Formosa Fitness

One of the best parts of the functional fitness paradigm is joint mobility. We're not talking flexibility so much, as in the static stretching you did in gym class, but mobility exercises to improve range of motion in the joints. Things like shoulder dislocates, wall squats, goblet squats, etc. are all considered part of the joint mobility component.

So what happens if you've lost range of motion and use joint mobility exercises to open up that area?

It's going to hurt.

There's just no way around it. Opening up a closed area to re-gain that range of motion means you're going to feel pain. This is often news to a client that has a lot of mobility issues since NOTHING in the mainstream fitness industry requires people to deal with their weaknesses. And since most all of us sit way too long everyday, most of us do have a lot of mobility issues. I still do and I make myself work on them every day. It's part of the process. For some people, it's most of the process of getting fit. At least at the beginning.

Now there's a difference betwen good pain and bad pain. Good pain is when the technique is correct and we experience some discomfort but we don't take it too far. Bad pain is when the technique/position is wrong or when a correct position is held too long, too deep, etc.

But a huge problem is that beginning clients with little or no ability to sense what their bodies are doing can't tell the difference. All they know is that it hurts. And if you put them in a position that hurts...

Telling someone to go gently into the pain but not too much works to a degree, but only so far. What often happens is that the entire process becomes annoying because nearly every session involves dealing with a degree of pain. It's not pleasant even though the client may be becoming capable of new movement. And because the process isn't pleasant, continuing to go through it in every session can become an issue.

So what's a trainer to do?

Do you allow half-movements because that's all the client is capable of at the moment or do you make clients work through issues more directly and possibly antagonize them?

This is one of the toughest things I deal with as a trainer and I'm constantly revisiting this issue. I don't have a clear-cut answer because I do a little of both. I push clients sometimes and other times I back off. Maybe I'm being inconsistent. I see it as being flexible.

But sooner or later, major issues have to be addressed and every single time it's what the client wants to avoid.

What are your thoughts on this?