loads and movements you need that day to enable you to achieve proper form in your workout. If you can do today’s workout with good form, then a general warmup is enough, and there’s no need to spend specific time in your warmup gearing up for these exercises.
Of course, more high quality mobility work won’t hurt you. But when time is limited and if investing in more mobility will mean you need to stay later at the gym, or it means you have to rush your cooldown, or means you skimp on other parts of your warmup, it’s not worth it – save it for later.
But don’t sacrifice other parts of your warmup for specific work focused on tissue-lengthening. General mobility enhancing activities can also accomplish other goals such as getting your core temperature up and increasing blood flow to your joints, like animal walks or flow sessions, and those might be a better choice for days when you’ve got your workout form wired.
Longer-term mobility work
If you have general mobility needs that you are working on for longer term benefits, add that to your cool-down post-workout. When the goal is medium to long term results, I add 10-20 minutes of easy breathing movement. When your body is still warm and loose, with good blood flow to the joints, you may be able to get deeper into stretches or tolerate more intensity or pressure on compressions or rollouts. For example, many conditions that inhibit all-around performance, like hip rotation, shoulder extension, psoaz or IT band length can be tough to move without focused effort. For this longer-term, targeted activity, post-workout mobility work is a great choice.
General maintenance
For general maintenance, and taking care of our bodies, a regular evening mobility session can be the best thing for you. Spending 15-30 minutes working your broader mobility goals can be a great, low-pressure way to keep ahead of trouble spots. It can also loosen you up and help you get more comfortable, a great transition away from the daily grind and towards a good night of sleep. Cycling through various key areas over the course of a month, or even selecting one at random, can be a low-pressure way to keep ahead of trouble spots before they become big problems.
This is a good time for these because it can also be social. If you enlist your family or roommates, everyone can spend a little time rolling around on foam cylinders together and have some time together that helps support health in a low intensity way.
The Bottom Line
Think about your mobility and what you’re trying to accomplish with it, and time it accordingly.
· Mobility for your day’s workout should be folded into your warmup,
· focused medium-term mobility goals should be added to your cooldown, and
· general ongoing mobility can be added to your evening routine.
Match the benefits you want to the ideal timing and mobility work can be more effective.