This 4-Week Mobility Challenge Eases Joint Pain From Neck to Ankles

a rectangular graphic of the 4-week mobility challenge calendar showing floor-based mobility workouts on wednesdays and saturdays, kneeling and seated mobility workouts on thursdays and mondays, standing mobility workouts on fridays and tuesdays, and rest days on saturdays
Move all your major joints through their full range of motion with this four-week mobility challenge.
Image Credit: Getty Images/LIVESTRONG.com Creative

Healthy habits are built one day at a time. Our monthly fitness challenges can help you stay on track all year long.

There's more to mobility than the 3 minutes you're used to stretching before or after your workouts — really!

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Stretching primarily targets your muscles to improve flexibility. Mobility focuses on moving your joints through their full range of motion. That's essential to managing everyday tasks more easily and without pain, especially as we age.

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Maybe for you it's a twinge in your lower back, an ache in your shoulders or pain in your neck, knees or ankles. No matter where you feel a hint of discomfort, prioritizing mobility can help relieve tightness and tension.

That's why we created our 4-Week Mobility Challenge with Lore McSpadden-Walker, CPT, founder of Positive Force Movement. All you need is your body (and a yoga mat, if you'd like) to start feeling better.

How the 4-Week Mobility Challenge Works

We're launching this challenge on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, but you can start it any time you like — either as a standalone practice or in addition to your regular workouts.

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Each week, you'll repeat three different mobility workouts: one with floor-based moves, the second with kneeling and seated moves and the third with standing moves.

Here's your weekly schedule:

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The Challenge Calendar

Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.com

Get a printer-friendly version of the challenge calendar here.​

Tip

How long you do each exercise depends on what feels good for you. "I tend to not prescribe how long a person should stay in each move: There are so many variables in regards to that," McSpadden-Walker says.

"Instead, I tend to encourage people to stay mindful and curious while they do each movement, and move on to the next one when their body requests a change."

How to Join the Mobility Challenge

1. Print and/or Save Your Challenge Calendar

Print out the calendar above or save it to your phone and use it each day to help you stay on track. Do the workout listed, then check off each day as you complete it.

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Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.com Creative

Our community of more than 57,000 members is here to support and motivate you through this challenge. Tell the group how the day's routine went, post photos or videos of your workouts or share your favorite mobility-related meme or motivational quote.

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3. Start Your Mobility Routines

On Day 1, start with the Floor-Based Mobility moves. Check out the links below for details on each of the three workouts:

4. Enjoy Your Rest Days

Every Saturday, you'll have a rest day. Even though mobility is low-intensity and low-impact, you're still applying just a bit of stress and stretch to your joints and muscles, so you want to give them a chance to recover. Plus, it's a nice mental break, too!

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You can take the day off from exercise entirely if that's what your body needs, or you can try something active but low-intensity like swimming, yoga, tai chi or walking.

Check out these ideas for how to spend your rest days:‌

5. Celebrate Your Success

You made it to the end of the 4-Week Mobility Challenge! Take some time to appreciate that accomplishment — and let us know how it went in our Challenge Facebook Group.

​When you're ready, keep your momentum going with another challenge, such as:

You can do any of our challenges on your own whenever you want, or you can visit our Challenges page to see what we have planned for the full year.

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