Mobility isn’t the answer! (sometimes)
Does your lower back hurt? You should mobilize it!
Shoulders feeling grumpy? Do some mobility!
Those hips feeling tight? You guessed it—Time for mobility.
This is wrong on so many levels. Mobilizing every joint in the body is only going to lead to problems because not all joints in the body are designed to be mobile. Some joints are designed to be stable. Here is a very simple breakdown of which joints do what.
Toes-Mobile
Midfoot-Stable
Ankle-Mobile
Knee-Stable
Hips-Mobile/stable
Lumbar- Stable
Thoracic-Mobile
Scapulothoracic-Stable
Glenohumeral-Mobile/stable
Elbow-Stable
Wrist-Mobile
We can see a pattern start to emerge: Mobile, stable, mobile, stable. Basically, in order to stabilize a joint, it needs the surrounding joints to be mobile enough. Conversely, in order to mobilize a joint, the surrounding joints need to be stable enough to pull everything together. This means that adding mobility to a joint that is designed to be stable is a recipe for disaster.
One of the most common issues in weightlifting and powerlifting is lumbar pain. The first thing most people do to remedy this issue is to grab a foam roller and start rolling out the lower back. WRONG! Your lower back isn’t the problem—it is designed to be stable! The real reason your lower back hurts is one or all of the following: Hips aren’t mobile enough, lumbar isn’t stable enough, or thoracic isn’t mobile enough.
No matter what the actual problem is, no amount of foam rolling your lower back will ever fix it. Instead, try incorporating some stability exercises. There are plenty of different exercises to pick from but two of my favorite are kettlebell swings and back raises. Both of these exercises allow for direct targeting of the lumbar paraspinal muscles, which play a major role in generating stability.
More stability will lead to more weight on the bar, and less injuries, and that doesn’t suck. So the next time someone tells you to go do mobility work, think before you roll.