The 5-Minute Mobility Routine That Prevents Most Gym Injuries

Dr. Andreo Spina — creator of Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) and director of Functional Anatomy Seminars — has identified three mobility deficits behind most gym injuries: restricted thoracic extension, limited hip flexion, and poor ankle dorsiflexion. A 2019 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (n=1,002 recreational athletes) found that a structured warm-up mobility routine reduced non-contact injuries by 30% over a 12-month period. Address these before you train and you eliminate the mechanical compensation patterns that lead to shoulders, knees, and lower backs breaking down.

Movement one: thoracic spine rotation. Quadruped position, one hand behind your head. Rotate toward the ceiling, hold two seconds, return. Eight reps per side. This opens the upper back and prevents the lumbar spine from compensating during pressing and overhead movements.

Movement two: the 90/90 hip switch. Sit on the floor with both legs at 90 degrees. Rotate from one side to the other without using your hands. Ten transitions. This targets internal and external hip rotation simultaneously — the two ranges most desk workers lose first.

Movement three: the deep squat hold. Sit in the bottom of a bodyweight squat for 30 seconds. Push your knees out with your elbows. This restores ankle dorsiflexion, hip flexion, and thoracic extension in one position. If you cannot get there, hold onto a doorframe or rack.

Movement four: wall slides. Stand with your back against a wall, arms in a goalpost position. Slide them overhead while maintaining contact with the wall. Ten reps. This corrects the anterior shoulder tilt that causes impingement under load.

Movement five: the world's greatest stretch. Lunge forward, plant the inside hand, rotate the outside hand to the ceiling, then push the hips up to stretch the hamstring. Four reps per side. It hits every major joint in one flowing sequence. Total time: five minutes. Do it every session.