Now this is a hot topic in the world of sports injury and health & fitness, mobility vs flexibility. But what is the difference??? I am sure you have seen hundreds of Instagram videos proclaiming you must improve your ankle mobility or that your hamstring flexibility is holding you back in your training. But what do they actually mean? What is the difference? For those who don't know, we are here to clear that up.

Right lets start with the "definitions" of the two phrases.

Flexibility: the range of motion in a joint or group of joints or the ability to move joints effectively through a complete range of motion.

Mobility: the ability to move in one's environment with ease and without restriction.

Okay as you can see, two pretty vague definitions which don't really clear much up... So at NRG we have a slightly varied definition for both terms and how they differ. We believe that both terms are just as important as each other with regards to human health and performance.

So lets start with Flexibility. At NRG we would define that flexibility as:

The complete range of motion of either a muscle or the whole body in regards to stiffness and inhibited movement

To break this down even further, range of motion is the potential the body or a muscle should be able to move naturally. If someone is flexible they have a complete range of motion whilst if someone has poor flexibility they have not got a complete range of motion.

So lets take an example of this, super simple one that everyone has been asked to do at some stage. Touch your toes. Some people will feel a stiffness from hamstrings and notice their hands are literally no way near their toes. The stiff hamstrings are inhibiting the body from being to move in a proper range of motion in regards to human movement. They might start shaking, sweating or even feel pain in the area from being so inflexible.

Now lets compare that with Mobility. At NRG we define that mobility is:

The ability for the body's articulating surfaces of bones, connective tissues and muscles to work in unison to move the body in a normal human movement pattern

Okay so let's break that down a bit, the readers with a more advanced knowledge of human anatomy will probably pick up what all that means. But for those who don't, it essentially means the way the bones move over each other, the ligaments which connect the bones together, the tendons which attach the muscles to the bones and the added stiffness of the muscles. That still sounds complicated so lets break that down further.

For example, if you were to go into a deep squat position and found that it felt stiff into the front of your ankle, chest leaning forward and your body didn't feel that it was a comfortable position, this would suggest the ankle has poor mobility. The mitigating circumstances are that the bones in the ankle aren't moving well with each other which effects how the ligaments attach the muscles to the bones which then causes the muscles to become stiff!

So to break it down even further, flexibility is related to muscles and mobility is related to specific joints.

However the two factors can effect each other directly. For example if you have tight pec muscles, it will effect the mobility of the shoulder joint as the tight pec will prevent the shoulder from performing normal human motion! And if you have a poor bone structure in your ankle from poor technique, that will effect your ankle mobility which will have a negative effect on calf flexibility and stiffness.

So next time you see someone talk about flexibility or mobility on Instagram or online, break it down. Do they want me to mobilise my joints before applying normal human motion? Or do they want me to increase the range of motion of particular muscles? Ask which would be more beneficial for you and then give it a go!

Have any questions? Want to explore deeper into flexibility and mobility? Then please drop us a message now! Either follow us via Instagram @nrgsportstherapy or like our Facebook page! Or drop us an email or a phone call. If you enjoyed the content then please sign up to our weekly newsletter below to keep up to date with all our most recent articles!

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