You don’t need a long stretching session to keep your body moving well. This simple sun salutation takes just minutes and can help warm up your joints, improve movement and prepare you for training
As I’ve got older (and wiser), keeping a consistent mobility routine has become non-negotiable. I still train regularly with weights and run a few half-marathons a year. Yet I’ve learned that spending a little time on mobility goes a long way toward keeping my body functional, flexible, and ready for whatever training I throw at it.
What is mobility?
In essence, mobility refers to your joints’ ability to move freely through their available range of motion, which helps you train with good form and makes you less prone to pulling something in the gym or getting injured when out on the road.
In fact, “you can lose up to 10–15% of your range of motion and not even know it,” says orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Dr Nicholas A. DiNubile. So my go-to? A daily sun salutation.
I do them before almost every training session. They’re my warm-up, mobility routine and little moment to get my head into training mode all rolled into one.
The sequence takes my shoulders, spine, upper back, hips and legs through a range of movements, helping me feel warmer, looser and ready to train. I’ll even do a few rounds on recovery days or whenever my body is feeling particularly stiff.
It takes a matter of minutes, which is exactly why I’ve managed to make it such a consistent part of my routine.
The benefits of mobility
Unlike traditional static stretches, where you hold a muscle in a lengthened position, mobility work takes your joints dynamically through their available range of motion.
Before a workout, this kind of active movement can help prime the nervous system and prepare your muscles for the work you’re about to do. It can also help increase blood flow and muscle temperature, getting your body ready to move.
Research also suggests that mobility and dynamic stretching can help support range of motion and movement quality; Good mobility can help you move through exercises with better form and prepare your body for the demands of training.
And if you’ve ever walked into the gym cold and tried to lift weights, you’ll know that your body won’t be happy. It just doesn’t work. We need to get the body properly prepped and ready, and researchers from the University of Franche-Comtéhave also found dynamic stretching to be an effective way to prepare the body for exercise.
So, what’s the one sequence that never gets missed before my training? And how can you do it? Let’s find out.
My sun salutation routine
A sun salutation is a flowing sequence of movements that gets pretty much your whole body moving. Not only does it switch on the mind and get you into the right headspace to train, but the movement pattern and flow also help to warm everything up, from your hips and hamstrings to your shoulders and lower back.
How to do it
• Start with your feet together and your hands by your side in a Mountain Pose
• Inhale and bring your arms overhead
• Exhale and fold forward, bringing your hands towards the floor
• Inhale and lift halfway, bringing your hands towards your shins
• Exhale and bring your hands back to the floor
• Step or jump your feet back into a high plank position
• Inhale, then lower slowly to the floor
• Push your upper body up into Cobra Pose
• Push your hips back into Downward-Facing Dog
• Step your right leg through between your hands
• Bring your left leg in to join your right and fold forwards
• Lift your arms overhead, then exhale and bring your hands to your heart
This makes one round. Repeat on the other side.
The more you practise sun salutations, the more naturally the sequence starts to flow. You’ll gradually open up through the hips and stretch the hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and calves, while also mobilising the chest and shoulders and switching on your core.
There’s a coordination element, too. You have to think about where your body is going next, connect one movement to another and control your breathing as you go.
For me, that makes it as useful for my head as it is for my body. I use it before training, on recovery days and sometimes simply when I’ve been sitting at my desk for far too long. It’s also a lovely way to wind down after a long day, so use it however it works for you – just don’t overlook those few minutes of mobility. They could be just what you need to keep your body moving like a well-oiled machine for years to come.
