The CST Mobility / Stability Symbiosis

It seems there is a fair bit of confusion around the concepts of mobility, stability and flexibility.  Admittedly, the concept can sometimes be a bit hard to wrap your head around initially, but with a few guideposts, it becomes an incredibly powerful tool in planning and executing your training plan.

First off, let’s look at some definitions for these terms.  The NASM Integrated Flexibility Training manual gives us this:

Flexibility is the normal extensibility of all soft tissues that allow full range of motion of a joint.

So a pretty two dimensional concept comes out of that definition.  We’re talking strictly about the length of tissues, nothing more.  In a perfect world, your level of flexibility is the theoretical range of motion that you would be able to create around a given joint.  But I think we all know that we lose that potential range of motion for a myriad of reasons as time progresses.  So why do we get tight?  Is it dysfunction?  Not at all.  Dev Chatterjee, a cutting edge practitioner in the human performance field put it to me this way recently, “Tightness is exactly what the CNS wants.”  What he meant was, the neuromuscular system is very smart.  It will create tightness to counteract perceived threat such as a lack of neuromuscular control, to protect an injured area, etc.

But let’s get back to our definitions.  If flexibility is only a theoretical potential for range of motion, what is the practical extension of that.  I think we could probably call it mobility.  I like the definition for mobility given in the Introduction to Reebok Reactive Neuromuscular Training and Movement Screening manual:

Joint Mobility: is the degree of freedom of movement around a joint or body segment.  Mobility is a balance of flexibility, strength and the integration of the neuromuscular system.  It is uninhibited motion.

OK, so now we are getting somewhere.  If flexibility is our potential, mobility is the degree of control we have over our neuromuscular system in order to access that potential.  And that goes beyond the ability to recruit the muscles desired to form the intended action through a range of motion, to the control over all the stabilizing muscles involved in aligning the structure for that movement.  If something isn’t working, that darn CNS will step in and hijack the movement.

So we are starting to understand flexibility versus mobility, but what the heck is this stability thing that we keep seeing thrown into the mix.  A prominent physiotherapist, Bill Hartman, refers to stability as, “the ability to resist an undesired movement.”  That makes sense.  But it also presents what I perceive as a potential for confusion.  I think a lot of people equate that resistance to movement with a lack of movement, or stiffness.  This places mobility and stability on opposing ends of a spectrum.  I prefer to think of this stability, or ability to resist movement, in the terms of segmental control.  This paradigm places mobility and stability in a symbiotic relationship, rather than on opposing ends of a scale.

Two personal anecdotes serve fairly well to illustrate this.  A few weeks ago I had a massage with a therapist who I had never seen before.  At the end of the session she remarked on how supple my spine was.  She determined this simply through manipulation, not having me perform any movement.  Then, a couple weeks ago I attended a course on the biomechanics of the trunk and spine.  Part of the course consisted of screens to determine the functionality of various muscles which play a role in correct movement and stabilization patterns.  Out of the entire group, I had by far the best control over my movements in those tests.  So on one hand I was told that I had a very supple spine, and on the other I was shown to have great stability in my spine and trunk.  The link between the two is segmental control.

Because I have fine neuromuscular control, I am able to resist movement in order to stabilize segments while in motion.  And at the same time, because my body knows that I have that segmental control, it also allows my joints more mobility within its potential for movement.  With less neuromuscular control, my system would limit that movement within the structural potential.  And without that control I would not be able to stabilize sufficiently to maintain good alignment of my structure during movement, which would show up in the types of movements screens I alluded to earlier.

So, for example, my lumbar spine is not stiff, in fact it is quite supple as mentioned earlier, but my potential for resistance to movement is very high because of segmental control.  So I am able to stabilize that area efficiently when and how it is required.  Conversely, I think there is a notion floating around out there that certain joints need to be stiff and others mobile.  I agree that certain joints are both functionally and structurally meant to be more mobile and others more stable.  But again I believe that this is more of a symbiosis than a continuum.  You need to be stable to be mobile.  You need fine neuromuscular control to both prevent and allow movement.

But how do you develop this?  Personally, I credit my mobility and stability to the CST system’s Intu-Flow program.  Over the course of time, by taking my joints back through their natural range of motion, shaving off tension gradually and incrementally each day, and then sophisticating the way I move through those ranges on an ongoing basis, I have reeducated my body in both the movement patterns and in recognizing its inherent capacity for motion.  In other words, I slowly wore away the motion barriers which were holding me back from movement.  I added control, which promoted stability, and opened the gates of mobility.  Can you see the symbiotic relationship there?  You can’t separate the two.  Mobility and stability need to play off of each other and are co-dependent.  And each situation at each joint will call for more or less of one or the other.  And the magic link that ties them together is segmental control, or control over the little movements that make up and support the big ones.

Of course, it goes without saying that we will be delving into great detail regarding how this functions and how the three wings of the CST system takes a three pronged approach to physical development in which Intu-Flow, Prasara and Clubbells synch up to provide mobile, natural and pain-free movement. 

For a visual example of Intu-Flow Joint Health & Mobility in action, take a look at this post which explores the best mobility exercises for office workers.

Comments

[John Sifferman]

Excellent analysis, Coach! This makes perfect sense.

[Keith Koger]

Coach,

Just curious but how does Prasara Yoga (or FlowFit or Forward Pressure, for that matter) fit into the Flexibility/Mobility/Stability equation? Seems to me that the joints are being taken through incrementally challenging ranges of motion while requiring stability during those movements, too.

Keith

[Adam]

John, thanks!

Keith, in a way you can think of Prasara as the "sequel," although you can and should practice both the Intu-Flow and Prasara simultaneously. But whereas Intu-Flow reeducates and reawakens the body to its inherent movement capacity, Prasara goes on to solidify that new awareness through reinforcing the integrity of structure. So where you might begin to regain neuromuscular control in the pelvic region doing Intu-Flow circles, you could reinforce the functional control that you develop there through doing a Downward Dog where you actively concentrate on maintaining the anterior tilt of the pelvis throughout the Asanas.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers,
Adam

[andreas]

good article, coach!
some stuff to think about.

[Wade Munson]

A very interesting and personally appropriate article! It is making me rethink my approach to training a bit.

[Michael Norris]

I got the Prasara videa, great stuff.....is there any way for beginners to learn his flow, on the video it is all too fast to copy for me to get started...any ideas? thanks, Michael

[Shaun]

Hi Coach, looking forward to your presence in Singapore soon. Heard good stuff about Sonnon's CST, but not sure what to expect from it. As a weightlifting meathead, I am not too crazy about yoga but could certainly benefit from the joint mobility/health aspects.

Yours in good health
Shaun

[Adam]

Shaun,

As a 20 year weightlifting meathead myself, I can tell you that Prasara Body-Flow Yoga may surprise you! Hope to meet you in Singapore.

Michael,

Do you have Coach Sonnon's Prasara Instructional. He breaks it down and gives some options in some of the tougher spots. You can also post questions on the RMAX forums about specific trouble spots. Hope to see you over there... ;-)

Andreas and Wade, glad you found this useful!

Cheers,
Adam

[Ramon]

Hello coach steer. I had a question. I was under the impression that the lower backs needs only stability. The reason I ask is because pelvic pitching in the extension part seems to irritate my back. Am I possibly doing something wrong or should i continue and allow the movement to cleanse the spine of impurities? thanks