We Only Get ONE Functional Body
Functional Friday Newsletter Series: Functional Fitness People Get It!
The foundation of all movement begins with mobility.
Your Body, Your Empire
Your body is a high-performance enterprise—an extraordinary machine capable of remarkable strength, endurance, and strategic adaptation. Recent performance analytics reveal a game-changing statistic: strategic mobility training can reduce potential 'operational disruptions' (a.k.a. injuries) by 47% while significantly enhancing overall performance (a.k.a. achieving success in your sport or activity). This reinforces the idea that your body is not just a vessel—it's your most valuable asset and the foundation of your personal infrastructure. So why treat mobility as an afterthought?
The CEO Approach to Body Optimization
Mobility is not just a “nice-to-have” component of your fitness routine—it's the most sophisticated growth strategy in fitness. Think of your body as a high-stakes startup:
Joint Mobility = Critical Systems Architecture 🏗️
Movement Patterns = Operational Efficiency ⚙️
Pain = Technical Debt 💻
Recovery = Strategic Reinvestment💰
Top performers understand this framework and recognize that mobility isn't a cost center—it's your most powerful investment, serving as the foundation upon which everything is built. So why does mobility remain one of the most overlooked aspects of fitness?
The Mobility Crisis in Modern Society
The answer lies in its complexity and the specialized knowledge needed to truly understand it. Without an extensive study of the human body and its biomechanics, it’s nearly impossible to grasp how the body creates recognizable movement patterns.
This is exactly where physical therapists and advanced fitness professionals come in. They've spent years studying how the body moves, understanding its compensations, and learning how to fix movement problems—those subtle adjustments our bodies make to manage excessive workload in one area to compensate for mobility limitations in another.
The Truth is, Proper Mobility Work is Essential to Maintaining the Body’s Optimal Function.
🚨Here’s the good news: I’m about to share the exact mobility principles and professional insights I use. After years of experience, I can confidently say this: for a functional fitness program to truly work, mobility isn’t just important—it’s essential. The best part? When you commit to consistent, professionally guided mobility work, the results are nothing short of transformative.
So Then, What is Mobility?
The dictionary defines mobility as 'the ability to move or be moved freely and easily.' In other words, mobility is a combination of range of motion (ROM) and control. ROM refers to the maximum movement a joint can make—how far it can flex, extend, lift, reach, or rotate freely, efficiently, and without restrictions. Control refers to the idea that it isn’t just about reaching the end of your range; it’s about having the strength, flexibility, and stability to move through that range with purpose and precision.
This enhanced body awareness doesn't just prevent injuries or make you more flexible—it creates a foundation for all other physical attributes to be built upon.
How To Look For Mobility on the Human Anatomy
The Biomechanical Blueprint
Your body operates in three distinct planes of movement:
Sagittal Plane (Anterior/Posterior Movement)
Includes flexion and extension movements
Example: Bending forward or backward 💁
Frontal Plane (Medial/Lateral Movement)
Includes abduction and adduction movements
Example: Moving sideways or spreading arms/legs 🤸
Transverse Plane (Rotational Movement)
Includes internal and external rotation
Example: Twisting torso or rotating joints 💃
In my clinical assessments, I've found that most people have significant limitations in at least one of these planes, often due to compensatory patterns developed over years of repetitive movement.
This in turn results in:
Increased risk of chronic pain conditions
Reduced athletic performance potential
Decreased functional capacity in daily activities
Higher rates of workplace injuries
Accelerated joint degeneration
The Operating System
Joints are the critical infrastructure of your body's movement capabilities, categorized into precise mobility classifications:
Single-Plane Joints (🦴 Knee, Elbow)
Operate exclusively in the sagittal plane
Specialized for linear, controlled movements
Designed for precision and structural stability
Dual-Plane Joints (🦴 Wrist)
Navigate sagittal and frontal movement planes
Provide adaptability for tasks that require precision
Multi-Plane Joints (🦴 Spine, Hips, Shoulder, Ankle)
Masterfully move across sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes
Provide maximum movement potential
Enable sophisticated, dynamic performance capabilities
A fundamental principle emerges here: The more planes a joint navigates, the greater its motion potential—and its susceptibility to injury. This isn't a limitation but a strategic performance challenge that you, as the controller, must manage throughout your life.
The Forces Acting Against You
Internal forces refer to the forces generated within the body due to muscle contractions, joint movements, and the body's own structural mechanics. These forces are responsible for producing movement and maintaining stability during activities (e.g., muscle force, joint reaction force, tensile force, compression force, etc.). External forces, on the other hand, are forces that act on the body from outside sources. These forces interact with the body’s structure and influence movement, posture, and stability (e.g., gravity, ground reaction force, friction, etc.).
When your body is under demand of any force, your body has to:
Outcompete these forces to perform at its efficiency
Layer itself in protection so you can’t be injured through repetitive movement
Have max insurance coverage against the planar forces that it cannot move in but still has to fight against
& this is why we need to act through mobility!
Your body is constantly negotiating against these forces, and if it's overworked for too long, it can lead to fatigue and injury. However, by understanding each joint's specific mobility potential, you can design more effective movement strategies that increase your betting rate against these forces, helping to prevent injuries down the road.
