5 ‘Mobility’ Drills I Recommend Most Often
Clients ask me for stretches all the time.
What should I do for my hips?” “My shoulders always feel stiff. What should I stretch?” “My hamstrings are so tight. What do you recommend?”
And the answer is usually: it depends.
There isn’t one mobility drill that’s right for every joint, every person, or every situation. Your current range of motion, strength, injury history, goals, and the activity you’re preparing for all matter.
But there are certain movements I find myself recommending because they accomplish more than simply stretching one area.
I like when the exercise is the stretch, and the stretch is the exercise.
Instead of passively pulling yourself into more range, I prefer exercises that ask you to actively move into that range, control it, and use strength to come back out of it.
That’s one reason I like this type of mobility work as part of a warm-up. You aren’t just trying to feel looser. You’re moving through ranges you may actually use during your workout while also preparing your muscles and nervous system to work.
These five exercises aren’t automatically the right choice for everyone. They’re simply examples of movements I frequently use because they can combine mobility, strength, and preparation for activity.
For each one, I’ll break down:
Why I like it
What it helps with
How it can work as both mobility and part of your warm-up
1. Active rib-cage mobility
Why I like it
Most people think of mobility as something that happens at a joint like the hip or shoulder, but your rib cage needs to move too.
And the rib cage is a little different. You can massage the muscles around it or use a mobility tool on the surrounding tissues, but you can’t really get between the ribs and create the same movement that happens when the rib cage expands with a breath.
That’s one reason I like circumferential breathing.
Holding a dowel behind the body places the shoulders and chest in a more open position, while the breath encourages expansion through the front, sides, and back of the rib cage.
As you inhale, the ribs move and expand around the thorax, including where they articulate with the thoracic spine. Instead of simply pulling on the chest from the outside, you’re creating movement from the inside out.
In that sense, the breath becomes part of the mobility exercise.
What it helps with
This drill can help with rib-cage expansion, thoracic movement, breathing mechanics, and creating more space through the front of the chest.
It can also be useful before movements that require the rib cage and shoulder blade to work together, such as reaching or pressing overhead.
Mobility + warm-up
A few controlled breaths can start moving the rib cage and trunk before you ask them to do more demanding work.
Paired with the dowel position, you’re combining an open position through the chest and shoulders with active expansion from the breath.
That makes it a simple way to prepare for upper-body or overhead training without adding a separate stretching routine.
2. Deadlift
Why I like it
The deadlift may be one of the best examples of what I mean when I say the exercise is the stretch.
As you hinge, the hamstrings lengthen under load while controlling the movement. Then they help produce force as you return to standing.
You’re not just accessing range—you’re building strength in that range.
What it helps with
The deadlift can help train hip hinging, hamstring length under load, posterior-chain strength, and trunk control.
It can also be easily modified with changes in load, tempo, range, or a single-leg variation.
Mobility + warm-up
With a lighter load and controlled tempo, deadlifts are a simple way to explore hip range while preparing the hamstrings and glutes for training.
Later in the workout, the same movement can become a strength exercise simply by increasing the load or intensity.
3. Rainbow Medicine-Ball Slam
Why I like it
Most of us spend a lot of time moving forward and backward and much less time moving side to side.
The rainbow medicine-ball slam changes that.
The ball travels up and over the body in an arc while you shift or lunge laterally, so you’re moving through lateral range while also producing and absorbing force.
What it helps with
This exercise can help train lateral hip motion, inner- and outer-thigh movement, trunk movement, shoulder range, and some rotation. It also challenges your ability to control the transition from one side to the other.
Mobility + warm-up
Start with a lighter medicine ball and keep the movement smooth and controlled. As you warm up, you can gradually increase the speed and make the slam more powerful.
That lets the same exercise progress from mobility and movement prep into more athletic work
4. Cross-Body Split-Stance Cable Rotation
Why I like it
Rotation is another area where people often default to stretching.
But real-life movement and most sports require you to actively rotate and control that rotation.
A split-stance cable rotation lets you move toward and away from the cable under resistance while the hips, trunk, and front leg all have to work together.
With the cross-body load, the front tibia can start a little more vertical, which gives the foot room to pronate as you move into the position instead of starting already collapsed into it.
What it helps with
This exercise can help train thoracic rotation, hip rotation, trunk control, split-stance stability, foot and ankle control, and coordination between the upper and lower body.
For someone who drops into pronation very quickly, it can also be a useful way to practice controlling that motion rather than trying to eliminate it.
The cable height and direction can be changed depending on the movement or activity you’re preparing for.
Mobility + warm-up
With lighter resistance, you can move slowly through the rotational range and let the foot, hip, trunk, and shoulders work together.
As you warm up, you can gradually increase resistance, speed, or both depending on the goal of the session.5. Single-Arm Landmine Press With Reach
5.Landmine Press
Why I like it
A lot of people who feel “tight” through the shoulders or chest immediately start stretching.
But sometimes the bigger question is whether the shoulder blade can actually move well on the rib cage.
The landmine press lets the scapula move as you press instead of keeping it pinned “down and back,” and the reach at the top encourages even more active scapular movement.
What it helps with
The landmine press can help train pressing strength, scapular upward rotation, posterior tilt, serratus involvement, reaching, and shoulder control.
Because the bar travels on an angle, it can also be a useful option for someone who doesn’t yet have comfortable full overhead motion.
Mobility + warm-up
Use a lighter load and controlled reps early in the workout so the shoulder blade can move freely as you press and reach.
Then you can gradually load the same pattern. That’s the part I care about: not just doing a corrective drill forever, but building enough control and strength to use the shoulder under load.
Mobility Doesn't Have to Be a Separate Workout
Mobility doesn’t always need to mean adding another 20 or 30 minutes of stretching to your day.
Sometimes it simply means choosing exercises that take you through the ranges you want to maintain or improve—and learning to control those positions with strength.
That doesn’t mean everyone should do these exact five exercises. Your mobility work should reflect what you can currently do, what actually feels limited, and what your activity requires.
Traditional mobility drills and static stretching can absolutely have a place. But the goal isn’t to collect endless stretches and corrective exercises.
The goal is to be able to use the range you have.
That’s why, whenever I can, I like the exercise to be the stretch—and the stretch to be the exercise. I’d use this version. It says the same thing with less repetition and keeps your strongest line at the end.
Want to Know Which Mobility Exercises Make Sense for You?
These five exercises are examples—not a universal mobility routine.
If you’re not sure what’s actually limiting your movement, or which exercises fit your goals, learn more about my training approach and how I assess mobility, strength, control, and tolerance before building a plan.
If you want to understand the difference between flexibility, mobility, strength, and tolerance, I also teach this framework in my
Move Better, Hurt Less workshop.