Tip #4 - Get comfortable with the uncomfortable..
Do you try and try to work on your mobility, but you give up because it feels so uncomfortable?
Nothing is comfortable... Everything that is, keeps us exactly where we are and if you are trying to make changes then comfort isn't going to take you there.
When it comes to improving your mobility where you fit it in is key. This is where it is either going to become a habit or you will stay exactly where you are now.
If it feels uncomfortable and you are having to make lots of extra time for it, you will probably avoid it.
This is where I find incorporating it into my current training routine works a treat. It means I don't have to make the extra time and therefore it's no longer as daunting. For me this means adding it to my warm ups and it means not always moving in linear patterns within my training sessions. I work at training my end ranges within my sessions to build more strength and stability, but also take my flexibility to the next level. My training sessions are built around my goals and this involves the flexibility work I need.
Training is already uncomfortable right? Unless you cherry pick workouts and only do the stuff you are already good at.... Which has the same outcome as avoiding the mobility work... You stay where you are.
What works for me might not work for you. You might find it better incorporating desk break flows, a morning movement routine or a night time stretch. It needs to feel as important as any of your other commitments, because that bit of commitment to your body is going to have long term effects that will positively impact so many other areas of your life too.
Improving your mobility is not linear, just as strength training isn't, diet, health, relationships, and day to day life in general. We have to work with what life throws at us, and this means adapting constantly. We don't just give up. For this reason, you might find your routine has to change at some point, but rather than give up, think where is it now better suited.
Working on your mobility might feel uncomfortable, but if you are clear on why you are doing it and what for, this will help you to stay on track.
Do you have a movement goal?
My current goal is being able to do the 'splits' both sides because this is going to help me in my handstand practice when I make shapes, but also means less effort getting in to my handstand in the first place. Working there is not comfortable, but what keeps me going is that over time I have felt less of a resistance to stretch and therefore feel the progress which keeps me going. I have had to get comfortable with the process feeling uncomfortable and having been so consistent, you start to feel so much more confident and in control of your body.
Ask yourself what benefits you will gain from achieving flexibility in a certain position?
Improving flexibility is possible for anyone! Flexibility can be trained just as strength can be trained. It won't always feel easy or comfortable, but if you know why you're doing it that helps you become more mentally comfortable with the uncomfortable. Once you feel less resistance in a position for the first time this will also really help you feel you are making progress and make you want to keep going.
A final point to note is this...
If you are demanding your body get into a position you are not ready for yet, you will find the intensity of that movement too much to bear which is likely to put you off altogether. Imagine you went to the gym and programmed yourself to do a workout with muscle ups in but forced yourself to do the muscle ups without having ever done the regressions leading up to it.... You'd probably get super frustrated, exhausted mentally and physically, maybe injured and then you would probably tell yourself you ' hate muscle ups'...when actually you just jumped too far too quick.
Regression is your friend.
Sometimes we need to strip things back and rebuild them which also allows our nervous system to adjust to the demands we are placing on it too. Start from the basics of a movement and gradually progress or challenge that movement, video your progress and use that as well as the feel of a movement for point of reference.
For movement flows to help you commit to finding more freedom in your body. grab 7 days free in my MVMT Library here!
Whether you need a movement quickie in the morning, a series to follow to improve your squat or add to your warm ups, or you want to follow my Yoga class recordings, join me and let's move.
What are you working on and why? Let me know in the comments...
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