What Does a Latte Have to Do With Mobility?

Picture this...

You're at a coffee shop with a friend.

They order a triple-shot oat milk latte because regular milk is SO 2019.

Actually, apparently raw milk is the thing now?

Whatever. I'm getting off topic...

You grab your coffee, sit down and start catching up.

Then your friend leans forward and asks:

“Hey, what's your go-to for clients who come in complaining about back pain?”

You pause.

It's a simple question.

But your answer is going to tell them quite a bit about you as a coach.

What do you say?

Maybe it's:

"Foam roll it and stretch. That's what I usually have people do."

There's nothing inherently wrong with foam rolling or stretching. Both can have a place.

But that's not much of an answer.

So maybe you go the opposite direction:

"I typically guide them through thoracic and hip mobility sequences using autogenic inhibition while stabilizing the anterior and posterior core through PNF and neuromuscular activation techniques..."

Your friend stops sipping their latte.

But probably because they're wondering what the heck you just said.

Here's the thing I've learned after spending years in this industry:

Expertise isn't using bigger words.

It's understanding something well enough that you don't need them.

What Would an Expert Actually Say?

If someone asked me that question today, I'd probably start with another question.

“What's actually going on with the client?”

Where are they limited?

How do they move?

What movements bother them?

What happens at the hips?

How well is the thoracic spine moving?

What does their trunk control look like?

Is there something above or below the area that deserves attention?

And is what they're describing something we can appropriately address as fitness professionals, or something that needs to be evaluated by a healthcare professional?

Because “my back hurts” isn't enough information to prescribe an exercise.

And neither is “my back is tight.”

That's where expertise starts.

Not with having a favorite stretch.

With knowing what questions to ask next.

I Didn't Always Think This Way

Years ago, if a client complained about back pain, I'd throw out a few stretches, tell them to loosen up and hope for the best.

Sound familiar?

I wasn't a bad trainer.

I just didn't know what I didn't know.

And I think that's where a lot of fitness professionals get stuck.

You become good at programming strength.

You understand sets and reps.

You can coach a squat.

You know how to build a conditioning workout.

Then a client walks in and says:

“My back has really been bothering me.”

Suddenly the toolbox gets pretty small.

Foam roll.

Stretch.

Maybe throw in a bird dog.

See how it goes.

That's not because those are necessarily bad exercises.

It's because there isn't enough reasoning behind why we're choosing them.

Stop Looking for “The Back Pain Exercise”

One of the biggest changes in my own coaching was realizing that I didn't need another magic exercise.

I needed to understand movement better.

A client's back complaint might lead me to look at thoracic mobility.

Or hip mobility.

Or trunk stability.

Or breathing mechanics.

Or how they're controlling rotation.

Sometimes the area they're complaining about deserves direct attention.

Sometimes something else in the movement system is influencing what we're seeing.

And sometimes the right decision is to stop and refer them to an appropriate healthcare professional.

There isn't one “back pain exercise.”

There is a person in front of you who needs to be understood.

That's a much different way to coach.

Knowledge Changes the Conversation

Now imagine you're back at that coffee shop.

Your friend asks the same question:

“What's your go-to for clients with back pain?”

And instead of giving them one exercise or burying them in terminology, you say:

"I don't really have one go-to exercise. I want to see how they move first. Depending on what I'm seeing, I might work on hip or thoracic mobility, trunk control, breathing, or something more specific to the limitation. And if what they're describing is outside my scope, I'm referring them out."

Now your friend leans forward.

“Wait...what are you looking for?”

That's a conversation.

And more importantly, that's expertise.

You aren't trying to impress them with everything you know.

You're showing them that you have a process.

Your Clients Can Tell the Difference Too

This isn't only about conversations with other fitness professionals.

Clients feel the difference.

There's a big difference between:

"Your back is tight. Let's stretch it."

And:

"Here's what I'm noticing when you move. Your rotation is pretty limited in this direction, and you're getting very little movement through your thoracic spine. Let's work on that and then reassess."

One sounds like a guess.

The other gives the client a reason behind what you're doing.

That's important.

Because great coaching isn't simply delivering exercises.

It's being able to connect the dots between what you're seeing, what you're doing and why you're doing it.

The exercise matters. But understanding why you're using it matters too.

That's Why I Built The Mobility Recipe

This exact gap is a huge part of why I created The Mobility Recipe.

I didn't want fitness professionals to have to choose between generic stretching and trying to become physical therapists.

There's an enormous amount of valuable work we can do right in the middle, while staying firmly within our scope.

We can become better at assessing mobility.

We can understand how joints influence movement.

We can learn better mobility exercises and how to progress them.

We can improve muscle activation, stability and strength.

We can develop programming that gives those exercises structure instead of randomly throwing them at clients.

And we can become better at recognizing when something isn't ours to address.

That's why TMR isn't simply an exercise library.

It's education.

It's assessments.

It's carefully researched and developed exercises.

It's done-for-you programming.

And importantly, it's ongoing coaching.

Because I don't believe expertise is built by taking one certification, passing an exam and deciding you've arrived.

Expertise Is Built in the Questions

This is one of the reasons our weekly TMR coaching calls matter so much to me.

Coaches bring situations they're seeing with actual clients.

We talk through them.

What are you seeing?

What have you tried?

What does the assessment show?

Have you considered this exercise?

What happens if you change the position?

Could something else be influencing the movement?

Is this still within our scope?

Those conversations make coaches better.

And over time, something changes.

They stop asking:

“What's the exercise for this?”

And start asking:

“What am I seeing, and what would make sense to try?”

That's a much better question.

It's also the difference between memorizing exercises and understanding movement.

Experts Stand Out

I still believe what I wrote in the original version of this story years ago:

Most trainers play small. Experts stand out.

I just think my definition of expertise has evolved.

Expertise isn't sounding smarter than everyone else at the coffee shop.

It's not having the fanciest terminology.

And it's definitely not pretending we can diagnose or fix things outside our scope.

Expertise is having a deeper toolbox and knowing how to use it.

It's understanding movement well enough to make intelligent decisions.

It's continuing to learn when you don't know the answer.

And it's being able to explain what you're doing so clearly that the person sitting across from you understands why it matters.

So the next time somebody asks:

“What's your go-to for back pain?”

Maybe don't give them an exercise.

Ask them to tell you more.

Then take another sip of your latte.

That's probably where the more interesting conversation begins ;)

Build a Team of Mobility Experts

The Mobility Recipe gives your coaching team the education, assessments, carefully developed exercises, done-for-you programming, sales tools, marketing resources, implementation support, and ongoing weekly coaching to build mobility into your training business.

Whether you're bringing dedicated mobility training into your club for the first time or want to take what your team is already offering to the next level, let's talk about what The Mobility Recipe could look like inside your club.

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