Here's Why You Should Start Your Week with a Mobility Day

After a long training week, a restful weekend seems like an awfully good idea, but our best-made plans of rest and relaxation are sidetracked by to-do lists, travel or social events. These extracurricular activities wreck the time we need to recover from the previous week. Missed sleep and overworked days can also interfere with the recovery needed to hit the week going hard again.

First, in case you missed it, the Mobility Day is the following circuit of activities:

Repeat 4-5 times.
Bike, row, elliptical or swim: 5 minutes
Stretch, foam roll or massage tool: 5 minutes

That's an easy day. This type of day is often used in the middle of the week to help with recovery and to allow for better performance for the end-of-the-week challenges, races or workout events.

Here is a list of reasons why starting the week with a mobility day may make sense for you:

1. Monday Is Not International Bench Press Day.

As much as you may want to start off your week with a good upper-body and chest workout, bump it a day and make Monday your mobility day, especially if you are still feeling Saturday's workout or because a lack of recovery over the weekend means you need another day before you lift big again.

2. Don't Skip. Do a Mobility Day Instead.

Mondays can be tough, especially if you worked hard and played too hard over the weekend and did not get the optimal sleep and recovery time your body needed. There is no need to even break a sweat, as you can keep it easy. Just get up and move, and you will feel better after doing something easy instead of skipping Day 1 entirely.

3. Still Sore from Racing Events? A Mobility Day Is Needed.

If you spent the weekend doing a race, a military selection event or other gut-check challenge, you need at least one easy day to begin the next week. Events that go on for many hours and through the night will do a number on your body as you push right through recovery and continue working hard when you ruck all night or do a multi-event weekend race.

If you did not prepare for such events properly, you may need more than a few days to lick your wounds and heal properly. Sleep, nutrition and basic movement will help you feel better more quickly than doing nothing and not moving at all.

4. Need Help Treading?

A mobility day mixed with treading water or swimming for five minutes in place of the bike, rower or elliptical machine is going to take your day to the next level. Most people fail at treading because they lack the ability to produce downward force with their kicking to stay above the water's surface.

5. Finally, No Reason Whatsoever

You do not need a reason to do a mobility day. These workouts are truly life-changing and fantastic ways to get some easy cardio training, good flexibility and mobility work while relieving overall pain. Any time you can walk out of a gym and not feel any pain or discomfort but also feel like you did something counts as a win, especially after you turn 40, 50 or 60 years old.

Depending on your training and work situation, you may not have the choice to do a mobility day on Monday. If so, make your Sunday a day of recovery and rest as best you can and mix in some of the elements of any type of mobility, flexibility, massage and water combination to aid in your overall recovery process.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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