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15-Minute Mobility Workout

By: Lindsey Bomgren, CPT | August 6, 2024

Increase range of motion, optimize athletic performance, and reduce risk of injury with this daily mobility workout. These are the best mobility exercises to include in your mobility training routine. Targeting tight hips, shoulders, inner and outer thighs, glutes, chest and back muscles.

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Mobility training is one of the most important things you can do to improve athletic performance, prevent injury, and move pain-free.

Mobility workouts are a key component of overall functional fitness.

Taking your joints through a full range of motion improves your ability to perform everyday movements, such as bending, lifting, reaching or twisting.

Adding daily mobility exercises to your routine can also improve your athletic performance in strength training and HIIT workouts. For example, better ankle mobility allows you to get deeper into your squats.

I suggest adding these exercises to your routine daily to improve mobility in the upper body, lower body and spine.

woman performing pyramid pose as part of at home mobility workout

15-Minute Mobility Workout

Release tight muscles, increase mobility and flexibility, reduce risk of injury, and get better range of motion during workouts with this guided mobility workout.

I suggest incorporating mobility workouts like this one to your home workout plan 1-2 times per week to protect and maintain healthy joints and muscles.

Workout Equipment:

No Equipment. Option to add a plyo box (or sub a bench/chair/couch).

Workout Instructions:

Follow along with the guided Mobility Workout on YouTube, led by certified personal trainer, Lindsey Bomgren. 

Your Workout Looks Like This:

  • Over 20 Mobility Exercises
  • Natural Flow (moving from one move to the next as you feel ready)

Note: I’ll cue this in the video, but it’s important to actively keep your body from tensing up as you hold each pose. Focus on breathing into each mobility exercise, and think about “releasing” the tension in each muscle group to avoid clenching up.

woman performing thread the needle as part of mobility workout

Prefer to Watch On YouTube?

youtube icon Mobility Workout

Workout Outline

  1. Spinal Mobility Sequence
  2. Shoulder Mobility Sequence
  3. Upper Back and Neck Mobility Sequence
  4. Hip Mobility Sequence
  5. Lower Body Mobility Sequence

5 Best Mobility Exercises

Shoulder Rotation

Targets: Deltoids (all three heads of the shoulder muscles), rotator cuff muscles, lower back and upper back.

If you sit at a desk all day and feel your shoulders rounding, this stretch is for you. A complete shoulder mobility exercise to increase range of motion and stability in the shoulder joint.

woman performing prone shoulder rotations as part of full body mobility workout

How To Do Shoulder Rotations

  1. Start lying on your belly, legs out long, elbows bent and fingers pressing gently into your head.
  2. Inhale as you lift the head and shoulders off the mat, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
  3. Extend your arms straight out to the sides, palms facing down.
  4. Then, rotate your palms to face the ceiling as you bend your elbows, bringing your hands to rest on your lower back.
  5. Reverse the movement, straightening your elbows to bring your palms back to form a “t” shape, flipping the palms (palms facing down), and bringing your fingers back to your head.
  6. With control, lower your chest to the ground, returning to starting position.

Modification: If lying on your belly isn’t comfortable, perform this exercise from a standing position.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation (T-Spine Rotation)

Targets: Upper back and middle back (thoracic spine), shoulders and core.

The thoracic spine (or t-spine) is located in the upper and middle part of the back. Thoracic spine mobility can reduce pain in the lower back, neck and shoulders.

woman performing quadruped tspine rotations as part of daily mobility workout

How To Quadruped Thoracic Rotations (T-Spine Rotations)

  1. Begin on your hands and knees in a quadruped position. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your knees should be under your hips.
  2. Place your left hand behind your head, gently pressing into your head with your fingertips. Keep your elbow pointing out to the side.
  3. Inhale to prepare. As you exhale, slowly rotate open your left elbow and shoulder, opening your left elbow up towards the ceiling. Gaze follows left elbow. Keep your hips even and stable. Rotate only as far as you can without straining or causing discomfort.
  4. Then, on an exhale, reverse the movement, bringing your left elbow down towards your right wrist.

