Mobility = Performance, And Skipping Sessions...

Mobility = Performance?

If a muscle has limited mobility - mobility meaning proper tension through an end range of motion, not a passive range - it will displace that tension somewhere else in order to complete the task.

General rule - you want the big muscles doing most of the work, not the smaller ones… So if you feel the bench press primarily in the front of the shoulder (small muscle) and not in the pec (large), that would be an example of a large muscle running out of range, then your body displacing tension to a smaller muscle in order for you to get the bar to touch your chest… And that pretty much means an early bench press plateau with a shoulder problem lurking around the corner…

Big muscles won’t deliver if the mobility is lacking. By prioritizing or even just paying lip service to mobility work, you can grow more muscle AND avoid early plateaus and trips to see the physio… Or me…

But you do need to be smart about it. It’s not about stretching or foam rolling, it’s about maintaining proper tension through a range of motion.

Your warm ups matter. Where you place your attention matters.

If you need help, come find me. Discipline / Skipping Sessions…

Sometimes skipping or modifying a session is necessary - it’s not undisciplined.

Discipline doesn’t mean hauling your carcass to the gym and following the program no matter what state you’re in...

Stress is stress. Lack of sleep, financial worries, weight training, relationship issues, work problems, etc - all of them are stressors, and all of them go into the same stress bucket.

If your bucket is already full, dumping more into it doesn’t help.

In regards to training, you don’t get better at the gym; you get better when you have recovered from the gym. And you won’t recover if you keep dumping in the bucket.

I’m not saying skip sessions whenever you’re a little bit tired… I’m saying if you’re exhausted, then maybe ditch the horrendous percentage based squat session today… Go for a walk or something… Because there’s a difference between training intelligently and just stockpiling fatigue like some neurotic squirrel.

Yes, there are things you can do to change your state - go from freeze or flight mode back to flow or fight… You can regulate your nervous system with movement… You can release anger and all sorts of stuff… But you need to know what you’re doing, or you need to know someone who knows what they’re doing (someone like me!). Without that knowledge, maybe just go for a walk and / or take a nap.

Neil Collins is a personal trainer and movement specialist based in Haywards Heath. With over 15 years of experience, he helps people overcome pain, improve the way they move, and build functional strength and impressive skills.