We know the benefits of strength and power in a sport like cycling or running… But did you know that to fully benefit from this capacity, it’s necessary to also have good movement capacity? It is this joint mobility that best allows you to take advantage of your strength. Focus on the importance of mobility work in sports.

By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: Pixabay.com, J.F Tatard

Mobility work is virtually absent from training programs in cycling and running. What exactly is it? Why is it important? What are the benefits? How do we optimize it? We will try to answer all these questions…

The secret to athletic longevity

Mobility is ultimately the secret to staying at the top of your game for a long time. Indeed, mobility exercises allow you to give your all while taking care of your body. In fact, mobility controls joint movement through muscle strength. In other words, it’s the total movement a joint can perform. And the better the physical mobility, the more you can move in all directions, with full range of motion and without pain. It is therefore the ability to move a joint through different angles with a large range of motion via the strength of muscles, tendons, and fascia.

The difference with flexibility

We could open the subject of post-training stretching, but this is not necessarily the place. Stretching, as it is most often understood in cycling or running, aims to promote recovery or gain flexibility through muscle extensibility. Mobility, on the other hand, relates to joint range of motion and therefore allows movement through a greater joint angle.

The benefits

In sports like cycling or running, at first glance, mobility doesn’t seem all that essential. And yet, the main function of joint mobility exercises is to prevent injuries, which are often the result of overly restricted joint ranges of motion. Indeed, cyclists or runners must improve their mobility to achieve better movement patterns and thus greater muscle recruitment. It is therefore an essential component in the performance equation. It is this mobility that will yield better results in terms of speed, strength, and time. The modern elite athlete is forced to confront these exercises at some point to improve their training. It’s not just Peter Sagan or Nino Schurter who showcase themselves on YouTube or Instagram. Many cyclists have discreetly integrated this specific session into their weekly plan. For example, during a squat, there can be a limitation in ankle, hip, or shoulder mobility. The cyclist risks being limited in the execution of the movement. This restricted range of motion does not allow for good performance, as it will create unnecessary compensations.

An almost confidential supplement

There are several reasons why we’ve never heard of it. First, because cycling, in particular, is a discipline very resistant to anything that would change habits and old methods. But also because the benefits of this type of specific session are very little known. In athletics, in disciplines where muscle recruitment is the priority, such as throwing, there is already more awareness. But in long-distance and middle-distance running, it is often confused with flexibility. The average endurance athlete who already makes the effort to integrate their strength training session targets the strength they will measure by the weight of their dumbbells or squat bar. Few are interested in movement technique and “articular-muscular” range of motion.

Taking the time to correct one’s technique also involves fundamental rules that consist of doing things gently and slowly. Educating the perfect movement cannot be done in haste.

Old and bad habits

The majority of cyclists and triathletes, as part of their training, even specific training, hastily dispense with the pre-session warm-up and post-session stretching. As for muscular mobility, it is completely ignored. Indeed, mindsets dictate that one does not seek to optimize movement through better mobility, but rather to increase loads for more performance. Even beach boys and other gym aficionados will never make the effort to reduce loads to improve technical movement. Backing off in terms of load is proudly experienced as a failure by most athletes. However, taking the time to correct one’s technique also involves fundamental rules that consist of doing things gently and slowly. Educating the perfect movement cannot be done in haste.

Which athletes should be interested in mobility work?

From elite cyclists to Sunday runners, including amateur triathletes, everyone is concerned. Only the approach may vary depending on each population. Also depending on individual predispositions, the age of the practitioners, the time you have available, and the objectives, whether they are performance, well-being, or longevity. We also note that the lack of mobility is exacerbated with age and that it is an aggravating factor for tendinitis, loss of muscle tone, imbalances, inflammation, and a significant decrease in overall performance. We often look for the gateway to slowing down the decline in performance, and mobility may be the key…

=> SEE ALSO: All our Coaching articles