How's Your Range of Motion?What Is Range of Motion? It`s a term that physical therapists use when helping to rehabilitate clients, but what does it really mean? It refers to how much a joint can be flexed or extended. For example, if you were to take your elbow and flex it as much as possible and then extend it as far as possible the difference between the two positions (which is usually measured in degrees) is your range. In the case of the elbow it normally extends from 0 to 145 degrees. In daily life what this really means is pain-free movement and the ability to flex, lift, rotate and move without undue stiffness, restriction, or discomfort. This can become limited or decreased due factors such as disease like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, other variations of arthritis, injury, and little or no physical activity, just to name a few reasons. Not being able to move your limbs and joints the way they were meant to move can lead to frustration and even depression. It can become a revolving door of reoccurring injuries. The fact that your joints don't move freely makes them more fragile and prone to injury, and because of pain and lack of mobility being physically active becomes harder and harder, which has a whole list of downfalls on its own. If you have limited movement due to a past or recent injury you'll want to do some research and have a qualified professional take a look at it.
When I say a qualified professional I don't mean your buddy who seems to be in good shape or the local trainer who seems to always be trying to score with the female clients. When you're dealing with these kinds of injuries, again, you need someone qualified taking care of you. At my training center Leriken Functional Fitness we have someone on staff specifically for that purpose: as soon as someone complains of an injury they get referred to our professional or we tell them to seek out their own professional. Increasing your range of motion can be done with exercises, stretching, and in some severe cases, surgery. Maintain What You've Got Warming up properly before exercising can increase mobility and there are also joint mobility exercises that can be performed every day to help increase and maintain your range of motion. Even if you don`t have time for a full workout taking 10 minutes in the morning or before bed is great TLC for the body and one way to maintain and improve on your body`s good health.
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