Years ago I was solely focused on training for aesthetics. As many of us do, I wanted to look more muscular, so I pushed myself to lift heavier and heavier weights, arching my back to produce heavy overhead presses, squatting down as low as I possibly could past my range of motion, squeezing my shoulder blades hard together whilst rowing and pulling up.
What I didn’t realise was that by focusing on the weight, rather than my body’s ranges of motions, I was locking up my mobility and limiting movement at the joints. As I continued to lift heavier weights, I cranked my centre of gravity even further forward towards ‘toe-off’ (the most compressed form of gait).
It wasn’t until I shifted my focus to training for movement and mobility that I started to see real progress. I began to view strength not as how much many plates I could lift, but how well I could battle forces such as gravity. After a year, my posture and centre of mass had completed shifted and all my chronic aches and pains had disappeared. I went from not being able to run 5k without pain to pain-free trail marathons and ultras.
Even rowing a weight too far back so your shoulder blade squeezes in towards the spine, or losing your heel contact when you perform a squat will see your body compensate on each rep. These compensations can lead to compression, limiting movement variability. We have to train smarter!
Resistance training, if done intelligently, and based on a thorough assessment, should be the ultimate mobility workout. However, the vast majority of people in the gym are executing exercises in a way that decreases their mobility and movement options – rather than improving them. The difference is honestly life-changing!