YYou can’t afford to ignore mobility as you get older. If you cannot get in and out of the bath, get into bed or onto the toilet, independent living becomes difficult. But long before you reach that point, reduced mobility can be a problem. Everyone wants to be able to scratch their own back or grab a jar from the top shelf in the kitchen. This is not just about stretching or bending your body into the desired positions: you also need enough strength to be able to do things when you are in them. As physiotherapists sayMobility is your ability to move your joints actively rather than passively. Flexibility and gravity ensure that you end up on the toilet; it is the mobility that gets you going again.
Look, I’m 61, with the sewerage of a 61 year old. I think a lot about toilets and what the next 39 years of my life might look like. But whatever age you are, mobility should be important to you because it helps you have fun. If you play tennis (there’s no accounting for taste, and at least it’s not golf), it will help you reach a high ball and hit it back over the net. If you have dogs, you can throw them a ball and pick up their poop. If you want to surprise your grandchildren with a handstand, that even helps.
That’s why Lucy Joslin’s mobility class at the Mission movement studio in East London is always fully endorsed, especially by women and men decades younger than me. “It’s not very fun,” Joslin admits, “but I always say it’s like medicine. You just know you have to do it.”
I came across Joslin’s class through gymnastics, which she coaches as a member of the Cali culture group of instructors. Calisthenics, a mix of bodyweight exercises and the kind of moves you normally associate with gymnastics, is one of the most fun ways to build muscle when you don’t feel like lifting weights or going to the gym. But it places high demands on your joints.
Everyone knows pull-ups, where you hang from a bar and then hoist your body up until your chin or chest is above it; Calisthenics includes variations such as the muscle-up, where you add a push-up and regular exercise keep going until your hips are level with the bar. Or there’s the back handle, which starts with grabbing some gymnastic rings, adds a backflip, and ends with hanging face down from the rings, with your arms twisted behind you and your body in a plank parallel to the ground . Even basic calisthenics exercises are difficult: after months of daily exercise, I can barely manage one pull-up or half a back-lever.
Having taken one of Joslin’s mobility classes, I can confirm that it is not very enjoyable. There is a lot of squatting, pushing hard against things, and a lot of muscles being tense that scream for rest. There was also a lot of moaning during my lesson, not all of it from me. But I left feeling just a little freer in my movements, a little more in control of my body. I would do it again, I was a bit scared of it, but I also liked it.
In the meantime, here’s Joslin’s 10-part routine to stretch and strengthen hips, hamstrings, quads, chest, hip flexors, shoulders and lower back.
Use it or lose it: 10 moves to keep your mobile
Because mobility is all about power at the end of the range, these exercises are tough and tiring. It takes about 30 minutes to complete the full set, but you can break it up if necessary.
1. Hips and hamstrings
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned approximately 11 and 1. Squat as far as you can comfortably go, keeping your torso as upright as possible. If you have trouble going deep, lift each heel an inch or two by resting it on an ankle weight, book, or something similar. Bend forward and place your palms flat on the floor in front of you. Keep your palms down, turn your feet inward so they point forward and straighten your legs fully, sticking your buttocks out to keep your back as flat as possible. You feel a stretch in your hamstrings. (If you have trouble getting your palms to the floor or keeping them there, place each hand on a yoga block or dictionary.) Do this 10 times.
2. Hip Flexors 1 (extension)
Kneel on something padded, such as a folded towel or yoga mat. Take a large step forward with one leg so that you get into a lunge position. Keeping your torso upright, tuck your buttocks underneath you and lower your hips forward and down to stretch the hip flexor of the back leg (the muscles at the very top and front of your thigh). To build both strength and flexibility, place two yoga blocks on either side of your front leg. Use your hands to push up and lift the back knee two to three inches off the ground. Then the hard part: lift both hands off the blocks and hold this position for five seconds. (If you can’t do it, perhaps because you’re wobbling, keep just your fingertips on the blocks, or even just one fingertip per block.) Do this twice for each leg.
