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Emerging from a period of (well-deserved) rest and rejuvenation requires many things: a pair of couch-to-office leggings, a fresh new 2023 haircut, and easy mobility stretches.
Mobility, like its closely related cousin flexibility, is key no matter what your 2023 wellness goals are. “Unlike flexibility—a muscle’s ability to stretch—mobility is the joint’s capacity to meet its full range of motion,” says Taylor Rae Almonte-Roman, CPT, a founding trainer at home-fitness mirror company Fiture. Whether you spent the post-holiday sale period finding the best running shoes so you can finally tackle that half marathon, intend to take up a joyful new hobby like rollerskating, or simply want 2023 to be the year you don’t feel like a creaky old scarecrow every time you stand up from your desk, you’ll need both flexibility and mobility.
To help you limber up and build strength in the major joint systems of the body, we asked top trainers and physical therapists for their favorite easy mobility stretches. Use the mobility training routine below (ideally done two to three times per week) as a full-body guide for preventing injuries.
Or, to dig deeper in a certain area, see our specific guides on the best neck stretches, best shoulder stretches, best exercises for low back pain, best stretches for hip pain, and best knee mobility exercises. But before you begin, a note: Some soreness for beginners is common, but consult with your doctor if you experience consistent pain during any of these mobility workouts.
Neck Mobility Exercises
Whether you spend your day sitting at a desk or on your feet, it’s likely you’re succumbing to poor posture habits—particularly if you spend a lot of time looking down at a digital device or work surface. That puts your spine in “cervical flexion,” which causes the neck muscles to tighten, according to physical therapist Elizabeth Lamontagne, DPT, SCS, CKTP, who is assistant director at Recovery Physical Therapy in New York City.
“Over time it can get very painful, and it can become a repetitive cycle of pain and not holding your neck upright because it hurts,” she says. To counteract the damage of this daily wear and tear, try these neck stretches.
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- From a kneeling or standing position, make yourself as tall as possible. Think about elongating your neck.
- Wrap your right hand over your head so that your middle finger touches your left ear; reach your left hand down toward the ground. Relax your neck and allow gravity to gently pull your head toward the right. (Don’t use your hand to pull.) You should feel a stretch on the left side of the neck. Hold for 30 seconds.
- Switch sides and repeat.
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- Sit in a chair with your feet firmly on the ground.
- Bend forward and grab the front of the chair legs, crossing your arms.
- Slowly tuck your chin, and arch your middle and upper trunk up to round your back. You should feel a stretch in your mid to upper back.
- Hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
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- While standing or sitting up straight, place your right palm on your right cheek.
- Push your palm against your right cheek as if you are trying to rotate your head to the left; at the same time, keep turning your head to the right. Hold this resistance for 3 to 6 seconds. Then remove your hand and rotate your head to the right as far as possible. Stop when you feel a gentle stretch on the left side of your neck.
- Switch sides and repeat. This is one rep.
- Perform two to three reps.
Shoulder Mobility Exercises
Tight shoulders often accompany a stiff neck. But promoting flexibility and mobility in your shoulders isn’t as simple as stretching a single muscle—there are at least 17 muscles involved in what might appear to be simple shoulder-specific tasks like washing your hair or lifting a heavy grocery bag. (Your rotator cuff alone comprises four different muscles.) To prevent injury in your shoulder muscle group, try these shoulder stretches.
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- Stand facing a blank wall with your feet less than a foot’s length from the wall. Place both hands on the wall at shoulder height, shoulder-distance apart. This is the starting position.
- Slide your hands up to stretch your arms overhead. Reach as far as you can without any aches, pains, or pinching. You should feel a stretch on the sides of your armpits. Hold for 1 or 2 seconds, breathing steadily. Return to start and repeat for a total of 10 times.
- Begin in the same starting position. Slide your hands up and out into a Y position, reaching as far as you can without any aches, pains, or pinches. You should feel a stretch in your chest. Hold for one or two seconds, breathing steadily. Return to start and repeat for a total of 10 times.
- Begin in the same starting position. Slide your arms into a T-shape, keeping your arms at shoulder level. (Again, without any aches, pains, or pinching.) You should feel a stretch in your chest. Hold for 10 seconds, breathing steadily. Return to start and repeat for a total of 10 times.
Tip: As you perform the slides, look straight ahead and keep your neck as relaxed as possible; don’t shrug your shoulders up toward your ears, says Lamontagne.
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- Stand with your chin tucked in and raise your right arm straight up.
- Bend your right elbow and place your right palm behind your head.
