How to Improve Your Mobility

Mobility limitations can be frustrating. They make everyday movements harder, keep you from performing at your best, and over time can even lead to pain or injury.

This guide shares the same approach I give my patients to help them restore mobility, build lasting control, and keep their joints healthy long term.

1. Pick The Right Joint

Every joint has a job to do and your body is designed so that joints alternate between needing more mobility or more stability:

When a joint stops doing its job, the ones above or below often suffer:

  • A stiff hip forces the low back to move too much

  • An unstable knee makes the ankle and hip tighten up

  • A locked-down thoracic spine puts extra strain on the shoulders

👉 The goal of mobility training isn’t to stretch everything. It’s to restore the right job to the right joint so the whole system works smoothly.

Note: That doesn’t mean you can’t improve the mobility of the stable joints, they just require much less or only have specific ranges of motion they need, so you need to do it carefully.

2. Fix The Right Problem

Not all “tightness” is the same:

  • Mechanical tension = real stiffness in the tissue or joint capsule (eg: muscles that need to be stretched)

  • Neurologic tension = your brain thinks the position isn’t safe, so it stops you short (eg: muscle guarding)

👉 Why this matters: If you don’t know which one you’re dealing with, you may waste time stretching when you should be retraining your nervous system.

Action step to test it:

  • Get in to a stretch you want to test.

  • Use PAILs/RAILs (contract–relax drills):

    • Gently push against the stretch using only your muscles (PAILs)

    • Then try to pull deeper into the stretch using just your muscles (RAILs)

    • Repeat 2 more times

  • If the range improves significantly → likely neurologic tension, which needs strengthening throughout the range of motion

  • If not → likely mechanical tension, which needs consistent mobility work over time

3. Use Soft Tissue Work to Speed Things Up

Self-massage won’t create lasting mobility by itself, but it helps get into spots that are stubborn or are hard to stretch and makes stretching/exercising more effective. It can also help decrease neurologic tension.

  • Tools: Foam roller or lacrosse ball

  • How: I tell my patients to find 4 tender spots. Hold pressure until the pain decreases (~30 seconds each).

  • When: Do it before mobility or stretching.

Think of this as an targeted warmup for muscles that need more help. (This can also help significantly with pain).

4. Time Under Tension

Quick stretches don’t stick. To see long-term change, you need enough time under tension.

Here’s what works best:

  • Hold each stretch for ~30 seconds and repeat for 4 rounds

  • Do this 3x per week for about 6 weeks (up to 12 weeks for stubborn issues)

  • Aim for 5 out of 10 intensity—a solid stretch you can breathe through without wincing

👉 Pro tip: Take slow, deep breaths while holding the stretch. This helps your nervous system relax and makes it easier to “own” the new range.

⚡ Shortcut: You don’t always have to stretch. Strength training through a big, controlled range of motion (deep squats, split squats, overhead presses) builds flexibility that lasts—without needing to constantly stretch.

🚨 Important Note: If you feel pain on the closing side of a joint during a stretch (like a pinch in the front of your hip when squatting), that’s often joint impingement, not just tightness.

  • Don’t push through it.

  • Change your angle or modify the exercise.

  • Pinching pain = the joint saying “stop.”

5. Use It or Lose It

Gaining new mobility is only half the battle. You have to teach your body to use it. This is the classic “use it or lose it” principle. Your body only holds on to the ranges you actively train.

The best way to “lock in” new range is to follow stretching with strength in that same position.

  • Example: Hip flexion stretch → Romanian deadlift (teaches the hip to move through the new range under load and control)

Key idea: Controlling the range is what makes it yours.

For long-term results:

  • Move each joint through its full range every day

  • Load those ranges with strength training at least weekly

  • Think of it like brushing your teeth—you don’t stop once they feel clean

Quick Checklist

  • ✅ Identify mechanical vs. neurologic tension and restore the right job to the right joint

  • ✅ Loosen tissue with foam rolling/lacrosse ball

  • ✅ Stretch with enough time under tension (4x30secs, 3x/week, 6 weeks)

  • ✅ Strengthen in the new range to keep it

  • ✅ Use strength training through big ranges regularly to reduce need for constant stretching

Closing Thought

Mobility is more than just stretching. It’s teaching your body that new ranges are safe and useful. By restoring the right job to the right joint (mobility where you need it, stability where you need it) you stop chasing flexibility and start building movement that lasts.

Want Help Improving Your Mobility Faster?

I hope you can take what’s in this guide and start using it right away. Just working through these steps consistently can make a big difference.

That said, sometimes it’s hard to know which drills to pick, how to progress them, or what to do when something doesn’t feel right. That’s where I can help.

In my 1-on-1 coaching program, I’ll work with you to:

  • Figure out what’s actually limiting your mobility (muscle, joint, or nervous system)

  • Give you the specific drills and exercises that will make the biggest difference

  • Show you how to strengthen those new ranges so they last long-term

If you want a clear, personalized plan (and accountability to make sure you follow through), I’d love to work with you.

👉 Click here to apply for a free assessment, and let’s build a plan that works for you.

Talk soon,

Dr. Matt Moreno, D.C., C.C.S.P.®
The Move More Minute