As the saying goes, 'The best athletes aren't always the most talented, but the ones who stay healthy and can consistently compete.' No matter how skilled you are, recurring injuries that keep you from competing will hold you back. The most successful athletes and high performers don’t simply move—they strategically engineer their movement capabilities. By understanding each joint's unique mobility potential, they build a precise mobility tool belt that improves performance and reduces physical strain during sports and activities. This strategy allows them to turn recurring injuries from career-limiting factors into manageable, preventable challenges.
The Professional Edge
Mobility is your body’s essential fuel system, functioning much like a sophisticated lubrication system in a high-performance engine. Just as a precision machine requires consistent maintenance to run smoothly, your body needs intentional mobility work to unlock joint potential, minimize stiffness, and build a resilient movement infrastructure. Without strategic mobility optimization, your body’s ability to pivot, adapt, and prevent long-term injuries becomes compromised.
In physical therapy, a lack of movement in any joint plane is classified as a mobility deficit. These limitations often lead to frustrating pain, and unfortunately, we see this all too often in the clinic. Mobility work cannot be overstated—yet it remains one of the most overlooked aspects of fitness programming.
This oversight often leads to:
Movement compensations that reduce performance
Increased injury risk during high-intensity activities
Slower recovery times between training sessions
Limited potential for strength and power development
These points are why I’ve invested both time and money as an expert to address these issues and create real change. The key to unlocking your body’s potential lies in understanding mobility—not as a mere enhancement, but as a fundamental performance strategy. Don't wait until you're in pain to use it as a fix; instead, incorporate mobility work into your workouts before injury strikes. Otherwise, you're letting your performance be dictated by your physical limitations.
Remember, mobility is about creating a foundation that supports all other aspects of physical performance and daily life. The investment you make in your mobility today will pay dividends in your performance, health, and quality of life for years to come.
🚨Now The Big Question You Are All Just Dying to Have Answered…
How Does This Apply to A Workout?
Well, functional fitness family…I'm about to show you exactly how to implement mobility work for maximum results in the paid subscriber newsletter coming out in 2 weeks! I’m revealing my complete system for seamlessly integrating mobility work into ANY workout routine so trust me, you do NOT want to miss out on this foundational pillar in your journey to a complete functional fitness program.
In the meantime, join me next month right back here as we dive into the next pillar of our framework: strength.
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Q & A Section
Question 1: What Do You Study Exactly?✨
Answer: I am currently pursuing my Doctorate in Physical Therapy! The curriculum is incredibly dynamic, covering an extensive range of medical and rehabilitation disciplines (pretty much everything rehab from A → Z… and everything else in between lol).
Question 2: What Made You Want to Get Into Physical Therapy?✨
Answer: I’m passionate about creating a space where people feel confident and empowered by combining healthcare, biomechanics, and human potential through functional fitness. Growing up as an athlete who frequently dealt with injuries and significant physical challenges, I often felt confused and frustrated, struggling to understand how to recover properly. During these difficult times, I discovered the transformative power of functional fitness. Now, I want to share my years of personal and academic knowledge to help others bypass the trial-and-error process I went through and equip them with the tools and insights they need to overcome the struggles I faced—without being left with the scars of having to figure it out on their own.
Question 3: What is your Background of Fitness in?✨
Answer: My background in fitness began as a gymnast in my youth and transitioned into Acrobatics & Tumbling at the collegiate level. These experiences helped me develop exceptional body awareness, strength, and technical precision. They also provided me with an intuitive understanding of body mechanics, movement patterns, and physical performance, which I now apply to my physical therapy studies. This foundation allows me to approach fitness from a science-based perspective, integrating both practical and academic knowledge to optimize movement and performance.
Question 4: How Do You Stay Motivated to Workout? (I am a beginner and already dreading my workouts)✨
Answer: The key to staying motivated is finding the fun in the workouts or physical activities I do, which is exactly why I fell in love with functional fitness. Traditional workout approaches often fall short because they’re monotonous and disconnected from real-life movement patterns. My fitness philosophy revolves around functional training—a dynamic approach that treats exercise as purposeful preparation for the diverse physical demands of life. Each workout becomes an exploration of movement, targeting the same muscle groups through varied and creative exercises. This approach not only prevents physical and mental burnout but also replaces the monotony of repetitive routines with the excitement of discovering new ways my body can move, adapt, and grow stronger.
Question 5: How Can You Get Your Ideal Body?✨
Answer: True transformation occurs when you shift your focus from external appearance goals to internal performance goals. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to fitness. I used to compare myself to others, wishing I looked like them, but over time, I realized that personalization is key. Every body is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another and this is the mindset I apply when designing workouts for my clients. By challenging your body with purposeful, varied movements and supporting it with proper nutrition and recovery, you’ll not only look strong but also become functionally powerful.
Have A Question…?
Think about it... if you're curious about something, chances are another member of this community is wondering the same thing. I want you to know that I can only understand what fills your cup best if you communicate these challenges with me. So, don't hesitate to ask your questions — they help me better understand how to support you and this community on our functional fitness journeys! 💪
(These questions will be addressed in NEXT MONTH'S newsletter)