- Place your left hand on your right elbow and pull toward the left. Stop when you feel a stretch in your right triceps.
- Hold for 30 to 60 seconds. Keep your chin tucked in.
- Switch sides and repeat.
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- Place a foam roller on the ground to your left, parallel with your body, and get on all fours with hands under shoulders, knees bent and under hips.
- Keep your chin tucked in, back straight, and shoulder blades pulled together.
- Reach your right arm under the left arm and onto the foam roller, palm up. Roll your right arm and shoulder through. Pause, reverse the movement and then raise your right arm up and back to open your chest. Then return to start. This is one rep.
- Perform two reps. Switch sides and repeat.
Core Mobility Exercises
“Everyone thinks about core strength, which is very important, but many people forget about core mobility,” says Jeff Brannigan, program director at Stretch*d, a mobility and recovery-focused fitness studio. The latter is key for any activity that involves core rotation, from pickleball to picking up a baby or heavy bag of groceries, he explains. “Having adequate mobility in this area will reduce risk of injury when engaging in these activities, and can also reduce back pain.” Try these core stretches to keep your thoracic spine, hips, and abdomen healthy.
- Sit on a flat stool or chair with your legs in front of you and knees relaxed.
- Tuck your chin toward your chest and reach forward and down as far as you can.
- Hold 2–3 seconds. Sit up and reset.
- Repeat 10–12 times.
- Stand with feet hip-width apart with one hand behind your head, and the other flat against your thigh.
- Bend at the hip, reaching your straight arm down towards the floor. Hold for 2 seconds and return to neutral. This is one rep.
- Repeat the stretch for a total of 10 reps on each side.
- Sit with your spine straight and feet shoulder-width apart. Interlace your hands and put them behind your head.
- Twist as far as you can toward the right and then drop toward the floor. Drop your left elbow (which is pointing forward) toward the floor so it drops outside your left knee.
- Hold 2–3 seconds and return to neutral; repeat 6–8 times. Then switch sides and repeat.
Low Back Mobility Exercises
“A healthy spine is a key aspect of leading a healthy lifestyle,” says physical therapist Vinita Chandra Mody, MScPT, founder of Stroma Physical Therapy in New York. “It serves as a central anchor to produce healthy movements such as walking and standing,” and acts as a “transmitter of force from the upper body to the lower body and vice versa.”
In other words, the mobility of your lower back is super important for just about every activity you do. Something as simple as sitting all day can cause problems. “Prolonged periods of inactivity do not treat the body well,” says Jordan Seda, DPT, OCS, a certified strength and conditioning specialist at Stroma. “For example, imagine sitting at a desk and feeling a spasm in your back an hour into your workday.” To prevent such a pain in your day, try these PT-approved low back stretches to build a strong mobility routine.
- Begin on your hands and knees with your knees directly under your hips and your hands directly under your shoulders. Your back should be in a neutral position, with your neck parallel to the floor.
- Engage your abs, then lift and extend one arm and the opposite leg, keeping your core stable. The goal is to reach the leg and the arm away from each other, not to lift the limbs high.
- Return to start and repeat with the opposite arm and leg. This is one rep.
- Repeat for 10–12 reps.
The key: making sure your abdominals stay engaged and activated throughout the movement.
- Lie on your back with both legs flat on the floor.
- Lift one leg up toward your chest so the knee travels toward the shoulder on the same side and the ankle travels toward the shoulder on the opposite side. Assist by gently pulling with the hands around the lower leg, shin toward the chest.
- Hold 2–3 seconds, then return to start.
- Repeat 10–12 times on each side.
- Start on all fours and push your hips back so your buttocks rest on your heels.
- Reach forward with your hands and hold the stretch for 10 breaths.
- Next, reach to one side with both hands and hold the stretch for 10 breaths. Then, reach to the other side and hold the stretch for 10 breaths.
Hip Mobility Exercises
Sitting is also hard on the hips. If you sit for long enough, “you get something called adaptive shortening,” which means the muscle “becomes progressively tighter and tighter and tighter,” says Mody. If your hip flexors get tight enough, they can begin bothering their neighbors, the spine and femurs, which can in turn trigger back pain. Do these hip flexor stretches regularly to keep these key muscles long and limber.
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- Place a pillow or folded yoga mat on the floor to cushion your knees, and position it about a foot away from a chair (or couch or wall).
- Get into a kneeling position, with right knee on the pillow and the top of your right foot on the chair. Step your left foot forward and bend at the knee to create a 90-degree angle with your left leg. Lean forward several inches.
