July 2006
Special Feature
Mobility and Stability
The Body’s Way reminds us that healthy joints require toned surrounding muscles. Good muscle tone keeps your joints and bones aligned and your muscles responsive to the demands for mobility and stability. To check out your body’s joint mobility and stability, use the checklist below, and use sensation to find out which joints are too tight or too loose. The sensation of too tight means you’ve lost mobility, and can’t fully move the joint the way it was designed to move. This indicates you need to do some self-healing by loosening things up. The sensation of too loose means you don’t have enough positive tension; i.e., the kind of tension that provides strength and stability. If you lack stability, you’ll need to do some self-healing by tightening things up.
As you work your way through the guide and tests using the chart below, record your results in the checklist that follows. Do both your both your right and left sides and choose between Full, Moderate or Slight. Full indicates that you have 90%–100% of the ideal range of motion, and means your joint is healthy. Moderate indicates you have 50%–90% range of motion. Slight indicates that you have less than 50% range of motion.
Once you’ve completed the checklist, feel free to move on without much concern for joints you’ve marked Full. For joints you’ve marked Moderate, you’ll need to exercise with greater care. For joints marked Slight, you should move ahead cautiously.
Joint Mobility and Stability Guide and Tests
(Record test results in the checklist below)
1. The Ankles
Joint Design and Function: I am a hinge joint, designed to flex, point, and circle.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your ankle joint can fully open up in the back, and close in the front (to flex your foot up toward your shinbone) and circle in both directions. It can stretch the muscles in the front of your shin, and contract your calf muscles (to point your toe all the way forward).
Mobility Test
Lift your leg slightly off the floor and flex your foot up and down. Next, circle your foot in both directions, sensing for mobility in your ankle joint.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your ankle joint can support you in rising up and down on your toes, without wobbling in or out to the sides. Instability is the feeling of your feet grabbing the floor, your toes pulling in and overly contracting the muscles of your feet.
Stability Test
While standing, slowly rise onto the balls of both feet, bringing both heels high off the ground. Sustain elevated balance. Then slowly lower both heels back down, sensing for stability in your ankle joint as you stop moving.
2. The Knees
Joint Design and Function: I am a hinge joint, designed to open and close. When I am healthy you should be able to easily bend and extend your lower leg, and to stop and start without stress.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your knee joint can close enough to bring your heel up and close to your buttocks. It also means your knee joint can open all the way, contracting your quadriceps (front of thigh muscles), and stretching your hamstrings (back of thigh muscles).
Mobility Test
Lift your leg off the floor, so that you can freely bend and extend your lower leg, sensing for mobility in your knee joint.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your knee joint can support you in moving and stopping without locking or tensing. Instability is the feeling of your knees pushing back and overly contracting your thigh muscles.
Stability Test
Walk briskly around the room and stop suddenly, several times, sensing for stability in your knee joint.
3. The Hips
Joint Design and Function: I am a ball and socket joint. I am designed to rotate your thighbone, and keep your pelvis moving freely.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your hip joint can freely move your thighbone and pelvis. This makes it easy to lift and lower your leg; turn your toes (in, out, or parallel); walk with grace; run with ease; sink and rise effortlessly; and move your pelvis freely.
Mobility Test
Stand with your feet wider than hip-width, and your knees slightly bent. Circle your pelvis in both directions, as though using a hula-hoop, with minimal knee movement. Next, lift your one foot off the floor and circle your thighbone. Then, standing on one leg, turn your other toes in, out, and parallel, moving from the hip joint, to assess your mobility.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your hip joint can fully support you in balancing, walking, sinking and rising. Instability is the feeling of your hips being out of control.
Stability Test
Walk freely around the room and stop suddenly. Pause, balancing on one foot, as you sense the stability in your hip joint.
4. The Wrists
Joint Design and Function: I am a condyloid joint, designed to flex, extend, and to carry the flow of movement from your arm to your hand.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your wrist joint can flex and pull your fingers up and back. It can also extend your palm forward, pointing your fingers down. You can also fluidly circle your hand in both directions.
Mobility Test
Circle your hand in both directions. Next, flex your hand with your palm facing away from you, and gently pull your fingers up and back toward you. Next, bend your palm forward, pointing your fingers down., Now gently pull your fingers toward you, noticing the mobility in your wrist.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your wrist joint can support you in starting and stopping motions, as in catching a ball, and in holding, balancing and bearing body weight, as in a handstand or holding onto a handrail. Instability is the feeling of your wrists collapsing.
Stability Test
Wave your hand aggressively, then suddenly stop your hand and forearm from moving. Sense for stability in your wrist as you stop moving.
5. The Elbows
Joint Design and Function: I am a hinge joint, designed to bend and extend your forearm.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your elbow joint can open up to extend your forearm in a straight line. It can also close, bringing your hand up to your shoulder. Full mobility also means you can freely shake the muscles in your forearm and hand.
Mobility Test
With your arm hanging down at the side of your body, and with your palm facing front, bring your hand up toward the same shoulder. Next move your hand back down, opening up the inside of your elbow. You should be able to open and close all the way.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your elbow joint can suddenly stop any hand and arm motion. It can also support body weight. Instability is the feeling of your elbows giving out.Stability Test
Point out into space with your index finger, and extend your entire arm. Sense for stability in your elbow joint as you sustain your reach into space.
6. The Shoulders
Joint Design and Function: I am a ball and socket joint, designed to move freely. When I am healthy, you should be able to move your upper arm in all directions.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means your shoulder joint can support your upper arm in moving in all directions.
Mobility Test
Freely move your upper arm in all directions: up, down, front, back, and all around. Sense for mobility in your shoulder joint and notice any resistance.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your shoulder joint can support your hands and arms in starting and stopping motions, and in supporting body weight. Instability is the feeling that your shoulders are incapable of providing support and power to your arms and hands.
Stability Test
With your hand, throw an imaginary ball up into space. Next, thrust your arm and hand up in front of you, as a shield. Sense for stability in your shoulder joint as you stop moving.
7. The Spine
Joint Design and Function: I am a multi-axial joint, designed to move in subtle and unique ways.
Mobility Guide
Full mobility means that your spine can support you in moving off your standard vertical alignment – folding, opening, bending, extending, and twisting. It can change shape easily, and return to a relaxed and powerful state of vertical alignment.
Mobility Test
Bend forward, rounding your spine and hang. Next, stand tall and look up at the ceiling, extending and lengthening your spine. Then, stand tall and twist from left to right. Now bend side to side. Sense for mobility in your spine.
Stability Guide
Full stability means your spine can support you from the inside-out to lift, lower, bend, twist, push and pull. Instability is the feeling of your spine as weak and vulnerable.
Stability Test
With your hands holding onto an imaginary blanket, shake the blanket several times, sensing for stability in your spine as you stop moving.
Joint Mobility and Stability Test Results
Record your results in the checklist below. Choose between Full, Moderate or Slight. Full indicates that you have 90%–100% of the ideal range of motion, and means your joint is healthy. Moderate indicates you have 50%–90% range of motion. Slight indicates that you have less than 50% range of motion.
| Mobilty Results | Stability Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint | Full | Moderate | Slight | Full | Moderate | Slight |
| Left Ankle | ||||||
| Right Ankle | ||||||
| Left Knee | ||||||
| Right Knee | ||||||
| Left Hip | ||||||
| Right Hip | ||||||
| Left Wrist | ||||||
| Right Wrist | ||||||
| Left Elbow | ||||||
| Right Elbow | ||||||
| Left Shoulder | ||||||
| Right Shoulder | ||||||
| Spine | ||||||
Article contains excerpts from the book, The Nia Technique.
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