Simple Ways Women Can Support Long-Term Mobility
Structural mobility is something that many take for granted until the simple, daily tasks, such as reaching up or bending down for something, become increasingly difficult to do.
There are also unique physiological changes that women face, including rapid bone density and joint fluid loss during perimenopause and menopause. It’s good to shift the focus from just exercising solely for aesthetic purposes to training for lifelong independence and functional freedom.
Preserving your long-term mobility doesn’t require extreme workouts but instead relies on consistent, strategic daily habits that help protect your bones. Your joints and muscles.
In this guide, we’ll look at the simple ways in which women can support long-term mobility so that independence and function can be long-lasting for many years to come. From protecting the spine with thoracic and hip mobility to progressive resistance training, it’s all useful information to be aware of.
Prioritize Progressive Resistance Training
We’ve all been told that exercise is generally a good thing for our bodies. It helps to counteract age-related muscle loss, also referred to as sarcopenia, and it also helps in stimulating bone mineral density.
With that being said, it’s good to focus on functional, multi-joint compound movements rather than just doing isolated exercises.
One of the ways to do this is by incorporating bodyweight or weighted squats to help maintain the hip and knee power that’s needed to stand up easily.
Another way of helping provide progressive resistance training is by practising deadlifts or hinge movements. This helps in strengthening the lower back and hamstrings in order to achieve safe lifting.
Exercise is good for your body, but when it comes to improvement of long-term mobility, combined movements are a lot more effective than isolating your body to different exercises every time you go to the gym.
It’s good to look at supportive wear you could have on when you’re exercising to protect certain bodily parts, like a shoulder brace for women, for example. These are great for helping protect vulnerable joints, especially when it comes to the shoulders.
Incorporate Ground Mobility and Transitions
As you get older, your mobility can be more challenging when it comes to doing the simple things you once did so easily, like getting up off the floor or off a low-to-the-floor chair or sofa.
You want to be able to maintain that ability for as long as possible, as it can be a key clinical indicator of longevity for your mobility.
Restoring youthfulness to the hips, core, and ankles is helpful, and that comes by interacting with the ground daily.
Start by spending around five to ten minutes a day in various sitting positions. This could be cross-legged or in a 90/90 stretch, for example.
Once you’ve reached that five to ten minutes, practice getting up from the floor using as few hand assists as possible. However, you want to do this safely too, so if you need support, don’t try to go without it if there’s a risk of a fall or injury.
This really is a great way to help practice those more challenging movements as you get older, especially when you reach an age where getting down on the floor isn’t something you gravitate towards doing anyway.
Train Dynamic Balance and Single-Leg Stability
Falls can be one of the major risks that happen as you get older. Preventing falls by training the nervous system to react quickly is great when you’re unexpectedly faced with uneven surfaces or sudden trips.
It’s good to look at strengthening the stabilising muscles around your knees, your ankles and your pelvis in order to get that dynamic balance in your body.
Look at performing daily tasks like brushing your teeth or waiting in a line whilst balancing on one foot. It’s these daily tasks where you can train that dynamic balance with single-leg stability. Think about adding some unilateral exercises like step-ups or reverse lunges into your weekly routine.
This is a good way of correcting any left-to-right imbalances that you might have.
Protect the Spine with Thoracic and Hip Mobility
Preventing the classic hunching posture and chronic lower back pain helps to keep the joints above and below the spine fluid.
To achieve the above, you want to open up the upper back and the front of the hips, as this helps to relieve the tightening that happens with prolonged sitting.
A couple of movements can certainly help with that, including cat-cow stretches and open-book thoracic rotations every morning. It’s also good to target the hip flexors with active, half-kneeling stretches to relieve pulling on the lower back.
It’s good to have a lot of mobility in the hips and to protect the spine, especially as you get older. These exercises don’t take much time out of your day, so they can be easily implemented without hassle.
Support Joint Health from the Inside Out
It’s always good to find ways of supporting your joint health, especially from the inside out. That might mean tailoring nutrition and hydration specifically to female musculoskeletal health.
Look at consuming more lean protein, alongside calcium and Vitamin D3/K2 for bone and muscle maintenance.
Try to stay consistently hydrated too so that you keep your spinal discs and joint capsule synovial fluid fully volumised. It’s also worth looking at any supplements you might benefit from taking to help boost anything you may be lacking.
Mobility is Highly Important for Your Physical Freedom Decades From Now
It’s worthwhile thinking about your mobility as a bank account. If you’re making the small investments now, it’s going to help positively dictate your mobility and the longevity of that mobility for years to come.
There are plenty of mobility habits that you can implement now, whether you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s. Starting earlier is always the best way to prevent a decline in your mobility levels. As women, we’re able to do a lot, but when mobility is strained or limited, it can be debilitating. That’s why it’s worth investing in your mobility from an early age.
