Mobility

Are you spending enough time working out those little bumps and lumps appearing all over your body? Do you feel tighter as a result of your increased training? Well it's maybe time you had yourself a little tune up.  Invest in a good sports massage and make sure you stretch and work on your mobility.  Use the foam rollers or just get hands on and get that tension released.  There are a wealth of good videos on YouTube dealing with mobility.  There is no use coming into training all the time being tight and saying you can't operate in a specific range of motion. You need to work on that like everything else. It may seem like a small thing, but over time it will begin to have a serious impact on your movement patterns. 

Every day is a school day, and when you gain control of one thing there will be another thing to work on and refine.  It's never ending, but that is what keeps life interesting. Never be afraid to take the next step along the learning curve and push yourself that little bit further. 

Help yourself

Mobility, stretching and recovery should be as much a part of your training as the actual physical side of things.  If you are training, and as a result of muscle gains, you are losing mobility then you need to look at what you are doing.  Get working on mobility before and after a workout and throughout the day.  It only takes second to move a joint through its range of motion. Even sitting at a desk this can be done. There is no excuse. 

If you crave a massage as your muscles are sore and lumpy then get stretching.  That’s all a massage is - simply smoothing out the bumps with pressure. Most of us would rather have a massage I’m sure, but you can keep yourself ticking over with some basic stretches.  Remember, you don’t want to stretch the muscles too much before a dynamic workout as you want them ready to respond to some fast work, not to be all sleepy and lax.  

If you're training like a beast, got the mobility, stretching and diet sorted and you don’t see any gains then the next stop would be to look at your rest pattern.  How many hours do you sleep?  Do you keep the same sleep pattern and what is your training schedule like?  Maybe slot in a few more rest days now and then to come back stronger. Remember, unless you have a full time coach then you are responsible for all this stuff so take note and take charge.