3. Hip Flexors 2 (flexion)
Sit on the floor, with your legs wide, but not uncomfortable. Place a block or book on the inside of each ankle. Try not to lean back too much and place your hands in front of you so that your spread fingertips support only a small portion of your weight. Keep your legs straight and lift both feet up and over the blocks before lowering them so they just touch the floor inside. Immediately lift them up and again, back to the starting position. This may be extremely difficult. To make it easier, lean back, place your hands on either side of just one leg and lift just that foot up, over the block and back again. Then repeat on the other side. However you do it, repeat until each foot has gone up and back 10 times. If you do this right, you’ll feel it in your hip flexors instead of your quads. If necessary, lean back a little further.
4. Shoulders/hips/chest
Sit on the floor, with your legs straight out in front of you. Place your palms on the floor next to your hips. Straighten your arms to lift your butt off the floor, then swing your hips back so that your feet slide toward you and push your butt up and behind you. (If you’re having trouble gaining enough height, place a block or book next to each hip and push up from there.) Hold for 10 seconds.
Keep your butt in the air, bend your knees to place the soles of your feet on the floor and lift your hips and knees toward the ceiling, pushing your chest and neck back into a reverse position tabletop position. Hold for 10 seconds. Return to the previous position and hold for another 10 seconds. You can make this more difficult by trying to lift one leg off the floor for five seconds, then the other – but make sure you keep them straight.
5. Upper arms and chest
Kneel or stand in front of a table or windowsill, with both elbows against the edge, shoulder-width apart. Step or shuffle backward until your back is flat and your hips are directly above your knees. Keep your ribs under control so they don’t explode. Clasp your hands together, still reaching toward the ceiling (to make this more challenging, hold a block, book, or broomstick). Now pull your shoulder blades apart and push your chest towards the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat.
6. Shoulders 1
Lie on your stomach, feet shoulder-width apart, with the tops pressed against the floor. Pull your stomach in and tuck your butt down to tighten your core. Extend your arms straight in front of you, with your hands gripping a broomstick (or something similar) slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Make your arms and body as long as you can. Pull your shoulder blades apart, but continue to reach forward. Keep your chin or forehead and your chest on the ground and lift the stick as high as you can – this will probably be less than 6 inches. Hold for 15 seconds. Then pull the stick down your back behind your head as far as you can (keeping your chest and forehead on the floor) and hold for 15 seconds. Repeat this, covering both positions.
7. Shoulders 2
Lie on your stomach, feet apart and with your arms extended in a cactus position (extended to the sides, then bent at the elbow) so that your forearms point forward and your palms face down. Place a block under each elbow. Hold a light weight (about 1 kg) in each hand. Without moving your shoulders, slowly raise and lower the weights 10 times. Repeat three times. You can also do this arm by arm.
8. Stretch on the side of the body
This one is actually nice. Lie on your back, arms extended in a T-shape, and your legs together, knees bent so that your soles are flat on the floor. Then cross the right leg over the left leg (mid-thigh). Keeping the legs glued together, roll them to the left, keeping the opposite arm straight and as close to the ground as possible. Hold for 30 seconds. You should feel a stretch down the right side of your body. Return to center, cross left leg over right leg and repeat on right side.
9. Lower back
Lie on your stomach, for example with a rolled up yoga mat or a pillow under your pelvis and your arms in a push-up position. Push your shoulders up until your arms are straight, keeping your chest and head upright. If you’re into yoga, this is a lot like the cobra pose.
10. Thoracic chair rotation
Sit on a chair or stool, feet and knees hip-width apart, with a right angle at the ankle, knee and hip. Place the back of the left hand on the outside of the right knee and the right hand on the back of the chair or stool. Sit as upright as possible, with shoulders away from ears. Keeping the knees where they are, turn your navel, ribs, chest and finally your head to the right, as if you were wringing out a sponge – pushing with the left hand and pulling with the right. Hold for 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side.