Hey BBM,
I have heard many of you answer questions regarding mobility work, and your stance on it is that it is not helpful (a stance I completely agree with). However, as a personal trainer, I have clients that come to me with goals of “greater mobility” and have the expectation of being stretched out/foam rolled after training sessions. How would you personally manage a client with expectations such as these? Additionally, if a client did in actuality have poor ROM in i.e. the shoulder joint, how would you go about increasing ROM in order for them to function better in daily life?
I would ask them why they think that’s necessary, and aim to educate them about how more active approaches (like loaded training into/through the desired ROM) are likely more effective, provide longer-lasting results (vs transient effects of static stretching), and more economical from a time perspective.
Regarding the shoulder question, it depends on the specific ROM “impairment” and what it’s attributed to (e.g., do they have severe osteoarthritis or not), but the general approach is going to involve specific exercise to the area with progressive loading to tolerance. This might involve overhead, incline, or bench pressing with barbells or dumbbells and/or vertical/horizontal pulling movements (lat pulldowns/pullups, rows, etc.)
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