Why we follow a pre- and post- exercise routine at Range of Motion.

January 17, 2020

Why we follow a pre- and post- exercise routine at Range of Motion.

Training at Range of Motion is about more than just ‘working out’.

It’s about more than just the exercise session.

Of course, the whole experience at Range of Motion is what makes it special. The people. The culture. The big picture.

But even the smaller picture is about more than just the exercise session.

Every time you come to Range of Motion to train, you follow a mini ‘journey’. A storyline that runs through your session.

It’s a storyline we’ve written to help you get the most out of your time with us. Because we know the help we can give to you is about more than just a workout.

We call this, the ‘Range of Motion Session Flow’. And it guides you through your visit.

And just like how your program is individualised to you (read: ‘Why we have an individualised approach to exercise at Range of Motion‘), the Session Flow is unique to every session you do, but it follows a familiar pattern. A series of steps that guide your journey.

The first step is ‘Move’.

In ‘Move’, you will complete dynamic movements to take your body through all the joint positions that are coming up in your session. This will begin to prepare your muscles and joints for the specific exercises you’ll be completing.

Then you’ll move on to ‘Pre- Mobilise’. Here, we’ll give you exercises to release any tight structures that might limit your movement quality. This will ensure you’re not limited by tightness and that you’ll be able to get in to healthy and efficient positions.

From here, step three is ‘Activate’, where you activate the muscles you’re about to use. This will ensure that your commonly underactive muscles are ‘turned on’ to create strong and safe movement.

After you’ve turned the muscles on, you’ll progress to ‘Build’, where you increase your heart rate and blood flow so you’re ready to go. This allows you to practice the techniques and progress the difficulty and intensity for the exact exercises you’ll be doing.

At this stage, and once you’ve planned your intent and goals for your session, you will complete the training session itself. The focus on the health of your body doesn’t end here though, as we talk about in ‘Why we prioritise movement quality at Range of Motion

Immediately upon finishing your session, you’ll go straight into the ‘Recover’ stage. This will help return blood from your muscles to your heart, return your blood chemistry to normal, return your joints to a ‘neutral’ position and ensure your body doesn’t immediately tighten up.

After a quick debrief with your Personal Coach (read: ‘Why we focus on one-on-one Personal Coaching at Range of Motion‘), you then go in to the final two stages of our Session Flow, ‘Stabilise’ and ‘Post- Mobilise’.

And this is where things get really specific to you! (read: ‘Why we have an individualised approach to exercise at Range of Motion‘).

You see, as you’re training, your Personal Coach will be analysing your movement, and looking for any faults which may give us clues to any underlying imbalances in your body. Basically, not only are the exercises we do with you great for your health and fitness, they’re also really valuable as a diagnostic tool. Learn more about this process by reading ‘Why we do a movement assessment during every session at Range of Motion‘.

Based on the faults, you’ll be given a small number of these ‘Stabilise’ and ‘Post- Mobilise’ drills to finish your session.

The ‘Stabilise’ drills addresses any issues and imbalances that were diagnosed by your training that are caused by weakness, underactivity, instability or a lack of motor control. This will create a long-term improvement in your movement quality and the health of your musculo-skeletal system.

On the other hand, the ‘Post- Mobilise’ drills will addresses any issues and imbalances that were diagnosed by your training that are caused by tightness or overactivity. This will create a long-term improvement in your movement quality and the health of your musculo-skeletal system.

Of course, this can all seem a bit overwhelming, but at Range of Motion we guide out clients through the process, and it soon becomes second nature.

This entire process allows us to focus on the big picture, beyond just exercise.

By following the ‘Range of Motion Session Flow’, we’re able to help you maximise your health, not just your fitness.

Dan Williams

Dan Williams

Founder/Director

Dan Williams is the Director of Range of Motion and leads a team of Exercise Physiologists, Sports Scientists, Physiotherapists and Coaches. He has a Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Health Science) and a Postgraduate Bachelor of Exercise Rehabilitation Science from The University of Western Australia, with minors in Biomechanics and Sport Psychology.

Our Most Recent Articles: