Now, before the flexibility fanatics come at me with their foam rollers, let's get one thing straight: ALL joint mobility matters. But in my years as a movement specialist working with thousands of patients over the years, I've uncovered a secret. Some joints are the VIPs of the mobility world, and when they get stiff, they can significantly limit your ability to perform and move well.
So let's dive in to the top 5 joints that can limit your performance when stiff, and an exercise to help improve your mobility at each.
5. Neck Stiffness
Limited neck rotation makes it hard to scan your environment. The most common issue that people have with stiff neck rotation is checking their blind spot while driving. Usually, a stiff neck forces you to “borrow” mobility from other parts of the spine, which can cause some secondary problems in the upper or even lower back. If you play a contact sport and your neck rotation is limited, you may be at more risk of getting hit by a person, ball, puck, stick, etc. if you can’t see it coming.
4. Knee Stiffness
This doesn’t often happen unless you have had an injury or surgery to your knee. However, even a 5 degree loss of knee extension can cause big changes in how you walk and run. Additionally, lacking knee extension can cause or contribute to weakness of the quad muscle which is responsible for extending the knee, which is why it’s so important for people who have had knee surgery to restore knee extension mobility as soon as possible so that they can more quickly restore their quad strength.
3. Hip Stiffness
Hip mobility in general is very important, but extension has a very direct impact on how you walk. As you take a stride, your hip is supposed to extend on your back leg. This can happen for a multitude of reasons including tightness in the hip flexors, stiffness in the hip joint, limited hip internal rotation mobility, or even pain/stiffness in other joints in the lower leg. If the hip can’t extend, then usually you have to borrow motion from your pelvis and spine, which I frequently see contribute to low back pain.
2. Big Toe Stiffness
This one may come as a surprise, but big toe mobility is so important to your ability to move well. When you walk, the majority of your push off force should be through the big toe joint. This is because it was designed to take on that load; its bones are the largest and most dense of the long bones of the foot (metatarsals). When you are lacking big toe extension, often the smaller toes take the brunt of the force of pushing off, and this can cause pain and problems in the long bones of the foot.
Stiffness in the big toe can have a ripple effect up the leg as you walk. When you can’t extend your big toe, you’re more likely to roll over your little toes, which changes the position of your whole leg all the way up to your hip. Over time, this can change the way that you walk and contribute to stiffness in the hip joint. Big toe problems and hip problems often go together.
1. Ankle Stiffness
Ankle stiffness, especially into dorsiflexion (toes up towards your nose), impacts so many things! Loss of ankle dorsiflexion can cause early heel rise when walking which can lead to lower leg injuries like achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis and can alter your movement mechanics all the way up to your spine, which can lead to low back pain. (1, 2) Decreased ankle dorsiflexion truly has a ripple effect all the way up the kinetic chain, so even modest improvements in this mobility can be very beneficial to your overall musculoskeletal health.
What To Do About Joint Stiffness
...So how did you do? Did you find any areas of stiffness? Don't worry! Restoring mobility is one of our specialties, and could be the secret to kicking your lingering pain to the curb.
If you're local to Boston's Back Bay area and are dealing with some joint stiffness, we'd love to help! Book a free discovery call to chat with a therapist today.
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Disclaimer: The information in our blog posts is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before making decisions related to your health. Use our content at your own risk.
Sources
Brantingham JW, Lee Gilbert J, Shaik J, Globe G. Sagittal plane blockage of the foot, ankle and hallux and foot alignment-prevalence and association with low back pain. J Chiropr Med. 2006;5(4):123-127. doi:10.1016/S0899-3467(07)60144-X
Riddle DL, Pulisic M, Pidcoe P, Johnson RE. Risk factors for Plantar fasciitis: a matched case-control study [published correction appears in J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2003 Jul;85-A(7):1338]. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2003;85(5):872-877. doi:10.2106/00004623-200305000-00015
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