Strength, Mobility, AND Balance

Living Well

Written by: Meg Sharp MSc., Fitness & Well-Being Consultant, Cambridge Group of Clubs

4 weeks ago, I asserted we all need to be committing regularly to 4 different types of workouts: Training endurance, strength, mobility, and balance supports better results, fewer injuries, and enjoyment. Whatever your goal: sports performance, injury reduction, weight loss, stress management, health span… I am certain you need to be incorporating all 4 modalities.

We covered endurance - perhaps fittingly - in great detail.  And while strength, mobility, and balance are each important enough to warrant their very own piece - here’s my bias: The safest, most effective strength training incorporates mobility and balance training. If not every time, much of the time. Committing to exclusively training balance or mobility is wonderful. Please don’t stop if that’s your thing (as long as you are also making time to train your strength and your heart!). If - like me - you struggle to fit it all in - my approach will serve you well. Note: Done properly, mobility and balance training will improve your strength gains. Even if it steals a few minutes and a few lifted pounds from what you’re currently practicing. Strength training that incorporates mobility and balance is the best way to improve your endurance performance and keep overuse injuries at bay.

Mobility is the ability to activate your muscles through their entire range. Having flexible hamstrings doesn’t necessarily support better running mechanics, for example. You need to be able to actively control those hamstrings as they lengthen, such that you can maintain a stable pelvis, brace your core, optimize your knee drive, land with a more centered foot strike, and respond quickly to ground forces. You become more efficient. More comfortable. More powerful. Less prone to injury.

There are lots of interesting way to increase the length of a muscle. But will the length hold? Does all the rolling and stretching give you additional range that sticks? Not necessarily. Not if your body isn’t stable in that new range. This is why effective mobility work needs strength training.

Regular strength training is the gateway to a better life. Your muscles don’t respond to aging as powerfully as they respond to lack of use. Whatever your age, incorporating strength work into your routine will support better movement, quicker responses, and faster recovery. Your muscles are an integral part of your endocrine system. Strength training positively impacts metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and brain function.

Rx: Mobilizing your muscles before your workout gives you a little extra range going in. CARs, foam rolling, fascial stretch sequences, positional isometrics… there are a number of ways of doing this quickly and effectively. We typically recommend a few positional isometrics to create some stability around your newly found ranges. This stability piece can also be accomplished by very mindfully loading a few key movements from your workout routine. Reduce the weight. Breathe deliberately to create solid abdominal bracing. Ensure you’re safely accessing your end ranges. Pause at each end range.

In fact, altering your technique and some of your exercise selection can, in and of itself, improve your mobility. Remember the body contains natural strength biases: Each muscle is like a bell curve. Very strong in the middle. Very weak at the extremities. In life, and even in our strength training, we don’t typically visit these extremities. So, they get progressively weaker until we can’t control movement in that range anymore. Which means the muscle is functionally shorter. And we are less mobile. 

Rx: Reduce the load a little. Decelerate deliberately into the end range of the movement. Pause for 2-3 seconds. Deliberately start to shorten the muscle to come out of the lengthened position with control. The lighter weight will not feel so light!

We come to the training table with muscular imbalances. Many of us, for example, are tight through the fronts of our shoulders, our lower backs, and our hip flexors. It’s a Zig/Zag/Zig pattern. Front/Back/Front. Performing a seated row with a slightly rounded back reinforces this tension pattern. Performing a ½ kneeling cable row, keeping the chest open and supporting a neutral pelvis and spine will train the opposite pattern: Midback, abdominals, glutes. Zag/Zig/Zag. Counter balancing the chronic positioning effectively lengthens the fronts of the shoulders, low back, and hip flexor muscles. 

Our muscular imbalances also typically present as differences between right and left sides. Strength training bilaterally - training both sides at the same time such as a bench press or squat - will often preferentially target the muscle patterns that are already stronger. Many endurance activities - swimming, rowing, cycling, running for example - will do the same. If my right quadriceps is stronger, I am likely to push more into every pedal stroke on my bike rides. Consequently, my right leg will get even stronger while my left may end up weaker. The tension pattern here is complicated as some muscles on the left will become tight as they are weak, and others on the right will present with tension due to overuse.

Rx:  Unilateral training - where we emphasize one limb or one side of the body for a given exercise is a wonderful way to begin to address this asymmetry. Single arm rows and presses, side planks and deadbugs are all great examples. Split squats, pistol squats, and one-legged deadlifts are effective choices that also train balance.

Training balance improves stability, coordination, posture, and helps prevent falls. When we balance on one leg or perform a loaded exercise on one leg, we more effectively train muscles through the ankle, knee, and hip joint and activate our core. We also train our nervous system and become more confident, coordinated, and agile. As such, the time spent incorporating balance training into our workout doesn’t need to add minutes. It simply augments gains.

As we gain strength, movement, and confidence around joints and muscles that were previously weak, tight, or even dormant we can run, paddle, spin, stride, climb, and jump with more energy, enthusiasm, strength, speed, and power. The very things we are supposed to lose as we age are gained back and then some.

If you’d like to book a session with Meg/Lauren/Sean so they can help you develop a well-rounded workout just for you, the Club is currently covering the cost of a one-on-one consultation. Connect with them directly here:

Adelaide Club - Lauren Neal – lauren@adelaideclub.com
Cambridge Club - Sean O’Neil – sean@thecambridgeclub.com
Toronto Athletic Club - Meg Sharp – msharp@cambridgegroupofclubs.com