Mobility Training
Maintaining strength as we age is important, but maintaining mobility is key. Mobility gives us freedom of movement, and supports the full range of motion that our joints evolved to allow. The goal of mobility training is to restore full range of motion and ease of movement to the joints , making the body more resilient.
Our bodies evolved to move fluidly in three dimensions – to turn, twist, hang, reach back on the diagonal, bend, move sideways. Our modern environment poses few such demands.
This training could be right for you if:
You routinely experience stiffness or tightness in one or more areas of your body, and don’t feel like you can move as freely as you’d like.
You sit at a desk for much of the day and want to counteract the negative impacts that posture has on your body.
You are an avid runner, cyclist, or athlete who tends to move predominantly in one plane of motion (usually sagittal).
You are recovering from an injury or surgery and want to gain back your full range of motion.
You find that you are avoiding certain movements because they give you pain.
As a corrective exercise specialist and former dancer, I have helped many clients recover from joint replacements, sprains and other injuries.
This work can be an adjunct to physical therapy, or progress your recovery following PT. From years of moving and working with bodies – including my own – I’ve developed a knack for seeing patterns of tension in the body, and can design movement exercises and regimens to help balance those patterns.
Why Mobility Matters
We sit, drive, walk or run on flat surfaces, and most of the work we do sits directly in front of us. When we do go to the gym, we often reinforce the narrowness of this range of motion by predominantly working the muscles that propel us forward. Strengthening and reinforcing this single, forward-focused motor pattern can, ironically, leave us more susceptible to injury. Mobility trainging involves both the release of unnecessary tension that may be constraining freedom of movement, and a simultaneous strengthening of the smaller muscles around the shoulders, hips and ankles that support 3-dimensional motion and rotation.
The Trainings
My goal is to educate my clients on the fundamental principles of mobility as applied to their own body so that they can incorporate intelligent mobility training into their regular routine of body care and maintenance.
What Clients Say
Jim Lobley has as much knowledge and more skill at addressing my specific physical challenges and my general health as any of the practitioners that I have known.
His approach is as a trainer is creative and effective; our work together inspires me to think about and practice techniques between sessions. We always have a very good time.
Jon Thomas
Jim has helped me to improve my posture and gait, reducing my level of pain with simple exercises and modifications in my movements.
He is particularly good at explaining the “whys“ behind his suggestions. I am now learning to walk with more grace and less discomfort.
Maddie Marquez
After just one session with Jim, I felt stronger and more resilient. Jim knows and can expertly teach an insanely large number of mobility exercises.
From session to session, he had me moving my body in different and (to me) unimaginable ways. His sessions are fun and challenging but never feel like a grind. I should add that I once attended a session with a low back strain. I was a little worried that training would exacerbate the pain. I told Jim the situation and he guided me carefully through some exercises he thought would help. By the end of our session, my back pain was completely gone!
Tom Annese
here is fun and curiosity and a respect for the beings that we are and can be in his classes - which are never once the same.
Instead of pushing through the motions of a routine, Jim’s training allows you to slow down, center and then move. Thinking of the body as a connected whole, he supports you wherever you are in fitness – whatever age, ability or agility.
Carolyn Shread
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Training Options:
Sessions are 50-55 minutes in length, and take place in person at my home studio.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the training please reach out and I will be happy to answer.
I probably need it, but isn’t mobility training kinda boring?
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I’ve done PT myself, and I’ll admit that repeating a simple exercise 10 times, twice a day can feel pretty boring. That’s why I take an exploratory and playful approach to mobility. It involves equal parts sensing and moving, going inside to identify particular sensations and then figuring out how to work with them. I think I can safely say that none of my clients are ever bored.
My PT has recommended that I continue working on my mobility. Do you take insurance?
Unfortunately, no. However, I frequently work hand in hand with PTs to insure a continuity of care, to discuss diagnoses and plan out the best course of treatment.
I’ve had a hip replaced and have limited range of motion in that hip. Can I still work on mobility?
Absolutely. While we would continue to work on freeing up range of motion in that hip, we would also work on insuring that the joints and body parts above and below it are moving freely and securely to support the hip. As long as you can move, you can always work on mobility.
How do I know if the training is working?
Often times the results are fairly immediate and perceptible. You might walk in with a tight shoulder, and by the end of the session you won’t even be noticing it. Patterns of tension that are more deeply engrained may take longer to unwind. A tight hip may require routine maintenance to maintain mobility, and I’ll show you what you need to do on a regular basis to keep it moving freely.