The Best Daily Mobility Exercises for Men

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Speaking as a typical man, I can honestly say I’d rather be lifting weights or doing push-ups than stretching. Heck, I’d even prefer to do cardio!

However, not stretching can have an adverse effect on flexibility, mobility, exercise performance, posture, and joint health. You might not notice the consequences yet, but as you get older, the effects of not stretching become more noticeable.

The good news is that, like your biceps and quads, your flexibility and mobility are highly trainable. And it doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to improve them.

In this article, we reveal the best daily mobility exercises for men.

Why You NEED to Do These Exercises Daily

Your body was designed to move. Muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, intervertebral discs – all of these structures get healthier and stronger when you move your body.

However, unless you have a manual labor job, the chances are you don’t move enough to be healthy. Prolonged sitting can do a real number on your musculoskeletal system, leaving you sore, stiff, and immobile.

Regular workouts can help but aren’t enough to offset the effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. For example, even if you hit the gym for five hours a week, that still leaves 163 hours during which you can be inactive.

Prolonged sitting causes your muscles to shorten and stiffen up. This will adversely affect your flexibility and mobility. Your posture can also take a hit.

Like a machine allowed to rust, this will make your joints more prone to wear and tear and could even stop you from performing movements that should be smooth and painless, such as reaching overhead or touching your toes.

Animals don’t need to be told to stretch and move. It’s something they do instinctively. Watch a cat, dog, lion, or tiger, and invariably, they’ll stretch briefly but regularly throughout the day. That way, they’re always ready for action; you don’t see big cats warming up before a hunt!

Humans would do well to take a page from the animal fitness guidebook and stretch little and often to break up periods of inactivity. This would alleviate many of the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting and sedentarism.

But which stretches should you do? After all, fitness experts often recommend dozens of different and often convoluted exercises, which is one of the things that makes stretching so unattractive.

It doesn’t matter that most men know they need to stretch more; the moment it becomes inconvenient or seems more trouble than it’s worth, they quit doing it.

So, we’ve boiled things down to a short list of six simple movements most men should do daily. These big-bang-for-your-buck exercises focus on the areas most likely to be tight, i.e., the hips, back, and shoulders.

Sure, you could do more if you want, but that may mean you get bogged down and, due to lack of time, don’t stretch and mobilize at all.

Like most animals, who only do a couple of different stretches, it’s better to do less but do it well than try to do more and fail to do it at all. So, we’re aiming to be good and consistent rather than perfect but inconsistent.

By keeping things simple, you can work on your mobility in less than ten minutes a day.

The Best Daily Mobility Exercises for Men

Do the following exercises daily or more often if you have time. You can combine them to make a morning routine, do them before or after your workout, during your lunch break, after dinner, or before going to bed.

Spend longer on the exercises that feel the most difficult. Invariably, these are the ones that you need the most.

1. Cat/cow
2. Standing spine twist
3. Waiter’s bow
4. Kneeling hip flexor stretch
5. Yoga push-up
6. Yoga squat

1. Cat/cow

Target areas: Lower back, upper back, neck, erector spinae, rectus abdominis.

Cat/cow is a pose from yoga, so people have been doing this exercise for centuries. This move effectively mobilizes your entire spine, from your lumbar or lower vertebrae to your cervical vertebrae or neck. It also “flosses” your spinal cord, which can help alleviate issues like sciatica. Your spine will feel fabulous after this exercise, especially if you’ve been stuck in a chair or car for a few hours.

Steps:

1. Kneel on all fours with your shoulders directly over your hands and your hips over your knees.
2. Exhale and lift the middle of your back up toward the ceiling. Lower your head and tilt your pelvis under to create a large C-shape with your spine.
3. Next, inhale and lower your abdomen down toward the floor. Lift your head and your butt to extend your spine.
4. Smoothly alternate between these two positions for 6-12 reps, timing your movements with your breaths.

2. Standing spine twist

Target areas: Lower back, upper back, obliques, shoulders, hips, knees.

Twisting is a very uncommon movement pattern in modern life. As such, a lot of people are rotationally restricted. So if you find turning your head and shoulders to look behind you difficult, e.g., when reversing your car, this exercise will help. It’s also a great stress reliever and general warm-up movement.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Relax your shoulders, arms, and neck.
2. Start by rotating your head and shoulders to the left and right. Allow your arms to trail behind, reaching around to touch your hips.
3. Then, allow your hips and knees to turn with your shoulders. Add a slight lateral weight shift if you wish.
4. Increase your momentum as your muscles start to loosen and warm up. However, never force the movement or fling your arms. Make “soft and supple” your movement mantra.
5. Continue for 15-30 reps per side.

3. Waiter’s bow

Target areas: Lower back, hips, hamstrings.

The waiter’s bow is a great way to ease tension from your lower back and stretch your hamstrings, commonly one of the tightest muscles in the body. Tight hammies can cause numerous postural and functional problems and are also prone to injury. Do this exercise anytime you’ve been sitting for a long time, which invariably causes the hamstrings to tighten up even more.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and arms by your sides.
2. Push your butt backward, hinge forward from your hips, and extend your arms in front of you so your entire upper body is roughly parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back.
3. Lower your arms and return to the starting position.
4. Repeat 10-15 times.

4. Kneeling hip flexor stretch

Target areas: Hip joints, hip flexors, quadriceps, rectus abdominis.

Prolonged sitting can leave you with very tight hip flexors, which are the muscles located on the fronts of your thighs and pelvis. Tight hip flexors are a leading cause of low back pain and poor posture. Hip flexor problems can also cause your lower abdomen to protrude, making your belly bulge even if you are very lean. This exercise is critical for anyone who spends long periods sitting – so everyone, really!

