I often look at my clients as either mobility centric clients or stability centric clients. First we must discuss what is mobility and stability. Mobility is the ability to move freely and easily. That means that we move without restriction. We can move from point A to point B without compensating.
As human beings we are amazing at adapting. However, if we stop expressing certain ranges of motion (e.g. squatting, hinging etc) then eventually we will develop compensatory movement patterns that will result in certain muscles becoming restrictive and tight and will hinder our ability to move freely and easily.
For a client lacking mobility, we focus on stretching and fascial work. This will help to mobilize the tight and restrictive muscles and eventually allow the client to move freely and easily without pain. For mobility clients I highly recommend booking a Fascial Stretch Therapy (FST) session. FST is a table based manual therapy that will systematically target mobilizing fascial nets that will allow for a far broader mobility benefit than individual muscle stretching.
Stability is the ability of the body to maintain postural equilibrium and support joints during movement. Some clients who do not suffer from mobility restriction are in need of developing more stability. If certain movements do not feel balanced, if your joints are improperly loaded or if your movement patterns feel unstable or unpredictable, then you may be more of a stability client.
For a client lacking stability we focus on retraining their bodies neuromuscular connection, training primal movement patterns, and correcting imbalances. These clients benefit the most from resistance training. I highly recommend 1 on 1 personal training / kinesiology for any client who is in need of stability, as the proper technique is crucial to helping retrain the bodies primal movement patterns and ultimately restoring health.
Very few clients are purely mobility or stability clients, but instead a mix of both. That being said being aware of what clients need to focus more on mobility and which clients need to focus more on stability allows for them to optimize their experience as well as there results. Likely you are somewhere in the middle. Having some areas in which you are restrictive and not free to move easily, and other areas that you feel week or unstable. The idea is that with a great mobility program and strength training program working cohesively together will provide the body with optimal results and health.
If you have any questions about fascial stretch therapy or resistance training please contact me for more information.
Dave Trought
R.Kin