Your 10-Minute Full Body Mobility Boost

Full body mobility — do I really need it?  Can I really boost it in 10 minutes? Would it support my wellness goals? Yes. You can. Absolutely. 

There’s a reason the hashtag #mobility has already racked up over 35 million TikTok views. The secret’s been out for decades: upper body mobility exercises, lower body mobility exercises and even ankle mobility exercises not only feel good — they’ll help you move with ease longer (through your day, and your life). 

Flexibility lengthens your muscles, but mobility takes it one step further. Improving your full body mobility can optimize your movement and performance by increasing the range of motion in your joints and surrounding muscles.  

When you’re more mobile, you can work harder, recover faster, and perform better — whether that’s for a marathon or a mid-morning stroll. That’s why Chiro One chiropractors recommend daily upper body mobility exercises, hip mobility exercises, lower body mobility exercises, and ankle mobility exercises.  
 

Benefits of a Daily Full Body Mobility Boost

If even one joint in your body lacks mobility, you may start over-using other muscles and joints, eventually wearing them down and making them ripe for injury. 

A quick, simple 10-minute full body mobility routine trains your joints to bear loads when in vulnerable positions. Instead of avoiding your pained muscles by relying on others to get some temporary comfort, you can strengthen pained muscles and joints by increasing their range of motion. 

Most activities, especially walking, will help maintain your mobility. Research shows that controlled dynamic stretching will increase a joint’s range of motion more effectively than both static stretching and ballistic stretching (stretch and bounce), according to a study published in Sports Medicine. 

Exercises that promote full body mobility help you: 

• Prevent aches and pains  
• Promote good posture 
• Prevent knots and injuries 
• Relieve tension (from both sitting all day and over-exercising) 
• Make movement more fluid 
• Increase range of movement, keeping you active longer 
• Build stronger, more adaptive muscles and joints 
• Reduce joint deterioration 

Also, strengthening the core muscles around your spine and abdomen can enable more movement, better balance, and organ positioning — which means less pain and more joy during your favorite activities.  

The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends dynamic stretches prior to any physical activity because it warms up muscles by taking them through a wider range of motion.   

You can begin doing so today by trying the following upper body mobility exercises, hip mobility exercises, lower body mobility exercises and ankle mobility exercises. 

Upper Body Mobility Exercises: 3 Minutes 

Beginning your full body mobility program from your head can improve movement all the way through your shoulders and upper back so you don’t even have to think about these joints as you go about your day.  

Research has shown that neck exercises —stretching combined with muscle endurance and strength training — decrease headache and neck pain long term.  

All of the following muscle groups require daily stretching to keep them flexible, mobilized and strain-free. 

Neck Tilt

• Lower your chin toward your chest 
• Hold for 30 seconds 
• Relax and slowly lift the head back up. 
• Tilt your chin up toward the ceiling 
• Hold for 30 seconds

• Pull your head as far to the right as you can
• Hold for 30 seconds
• Pull your head as far to the left as you can
• Hold for 30 seconds

Shoulder Stretch: 1 Minute

Shoulder Stretches Can Increase Your Mobility and Relieve Tension

• Stand with your right side next to a wall 
• Raise your right arm up and behind you 
• Hold for 30 seconds 
• Release and repeat with left arm 

Hip Mobility Exercises: 1 Minute

To improve the range of motion in your hips try this rotation exercise. 

• Sit in a chair with your feet on floor and arms at your sides 
• Place your right foot on your left thigh 
• Pull back the bent knee slowly, rotating it out away from your body 
• Hold for 10 seconds then release 
• Repeat 3 times on each leg 

Lower Body Mobility Exercises: 3 Minutes

The term “lower body” may sound like a lot of ground to cover, but remember these joints and muscles are connected and work synergistically: 

• Hamstrings: The muscles in the back of your thighs enable your knees, legs, back, and hips to function smoothly and protect you from injuries by improving overall leg strength, relieving lower back pain, and increasing flexibility. 
   
• Quadriceps: The muscles in the front of your thighs (above your knee and below your hip) have tendons that attach to your pelvis, hip bones, thigh bones and kneecaps. They help raise your thigh and extend your knee, allowing you to walk, run, jump, squat, and climb. 
   
• Calves: Years of research shows that doing calf raises can improve your balance and muscle structure and that strong calf muscles help prevent lower body spasms and make your joints work smoothly and efficiently. 

One exercise can help you improve the function of all three muscles and the joints they’re connected to. 

The Squat: 2 Minutes

This lower-body and torso exercise forces you to avoid using your arms for balance and build your lower body mobility to stabilize yourself using only your lower torso muscles.   

Squats Help Improve Mobility And Build Strength

• Stand straight with core engaged and hands clasped 
• Slowly squat down as low as you can without bending your back 
• Hold a deep squat for 5 seconds 
• Stand all the way up 
• Repeat for 2 minutes 

Don’t rush, and make sure to rest between squats if you feel pain. 

Ankle Mobility Exercise: 1 Minute 

Your ankle joint connects your lower leg bone to your foot bones, enabling up-and-down movement. Keep it strong and mobile with this feel-good ankle stretch. 

Stretching Your Ankles Can Help Keep You On Your Feet Longer

• Sit on the ground and lift your right ankle over your left 
• Pull the toes of your right ankle towards you as far as you can 
• Hold the stretch for 30 seconds 
• Repeat with left ankle  

 

After doing these stretches, try taking a 20 minute walk a few times a week, then work up to daily 30-minute walks outdoors to relieve stress, support weight loss and boost your mood. 

Remember, never push a body in pain. Work up to your exercise goals gradually. If you’re over age 55, you may want to check out these gentle impact exercises from AARP. 

Enhance Your Full Body Mobility with Chiropractic Care

Sticking with your full body mobility routine will be easier if your body is balanced and properly aligned. Your Doctor of Chiropractic can help you maintain your joint and muscle mechanics from head to toe, which will make all exercise more enjoyable.  

Chiro One DCs help you reestablish and optimize your full body mobility with a custom combination of: 

• Gentle chiropractic adjustments: to help reduce degeneration, break up adhesions and improve mobility by creating motion in misaligned bones 

• Active therapies: to make the effects of your adjustments to last longer by promoting muscles memory    

To treat your specific misalignment your care team will demonstrate and supervise how to use one or more of these in-clinic chiropractic tools that will help you sustain your adjustment: the Stair Stepper, the PreCore Stretcher, exercise bands or foam rollers. 

Gently and gradually your two-tiered care plan will help you optimize your muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and of course, full body mobility. 

Ready to enjoy your full body mobility and do what you love longer? 

Check in with your nearest Chiro One doc at one of our welcoming open-plan clinics across the country. They’ll perform a thorough exam to investigate the root cause of your pain, then personalize your care plan — a combination of gentle chiropractic adjustments and active therapies to get you feeling better longer.  
Find a Chiro One doctor near you.