Mobility? Isn't that just stretching?
The amount of times I have heard this exact question, or some form of it, is more than I care to attempt and count. But here, I will answer it once again to hopefully be able to clear up some misconceptions on the subjects.
Allow me get a little english teacher on you for a second, let's start with the word itself. Mobility: the root word "mobile" is the ability to move and do so efficiently, therefore mobility is simply the ability to move efficiently. Looking at the root's definition alone should tell you mobility is more than just some static stretching. Although stretching is a part of mobility, it is not the whole story.
Mobility requires muscles to be in optimal relation to each other, muscle fibers to be free to achieve this relation and muscles be able to move the joints through its full range. Starting from the top of this list with optimal muscle length-tension relations, the most common way of achieving this is through static stretching but, there are other options.
A less common option in the strength world is yoga, yeah I said it. Yoga is pretty much the most direct representation of what good mobility is, in order to be succesful in yoga you need to be able to move your body through its intended range of motion and maintain proper posture and breathing techniques. To achieve this, muscles need to be at the proper length and need to have nothing impinging them from getting to this length. Now this is where we get to our next step in the process.
During a workout, muscles will tear and during the repair process, after a workout, the body responds by rebuilding the muscle tissue. In the repair of these tissues the muscle fibers form knots or adhesions on them that prevent the muscle from fully lengthening into the proper position. Now how do we fix this you ask? Well, myofascial release is your answer, by applying pressure to these adhesions in the muscle fibers release the tension in the muscles and the muscle is then able to be stretched properly. You may have heard of this approach by now, and if so would know that a foam roller is the most common way to get this done. But the body has many contours that a foam roller is not suited to reach; some suggestions on other tools to look into would be a lacross ball, a hard med ball, or even a kettlebell can all be used for myofascial release on different areas of the body.
The final key to mobility (the ability of the muscles to move the joints through their intended range of motion) is achieved with muscle strength and core stability. For obvious reasons you need to have the muscle strength to move in order to be mobile, and you need to be able to stabilize your core in order to get into proper positions. Even in yoga you need to be able to trigger opposing muscles in order to optimize movements and increase the stretching effect of them. Each of these factors all play a key roll in your mobility. So to answer your question plainly, no it is not just stretching, if only it was that easy. Mobility requires the consideration of all of the above attributes and can not always be accomplished with only simple stretchinig.
Thanks for reading, and stay mobile.
Jacob W.