Mobility, Stability, Capacity--A Beginner's Guide


I've been working for months, to the point of having more than one version of a beginners course almost ready, but only almost. The trouble first has been the question "beginning at what?". Everything I write or draw seems to exclude more than it illuminates. The other question relates to the fact that while many of us are experienced in one or more areas of physical culture, we can be beginners in others. There has to be a place in this theory for transitions also.

In my experience clarity comes not from packing ideas in but from paring them down to one basic outline which more specific ideas may spring from in application. Some time at watching myself and others fail and then later succeed at a good variety of things gives me some confidence that I have come to know why it happens and outline a plan on what to do about it.

Mobility-The first issue to conquer in any feat is to make sure you have the range of motion to perform that feat. This is not as simple as it sounds. This isn't just range of motion as in a stretch, but range of motion under control in a motion like the motion you intend to perform. This has to be in motions at least similar to the one you wish to learn, for example doing seated twists won't help you to get flexibility for the bent press.

Not having simple mobility and then trying to handle loads in areas of ROM where you are not in control is "asking for it". If you move ahead too soon, you will probably be able to do "something like" what you had in mind, but that "something like" is simply your body compensating in odd ways for range of motion you don't really have. Some things I see people doing that are "vaguely similar" to barbell squats are the best example I can think of, they don't have flexibility so they just don't go down and before long they are doing twenty rep sets of curtsies or good mornings.

The best way in my opinion to work on specific mobility is to take the exercise itself and make it a mobility exercise by simply emphasizing those aspects of it. Keep the load down to where it isn't a load and focus on useful range of motion by emulating (as closely as you can) the exercise with particular attention to range of motion. If you cannot do the full motion then break it apart and work on those sections specifically. Once you can get the units, then put it back together into a whole.

Learning to emphasise the aspects of any exercise you need to work on simply by modifying the exercise to pay particular attention to them is a mental skill that will serve you extremely well later. Why not start working on it now? This isn't a science, doing this well is an art and you only learn through practice at solving problems with it.

Stability-Stability is about balance while moving, being in confident control throughout the motion. This doesn't mean doing things purposefully slow. It does mean that the motion becomes practiced and smooth to the point where you are not "thinking through it". You have practiced the motion such that you are not halting, becomming unbalanced or confused at some point in it. You, by practice have also learned to make small compensations if some part of the motion is not precisely on the mark so that all stages of it seamlessly go together.

We are usually "good" at something to the degree that we don't have to think about doing it. Good powerlifters don't have to think their way through a squat. They have done enough of them to have the priviledge of not thinking about it. If you are beginning at something, work toward being practiced enough not to be caught wobbling becoming confused, or unbalanced at any point in the motion before moving on to higher loads.

Capacity-This is what everyone wants to work on right away, which is a mistake. Going to this stage, skipping the mobility and stability work is asking for trouble, the very least of which is simply not progressing. "Capacity" means just what it sounds like, adding more reps, more load or just "more" of whatever you have in mind. If you are honestly at this stage, there is plenty of literature, including mine, on what to do. However, this does not exclude the possibility of going back to the mobility or stability stages again if necessary to work on some particular issue.

This sounds good, probably a fine notion on paper but the greater part of this is the application, how do you actually take an outline like this and put it into practice?

As an example first let's consider a simple flat footed bodyweight squat. I don't think anyone reading this will be surprised at how hard it is for lots of people to do these. The most counter-productive thing you could do is simply that, have them or yourself do them and just keep piling up rep after bad rep as fast as possible. A better way would be something like this:

Mobility-Squat hanging onto a support keeping your head up and your heels down, try to sit in the lowest position possible for a moment to feel the balance of it, feel how to get down a bit more on each rep slowly, consciously and evenly without forcing the issue. Start squatting later with less support and eventually none.

Stability-Squat facing a wall. Start out as close as you can without falling over and try to get very close with practice. Start speeding up your squats to where they are an even flow, you do not fall back, you do not come up on your toes. Once you are comfortable doing several squats "on autopilot" so to say, then its time to start working on capacity away from the wall and out on the floor. Let the games begin!

Before you start anything, its a good idea to even make this into a checklist. For example in the headstand push up (setting aside the kicking up issue): Do I have the flexibility in my shoulders to push straight up and let straight down? If that, then can I keep position while pushing and not get disoriented while I am upside down? Only if those questions are answered favorably do you move on to doing more reps or more complex versions. If you know what you want to accomplish and you have a general checklist, the details of how to accomplish each stage are remarkably easy.

Alot of this seems dead obvious, but often when you start on something your desperation to get to doing alot of reps or alot of weight blinds you to the obvious. One help for that is to have a "Mnemonic", a quick easily remembered phrase to put a check on your ambitions and give you a real outline on how to actually realize them.

"Mobility, Stability, Capacity"

Bryce Lane
Visalia Ca. Sept 15, 06