Steps:

1. Step forward and bend your legs. Lower your rear knee to the floor. Adjust your feet so your front shin should be vertical.
2. Gently push your hips forward to stretch the hip flexor on your back leg.
3. Take care not to hyperextend your spine. Instead, keep your lumbar spine and pelvis neutral. Do not rest your hands on your front leg; let your arms hang relaxed by your sides.
4. Hold for 30-60 seconds, and then switch sides.

For added credit, reach up into the air with one arm to stretch your obliques and lats; this stretch feels so good!

5. Yoga push-up

Target areas: Lower back, hips, hamstrings, shoulders, upper back, calves.

While push-ups are usually viewed as a strength and conditioning exercise, the yoga push-up is also a top-drawer mobility exercise. Yoga push-ups will stretch and mobilize your ankles, hips, lower back, and shoulders. In fact, if you only have time for one mobility exercise, the yoga push-up is probably your best choice.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart, arms extended, and body straight. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest down to within an inch of the floor.
3. Next, push up and back, lifting your hips up toward the ceiling.
4. Gently push your head between your arms to extend your shoulders, open your chest, and stretch your lats. Keep your legs as straight as possible, and press your heels down toward the floor. Your body should now resemble an inverted V. Hold this position (but not your breath) for several seconds.
5. Return to the starting position, bend your arms, and repeat for 4-6 smooth reps.

6. Yoga squat

Target areas: Lower back, hips, inner thighs, calves.

This exercise is a variation of the famous Asian squat but with more emphasis on opening the hips and stretching your inner thighs. While this exercise might feel awkward at first, in time, it will become a relaxing resting posture. Practice it often to mobilize your hips, knees, and lower back. Look for opportunities to drop into a squat throughout your day.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
2. Raise your heels and descend into a deep squat.
3. Next, lower your heels to the floor and press your elbows against your inner thighs to open your hips and knees.
4. Sit in this position for 60-90 seconds.
5. Rest your heels on one-inch blocks if you are unable to keep them flat on the floor. Lower the height of the blocks as your flexibility improves.

Mobility Exercises – FAQs

Do you have a question about these daily mobility exercises for men? No problem, because we’ve got the answers!

1. Do I need to warm up before doing these exercises?

While you could warm up before these exercises with some light cardio, it shouldn’t be necessary. Instead, start each movement slow and easy, and only increase your range of motion as you feel your muscles start to relax and your joints begin to loosen. Use the first few reps as your warm-up.

Also, the exercises are listed in approximate order of difficulty, so each one will prepare your muscles and joints for what comes next.

Finally, if you do the exercises several times a day, especially to break up long periods of sitting, you should find they get more manageable as your day progresses.

2. Some exercises are more difficult than others. Is this normal?   

Most people have some muscle groups tighter than others. For example, you may have overly tight hamstrings while the rest of your muscles are relaxed and supple. This is completely normal.

Mobilizing your entire body is an excellent way to identify localized areas of tightness. If you find any such places, just spend a few extra minutes on them. With this extra attention, they’ll soon catch up with the rest of your muscle groups and cease being the tight link in your kinetic chain.

3. When is the best time to do mobility exercises?

There is no single best time to stretch and mobilize. It’ll do you good almost any time of day. That said, there are times when it might be marginally more beneficial or convenient, such as:

• Shortly after waking as part of your morning routine.
• Before or after exercise.
• Before bed.
• To break up long periods of sitting.
• After long journeys.
• During TV ad breaks.
• To reduce stress or promote relaxation.
• Anytime you need to wake up and energize.

Try to set a mobility schedule to ensure you do these exercises regularly. Doing them at the same time each day is a great way to make mobility training more habitual so you’re less likely to forget to do it.

4. Do I have to stick to the prescribed number of reps for each exercise?

The prescribed number of reps is merely a suggestion. If you feel like you would benefit from doing more, then please do so. Continue doing each exercise until you feel it’s done its job, i.e., stretched your muscles and mobilized your joints.

However, remember these are not conditioning exercises and, as such, should not be fatiguing. Rather, you should feel energized but relaxed after completing them.

5. Do I need to do all the exercises in sequence?

While these mobility exercises are presented in a sequence, you don’t have to perform them that way. If you only have time to do a couple of the exercises, that’s what you should do. Any mobility training is better than none.

Choose the exercises that target known areas of tightness. This is usually the hips and shoulders for most men but can vary from person to person.

6. Can I do these exercises more than once a day?

You can stretch and mobilize as many times a day as you want or need to. In fact, the more often you do these exercises, the better you’ll feel, and the longer-lasting their effects will be.

The entire sequence of exercises should take no more than ten minutes, so you should have no problem doing it 3-5 times per day.

That said, even once per day will be beneficial if you do them consistently, i.e., daily for several months. However, do your best not to skip a day. Daily mobility training is a must.

Closing Thoughts

Modern living means that many people are tight and stiff, unable to perform everyday movements comfortably or efficiently. Prolonged sitting and other sedentary activities are primarily to blame. The less you move, the more difficult moving becomes.

Working out can help, but a few hours of gym time cannot make up for an otherwise sedentary, inactive lifestyle. Your body is the master adapter, and muscles soon shorten with lack of use.

Thankfully, in the same way you can develop your aerobic fitness or build bigger biceps, you can improve mobility and win back lost flexibility. All you need to do is move more.

Use the exercises in this article to restore lost mobility. Do them at least once a day and more often if you can. They might be difficult at first, but that’s precisely why you need to do them! Focus on the exercises that feel most challenging.

Just a few minutes a day is all you need to regain your mobility. You don’t have to be sore and stiff and remember that even old big cats are still supremely supple. Why? because they stretch every day!