r/MobilityTraining

Hi everyone! Posting this for my dad!

He (56yo male) was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about 13 years ago and also has type 2 diabetes. His endocrinologist wants him to start a GLP-1, but before he does, they’re recommending that he gain about 7-10 pounds of muscle. The challenge is that his RA makes traditional weight lifting really difficult, despite being on a DMARD and TNFa inhibitor for over 10 years. He’s never really lifted weights before, so he’d be starting completely from scratch.

I was wondering if anyone has experience building muscle while managing RA or has recommendations for arthritis-friendly exercises that are easier on the joints. We’d also love any suggestions for at-home equipment or brands that are easier to grip and use with arthritis (dumbbells, resistance bands, lifting straps, gloves, adaptive grips, etc.). Also, if anyone has used a personal trainer or physical therapist to help, what was your experience like? Did it make a difference?

Any tips, resources, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Hey, I'm 17 M and skinny fat. Aside from that, I've learnt that I've an anterior pelvic tilt and very weak knees, as well as almost no back muscles.

I've been researching a bit, and came to the conclusion that I must stretch my hips to get a better posture, as well as build more muscles in the back.

The issue right now is I'm not being able to stretch that well, and it could be both a knee problem and glute problem. My knees creak and pop when doing anything really and my glutes are very very weak, therefore I'm not being able to stretch as I should be.

FYI I've a slight scoliosis that's fixable with proper posture and back muscles.

So my question is, should I focus on strengthening my glutes and knees first, then go on to stretching and lastly back muscles, or what should I really do?

Any other suggestions and tips are welcome thanks

been doing them daily for like 8 weeks and my squat depth improved without me trying to force it. i thought my depth issue was ankle mobility for years, turned out it was mostly hips locked up from sitting 40 hours a week. if u have never done 90/90s just sit on the floor with one leg bent in front and one bent behind, both knees at 90 degrees, and slowly rotate side to side. sounds simple but ur hips will let u know real quick where ur restricted.

I used to have strong core, but over the past few years I've become much more sedentary. I've spent a lot of time sitting, often with my right leg crossed over my left.

I've recently started training my core again, but I've noticed a few things that concern me.

When I lie on my back with both legs raised to 90 degrees, my body starts shaking. I can feel my abs working, but I also notice a dome or bulge in my lower abdomen. I experience the same doming when I sit up out of bed. I heard dead bug is useful for weak core but I cant even do lying down tabletop position without shaking.

I've also noticed that my right leg feels weaker than my left. When I do glute kickbacks, my right side feels stiff, and I can't extend my leg as far back as I can on the left.

Another thing I've noticed is that when I do single-leg raises with one knee bent, I feel the effort mostly in the front of my hips rather than my abs, even though I'm bracing my core throughout the movement.

I dont know if its my hips are weak or is it my abs or glutes.

So a bit of background: I’ve had really tight hips and a stiff lower back basically since college. I work at a standing desk now which helped a little but didn’t fix anything. About six weeks ago I started doing mobility exercises pretty consistently, nothing crazy, just 15-20 minutes most mornings before I start my day.

The win I’m actually excited about is that last week I could finally sit in a deep squat position without holding onto anything for balance. Like just… stayed there comfortably for maybe 30 seconds. That sounds small but for me it’s’s genuinely huge because I couldn’t even get close to that position six months ago without my heels coming off the ground.

Now I’m kind of at a crossroads though. I feel like I’ve made a solid baseline, but I don’t really know what the logical next step is. Do I start adding more hip flexor specific work, start incorporating thoracic stuff, try to build on the squat and work toward something like a pistol squat? I don’t have a structured plan, I’ve just been piecing things together from different places online.

For people who’ve been doing mobility exercises for a while, how did you figure out where to focus once you got past the early beginner phase?

I am in my first week of a new desk job and I’m already feeling tightness in my back and hips. I go to the gym to lift weights 3-4 times per week, but I’ve never done much for mobility, so I’m trying to start that habit asap. What exercises should I do in a 10-15 minute timeframe to stretch and strengthen my hips, back, and shoulders?

43F here. Just started working out again after a long time. My left hip is very tight due to a decade of sitting wrong and just leaning to the left in general. My left leg is slightly rotated internally and my left knee is a bit knocked. I need to open up my left side more as well as strengthen my glutes on that side! Since this is about at least 14 years of a bad habit, it will take lots of time to correct and adjust, but I am willing to do it.😤

Any suggestions for opening up hips?

Thanks

I keep seeing people talk about full hour long mobility routines and honestly that's just not realistic for me right now. Between work and everything else, I'm lucky if I can carve out 10 minutes in the morning before things get hectic.

My main issues are tight hips and a stiff lower back, probably from sitting at a desk most of the day I dont need to become some yoga guru, I just want to feel less like a rusty hinge when I get up in the morning.

I've tried looking up routines on YouTube but every video is either 45 minutes long or assumes you already know what you're doing. I just want the bare minimum that actually moves the needle.

So for people who have actually improved their mobility without going all in, what are the best exercises for mobility that fit into a short window? Like what would you actually prioritize if you only had time for 3-4 movements?

I jog 3-5 times weekly around 30 minutes to 1 hour long session.

I dislike the idea that I need to stretch 30 minutes after every session.

Realistically, how long and frequently should I stretch if I want to prevent injury from running and everyday movement? Do guys have any websites I can read on this or could recommend some stretches? This would be very helpful thanks!

Downloaded the moongrade app during a week where my anxiety was quietly running at a peak on everything in my background. I’m 20F, and lately my anxiety has been showing up as overthinking texts, and waking up already stressed because of the same situation overthinking and after all I felt adrenaline situations for no reasons. Not all days were like this, but it was frustrating and I had to do something.

Accidentally found the app with the help of GPT during another bad peak. I've been into astrology (horoscopes mostly) for more or less half of my life. Never tried the broad and personalised astrology specte, but it became my routine by force at the beginning and then I simply loved it. Now I usually open it before bed to have a calm sleep at night and in the morning for a good day ahead. I read the daily horoscope, check the affirmation, and sometimes pull a tarot card. I don’t take the tarot readings as predictions, more like reflection prompts that help me understand what I’m feeling.

The biggest benefit is that moongrade gave me a calm space to pause and think that there are other scenarios for my sitautions. It didn’t magically fix my anxiety, but it helped me feel more grounded, connected to myself and see things more widely.

i have been dealing with tight hips and stiff shoulders for years from sitting at a desk all day and it is starting to affect how i move in daily life. simple things like reaching overhead or bending down feel restricted and i want to improve my range of motion before it gets worse.

i am thinking of trying pilates at home and came across home pilates reformers as a good option for consistent practice. what experiences have you had with reformer pilates for mobility? which exercises helped the most with hips and shoulders? any tips for beginners starting at home?