Improving Mobility with CanDo®

Do you have trouble performing a proper squat? Limited mobility may be the reason why you cannot squat to your best ability. You are either leaning too much forward or you cannot keep your feet flat on the ground. To improve mobility, you can practice exercises and stretches to help your hip, ankle, and spinal mobility. For some people, these exercises may not come easy. Luckily, there are many tools from CanDo® that can help you improve your mobility. Below are some tips for how you can improve your mobility with CanDo® products:

Thoracic Mobility Foam Roller Exercise

This thoracic mobility exercise moves your spine in a way to prevent any limited mobility between your neck and lower back. This exercise is important for achieving or maintaining good posture so that you can squat without a mistake. To begin, grab any round CanDo® foam roller of your choosing and sit with it behind you a little bit away. Then, lean back onto the foam roller so that the foam roller lines up with your lower rib cage. Make sure your butt is on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat and your hands behind head or crossed in front of you for support. Next, gently extend backwards over the roller and then lift and repeat this movement for 2 to 3 times. Finally, use your feet to drive your butt down a few inches to finish the set. Repeat for a couple of minutes so that you feel the increased mobility in your spine.

Hip Mobility Exercise

Hip mobility is important so that you have a large enough range of motion when you squat. The straddle rock is a relatively simple hip exercise, all you need is a CanDo® Sup-R Mat® of your choosing. To begin, lay in a straddle position on the mat with your legs stretched and spread out in front of you and your hands behind you. Then, rock your body across to one side with both feet against the floor and your arm across to the opposite side. Make sure your chest is open getting a fluid motion in your hips. Now do this with the other side to complete the set. Rock side to side for about a minute to feel that improved hip motion.

Ankle Band Stretch

Ankle band stretches use CanDo® resistance bands to strengthen your ankles so that you can have better ankle mobility to perform squats. To begin, grab a CanDo® band of your choosing (either latex or latex-free) with the resistance you are most comfortable with. Then sit on the floor with your right leg bent at the knee and the left leg extended. Place the band around the front of your left foot and grab both ends of the band with each hand. Point your toes slowly forward and then back down toward your heel, releasing the tension. Do this stretch 10 times on the left foot and then switch over and do the same thing on the right foot to complete the set. Do this for 3 sets to increase your ankle mobility.

Squats can be hard to do with limited mobility. With the right tools and the right exercises, you can increase your mobility so that you can perform a faultless squat.

To view our CanDo® Foam Rollers, click here.

To view our CanDo® Sup-R Mat®, click here.

To view our CanDo® Bands, click here.

Article written by William Graves.