- In this position, squeeze your right glute. You should feel a stretch at the top of your thigh. Hold for 30 to 90 seconds
- Switch sides and repeat.
Tip: For a deeper stretch, move your back knee closer to the chair. For an easier stretch, rest your back foot on the ground.
- Sitting in a chair, bend your leg and place your ankle on the opposite knee.
- Rotate your knee up toward your chest, and then down toward the floor.
- Hold for two seconds and return to start. This is one rep.
- Repeat 10 times on each side.
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- Kneel on your right knee with your left leg forward and bent at 90 degrees. For balance, place your hands on your hips.
- Contract your glutes to flatten your lower back and transfer your weight forward to increase the stretch in the front of your right leg.
- Then cross your arms over your chest and turn your torso and upper body to the left.
- Keep your glutes slightly contracted to avoid tilting your pelvis forward. Hold for 30–60 seconds.
- Now turn your torso and upper body to the right. Again, keep your glutes slightly contracted to avoid tilting your pelvis forward. Hold for 30–60 seconds.
- Switch legs and repeat.
Knee Mobility Exercises
Knee stability is particularly important for preventing injury. How do you know if you have good stability in this joint? Do a squat in front of a mirror. Your knees should be tracking directly over your toes—if they flail inward or outward, you’re lacking knee stability and more prone to injury, per Andrew Slane, a trainer with Fiture.
If your knees aren’t tracking directly over your toes during squats or you often lose your balance doing lunges, your knee stability muscles could use some love. “Either of these indicate that the whole carriage of your knee, from the actual joint to the muscles surrounding it, are not strong enough to fully execute the potential of the move, and they aren’t getting stronger due to poor form and overcompensation to make up for it,” says Slane. To build strength and prevent injury while you workout, try these knee mobility exercises.
- Stand about 12 inches away from a wall, facing away, feet hip-width apart. Lean against the wall so your butt and shoulders are both touching and your back is straight.
- Squat down, keeping your back against the wall, until your knees are at a 90 degree angle, and taking note whether your knees are moving in as you lower down. Aim to keep your knees tracking directly over the toes.
- Return to standing, squeezing your glutes.
- Repeat 10–12 times.
- Stand upright with feet together and hips aligned forward.
- Balance on one standing leg, and extend the other leg, lightly touching your big toe to the ground, first forward, then to your side, then behind you, and continue tapping the three points for 1 minute.
- Repeat on the other side
- To progress this move, stand on an uneven surface (like a balance board or stability disc) and try to balance yourself as you tap the three points.
- Place a loop resistance band around both legs, positioning it above your knees, and stand comfortably with feet facing forward.
- Step backward with one foot, against the resistance of the band, by shifting your weight onto the back foot while keeping the front foot in contact with the floor.
- Straighten the back knee and extend it against the resistance of the band by pressing your back heel into the floor (or as close as you can comfortably get). Then return to start. Repeat 10 times
- Return on the other side.
Ankle Mobility Exercises
At the risk of stating the obvious, ankle function is a key part of any lower body activity: walking, running, rollerskating, you name it. Ankle disfunction can “make its way up the kinetic chain and lead to pain in the knee, hips, low back, and eventually lead to posture issues,” says Brannigan. “The ankle should be strong to properly absorb shock from walking, running, or jumping so that your other joints don’t have to absorb undue shock.”
A key characteristic of the ankle joint, as compared to other major joints in the body, is its mobility—which makes it particularly subject to injury, Brannigan says. To promote ankle stability and prevent injuries that could derail your wellness goals, try these ankle exercises.
- Start lying on your back. Place a strap around one foot, holding both ends, and lift so your leg is perpendicular to the floor.
- Keeping your leg straight, use the strap to assist you in rolling your ankle inwards. Hold for 2 seconds and return to neutral.
- Repeat 10 times on each leg.
- Start seated on the floor in a cross-legged position. Lift one knee so your foot is flat on the floor in front of you.
- With both hands around your foot, rotate it so that your big toe points toward the ceiling and your pinky toe points toward the floor. Hold for 2 seconds. Return to neutral.
- Repeat 10 times with each foot.
- Start seated on the floor in a cross-legged position. Lift one knee so your foot is flat on the floor in front of you.
- With both hands around your foot, rotate it so that your big toe points toward the floor and your pinky toe points toward the ceiling. Hold for 2 seconds. Return to neutral.
- Repeat 10 times with each foot.
Macaela MacKenzie is a writer and editor specializing in wellness. She writes about self-care, mental health, fertility, and women's equality with a focus on breaking down stigmas in women's health.
