Back
, ,

Unlocking Performance from the Ground Up: Shoulders, Hips, and Ankles Explained

Athlete stretching shoulders outdoors to promote joint mobility and injury prevention – Training Aspects approach to movement health

Big picture goals like getting stronger, faster, or leaner are usually the main focus when thinking about fitness or health goals. While these goals are valid, they often overlook the essential aspect of healthy, efficient function of the joints that make all movement possible. The shoulders, hips, and ankles play a vital role in both performance and everyday life, so paying attention to these areas can be the difference between moving well and constantly feeling stuck, stiff, or even in pain. 

Shoulders, hips, and ankles are responsible for transferring force, absorbing impact, and creating stability. If even one of these joints is limited, whether it’s due to poor mobility, lack of control, or overall weak, it can disrupt all movement. It doesn’t matter if it’s squatting, running, or quick changes of direction, whatever you do on the regular needs to be efficient and as risk of injury free as possible. When disruptions from injuries happen over and over again, the body starts to compensate, which can lead to imbalances, discomfort, and even worse injury over time.

To understand them better, let’s break it down:

  • Ankles: Support every step you take, help absorb shock and keep your balance. If your ankles are tight or unstable, it can affect your knees, hips, and even how your spine moves. Healthy ankles allow for better ground contact, smoother movement, stronger feet and improved athletic performance.

  • Hips: Where most power in movement is generated, your hips drive motion, support posture, and generate force for everything from walking to sprinting. Limited mobility or weakness here can impact your ability to transfer this power and can lead to compensation in the lower back or knees.

  • Shoulders: Shoulders are involved in countless actions like reaching, lifting, pushing, and pulling. But mobility without stability leads to strain. Healthy shoulders are supported by strong surrounding muscles, which help prevent pain and promote smooth, effective movement.

The health of these joints doesn’t just affect athletes or people in the gym, it affects everyone. When shoulders, hips, and ankles move well and are supported by strength and control, the rest of your body can perform better, stay safer, and recover more quickly. Take time to care for these joints for a smart, long term investment. It’s not about adding hours to your training but being intentional with how you move and understanding how these key areas work together. In my next upcoming articles, I’ll explore each joint, starting with the ankles, then moving to the hips and shoulders. I’ll give you practical tools and simple exercises to help you build lasting joint health.

 

#unleashthepotential

Written by:

Dan Aquino

BS, ASFA-CPT

 

Take action… Now!

Training Aspects Personal Training and Sports Performance locations:

Voorhees Flyers Training center.

Ice land hockey rink

The Hollydell ice arena, in the main building.

Recent posts
  • 3 Reasons Why Boxing Training is Therapeutic for Voorhees Men
    Boxing Performance, Cherry Hill sports performance, Fitness, Fitness, Sports performance, Uncategorized, Weight Loss
    3 Reasons Why Boxing Training is Therapeutic for Voorhees Men

    Training at TA Boxing is Therapeutic for Men In the fast paced, pressure filled world many men of New Jersey live in today, finding a healthy outlet should be a priority. Between careers, family responsibilities, and personal expectations, stress can silently build. At TA Boxing in Voorhees, NJ, we offer more than just a great…

  • Train with Purpose…Don’t Just Workout…Top 3 Reasons
    Cherry Hill sports performance, Hockey Performance, Personal trainer tips, Sports performance
    Train with Purpose…Don’t Just Workout…Top 3 Reasons

    Train with Purpose…Don’t Just Workout…Top 3 Ways There is a lot of noise out there! So it’s easy to get distracted by the cool social media exercises you saw or random online programs that promise results or maybe what your friends said they saw was best. The problem with randomly doing these things is exactly…

  • 6 Week Foundations of Athletic Development Training
    Assess Your Goals, Cherry Hill sports performance, Hockey Performance, Sports performance
    6 Week Foundations of Athletic Development Training

    The Training Aspects Approach to onboarding Athletes At our core, we’re dedicated to developing athletes. To ensure every athlete thrives in our small group training, we offer a tailored onboarding process. Athletes begin their journey with either 1:1 personalized coaching, semi-private sessions (up to three athletes), or our comprehensive 6-week Foundation Training program. This initial…

Subscribe to our newsletter
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.