Can You Pass These 5 Mobility Tests?

90% of people fail, so you’ll be in good company if you don’t, but you might also consider it a call to action to achieve these!

Mobility coach Alisa Zuravskaja shows us how:

Move it or lose it

Here are the “5” tests, though two of them (hamstrings and hips) being in two parts each means you might prefer to count them as 7:

• Shoulder mobility (the up-scratch test): reach one hand over your shoulder and the other behind your back, and try to touch your hands while keeping your lower back neutral. It’s a pass if your hands touch but fail if there is a gap, which indicates limited shoulder mobility or possible left–right asymmetry.
• Hamstring flexibility (passive flexibility): stand with your legs straight and fold forwards to touch the floor with your hands or palms, passing if you reach the floor and failing if you cannot.
• Hamstring mobility (active flexibility): lie on your back with both legs straight and lift one leg using only your muscles until it reaches about 90°, passing if the leg reaches vertical and failing if it cannot while remaining straight.
• Spinal rotation: sit tall in a chair with your hands clasped at chest height and rotate your torso to each side while keeping your hips facing forwards, passing if you reach roughly 90° of rotation each way and failing if your rotation is clearly restricted.
• Ankle mobility (knee-to-wall test): stand with your foot about 12cm from a wall and bend your knee forwards to touch the wall while keeping your heel flat, passing if your knee reaches the wall without your heel lifting.
• Hip extension: lie near the edge of a bed or bench while pulling one knee to your chest and letting the other leg relax downwards, passing if the lowered leg stays relaxed and down and failing if it lifts, straightens, or causes your lower back to engage.
• Hip rotation: sit on the floor with both knees bent and feet flat, then drop both knees together side to side while keeping your chest upright, passing if both sides move smoothly without leaning back or hip pinching.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!