Spiderman Lunges

Targets: Hips (abductors), hip flexors, groin, quads, glutes, hamstrings and low back.

One of the best hip mobility exercises to warm up for a workout. This dynamic stretch opens up the entire lower body.

woman performing a runners lunge to open up tight hips as part of mobility workout

How To Do Spiderman Lunges

  1. Start in a high plank position; shoulders stacked over wrists, core engaged. Pull your kneecaps up towards your belly, feet hip-width apart.
  2. Step your left leg forward, planting it outside of your left hand. Left knee bent, right leg straight.
  3. Exhale as you drop your hips slightly toward the ground, deepening the stretch.
  4. Inhale, stepping your foot back to center and returning to high plank starting position.
  5. Switch sides, this time stepping your right foot forward and planting it outside of your right hand. Hold for a few breaths, relaxing into the stretch.
  6. Continue this pattern, alternating sides with each step.

Modification: Drop your back knee to the ground if holding a high plank position feels too intense.

Shin Box Get-Up

Targets: The muscles around the hip joint — glutes, piriformis, psoas, hip flexors, hip abductors and hip adductors.

This is a great way to activate your glutes before starting your day. Strong, active glutes can help prevent lower back pain.

woman performing shin box get ups as part of mobility workout

How To Shin Box Get-Ups

  1. Start in a seated position, right leg in front of you, left leg behind you. Both knees bent at 90 degrees. Create some distance between your front right heel and your back left knee.
  2. Think about driving your right knee and left knee into the mat at the same time as you hold this stretch.
  3. Then, maintain a strong core and long spine as you squeeze your glutes to drive your hips up, coming to a kneeling position. Both knees are pressed into the ground.
  4. Slowly and with control, lower your hips to the mat, returning to a 90/90 position.
  5. Then switch sides, slowly rolling and rotating your knees so that your left shin is now parallel in front of your body, and your right leg is behind you. Both knees are still bent at 90 degrees.
  6. Perform another get up, squeezing your glutes to lift your hips off the mat, feeling a stretch through the front of your thighs.

Modification: If the get-up is too intense, stick with a 90/90 hip stretch.

Couch Stretch

Targets: Hips (specifically the hip flexors, which are the muscles in the front of your hip) and quads. 

woman performing a couch stretch as example of best mobility exercises

How To Do A Couch Stretch

  1. Start kneeling in front of a couch or bench.
  2. Place your left knee on the ground and your left foot against the base of the couch, shoelaces down. Right foot remains planted on the ground in front of the couch, right knee bent at 90 degrees.
  3. Inhale, raising your arms overhead. Aim to keep your hips square, creating a long neutral spine from head to tailbone.
  4. Exhale, opening up towards the right, gently rotating through your upper body as your hips remain in place. Hold for a few breaths.
  5. Then inhale, raising arms overhead and returning to starting position.

Modification: The more upright your torso is, the more intense this exercise is.

Mobility Workout FAQs

What Workouts Are Best for Mobility?

Yoga, and barre/pilates workouts are known for integrating flexibility and mobility work into the workout. These workouts focus on the small, stabilizing muscles surrounding the hip joints, knee joints, ankle joints, shoulder joints, wrist joints, and spine.

What’s the Difference Between Stretching and Mobility?

Stretching primarily targets muscle length and flexibility, while mobility exercises focus on joint health and functional movements. Mobility exercises often involve more dynamic movements that challenge the entire range of motion of a joint, while stretching can be more static (such as holds) and focused on a specific muscle or muscle group, such as upper body stretches or hip flexor stretches.

Does Mobility Count As A Workout?

Mobility, stretching and recovery are just as important as other forms of training. Your muscles require rest time between high intensity workouts or weight training in order to recover and grow stronger. Adding mobility workouts to your routine prevents injuries, reduces stress and can improve athletic performance within your workouts.

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2 comments

  1. Thank you so much for this mobility workout! I am absolutely in love with all you and your team do! Thank You!

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