Sports Performance Training: Tips to Improve Mobility & Stability

Sports performance training can be the extra help that you need to improve upon your sport. During these particular training sessions, you may work to improve upon some skills that are overlooked in your traditional training. Mobility and stability could be some of those skills that you need to improve upon. As one of the best gyms in Pittsburgh focusing on sports performance training, we’re here to help you with everything you need to know about mobility and stability training. 

How Can Sports Performance Training Improve Mobility?

Find out from a gym in Pittsburgh how improving your mobility can improve your sports performance

When focusing on your sport, attention to your mobility can help you focus on the muscles in your body that contribute to moving with speed and force. In your daily life, mobility can help you perform daily tasks, like getting out of bed or picking up something on the ground. Within your sport, mobility can help you improve your range of motion to more accurately throw a pitch or catch a ball in the air. Good mobility helps with:

• Decreasing your risk of injury - Without good mobility, your body will not be able to keep up with the demands of your sport, which can lead to injury. Focusing on mobility work in your sports performance training helps your body adequately prepare for what it will need to do while showing you points of weakness in your body that could stand to be improved upon. 
• Improving your strength and performance - Focusing on mobility will directly translate to better strength and performance in your sport. Mobility training can help you identify any areas where your mobility may be holding you back. As you add in more mobility training to your routine, you will strengthen the parts of your body that you need to improve upon to keep your movements in your sport at a quality level while improving the strength of your body needed to make your movements even better. 
• Keeping your joints strong - The health of your joints directly depends on your mobility. Joint mobility helps you move without being restricted by tissues surrounding your joints. Mobility work can help your joints stay limber and avoid any issues that may impede your range of motion. 

What Exercises Can I Do to Improve My Mobility?

No matter if you are looking for mobility exercises to improve your sports performance or just looking to improve your mobility in your daily life, there are plenty of ways that you can add mobility training to your routine. Here are just a few of the many exercises that can help you improve your mobility. 

Child’s Pose to Downward Facing Dog

Bring yourself into a child’s pose by kneeling on the floor, lowering your hips towards your heels, and bringing your torso over your knees while your head falls between both arms as you reach your arms out towards the floor. Shift your weight forward until your shoulders are over your wrist and your hips are over your knees. Flip your toes, push your feet into the floor, extend your arms and straighten your legs to bring you into a downward-facing dog pose. Release your knees to the floor and untuck your toes to bring you back into a child’s pose. Repeat this process 3-4 times. 

Arm and Shoulder Circles

With your feet shoulder-width apart, start with your hips and shoulders square and centered. Relax one arm by your side and move your other arm in a clockwise, circular motion 10 times. Extend your arms as long as possible throughout this movement without switching or moving your hips. Then, switch the direction of your movements counterclockwise to repeat the movement 10 times. After you have completed this, switch arms and repeat the process. 

Hip Circles

Laying flat on your back, keep your legs extended out to start. Bend one knee and bring it towards your chest so that your knee points to the ceiling. With that knee, draw circles 20 times while you extend the size of each circle. Switching directions, repeat the movement 20 times in the opposite direction. Repeat the process for your other knee. 

How Can Sports Performance Training Improve Stability?

A gym in Pittsburgh explains how important stability is to your sport

When training for a sport, stability can often be overlooked. Stability can help athletes control their bodies and use their power with force. Whether you are spiking a volleyball or shooting a basketball, stability comes into play to allow you to smoothly shift your strength from one side to the other. Focusing on stability helps you control each movement you make in your sport. Stability training in a gym in Pittsburgh can help with:

• Injury prevention - Overworking your muscles without proper stability can cause your muscles to weaken over time. Training helps strengthen your stability muscles to better support the kinetic chain of your muscles. 
• Improving your control - As you focus on improving your stability, you will find that you are able to control your movement better. This leads to better use of your energy and can allow for better precision in your sport. 

As you start your sports performance training in your gym in Pittsburgh, your instructor can help you identify areas of improvement in your stability. 

What Exercises Can I Do To Improve Stability?

When it comes to stability, there are many exercises that can you can incorporate into your routine to help you improve. While working on sports performance training in a gym in Pittsburgh, your instructor will be able to recommend exercises that can help as well. Here are just a few of the exercises that you can start today to help improve your stability. 

Chair Leg Squats

Standing in front of a chair with your feet shoulder-width apart, slowly squat as you extend your arms out straight to sit lightly in the chair. Your knees should not pass your toes and should not drop or bow on either side. Stand back up and repeat the process for 10-15 reps. 

Fast Step Ups

Set up a step about 6-12 inches tall and stand about 6 inches away. Quickly step up onto the box one foot at a time. Quickly step back down one foot at a time to bring yourself back to starting position. Repeat this sequence for 60-90 seconds. 

Side Lunges

Start by standing up with your feet together. Keeping your toes pointed forward, extend out to one side in a lunge. Step back into your starting position and repeat the process for 10-15 reps.  Complete the same steps on the opposite side. 

Sports performance training is a great way to give your body the individualized attention it needs to constantly improve. At X Shadyside we offer sports performance training to help any and all types of athletes excel at their sport. Contact us today to learn more about our sports performance training program and how to get started.