Flexibility vs Mobility. What is the difference?
by Kaylor Tan, MBR Advanced TTC Graduate
Many people think yoga is just stretching and serves to increase flexibility. This misconception is likely the result of bendy deep yoga poses commonly shared in social media. But what is often overlooked is that these poses require much more than flexibility alone.
One key factor that works hand in hand with flexibility is strength. Strength is developed when you hold in poses that require you to support your own body weight. Just a simple pose like Dandasana (Staff Pose) requires muscular engagement to keep the spine upright and stable.
Similarly in Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Pose), it may feel like you are stretching into your posterior chain. In reality, muscles can’t stretch on its own. The opposing muscles, the antagonists, need to contract to create and control the stretch even if it may not be immediately obvious.
So… truth is.. yoga increases both flexibility and strength. And when flexibility is combined with strength, that leads to mobility which should be the ultimate goal for all yoga practitioners.
What then is the difference between flexibility and mobility?
What is Flexibility?
It is your passive range of motion, meaning the ability to move your joints with the help of an external force, like gravity, your hand, a prop or assist from a teacher. For example, doing Supta Padangusthasana (Reclined Hand to Big Toe Pose) with and without a strap. You can flex your leg more with the former. That is your passive range of motion.
What is Mobility?
It is your active control of that range of motion. Back to the same example. How much you can flex your leg in Supta Padangusthasana (Reclined Hand to Big Toe Pose) with your own strength working against gravity is your active control of that range. In other words, mobility allows you to move freely within your passive range of motion with control against external forces like gravity.
More examples of difference between flexibility and mobility displayed in yoga poses.
In Dhanurasana (Bow Pose), using your hands to pull your legs up versus trying to get into the same shape with the engagement of ur posterior chain without using your hands.
In Hanumanasana (Front Split), sinking your hip down onto the floor with the help of gravity versus being able to do it in an upright position in Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana (Standing Split).
In Baddha Konasana (Butterfly Pose), with assist to press legs down to bring knees closer to the ground versus engaging your own external rotators in the hip to bring your knees down. The former examples are with help from external forces, an indication of how flexible you are. Whereas the latter examples use muscular engagement to achieve and control the poses, an indication of your level of mobility.
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Your maximum range of motion (what structurally your body can do), is made up of the passive range (flexibility) and active range (mobility). To bridge the gap between them, work on strength. To gain maximum range of motion, work on both strength or flexibility.
Flexibility + Strength
=
controlled movement (Mobility)
Accessing into your flexibility without control is risky. It increases your chance of getting injured. Control only comes when you build strength. And strength is developed through awareness, intentional movement and the application of opposition of forces in your practice. When flexibility is supported with strength, that gives you control in your movement and that is mobility.