Expert Tips to Stay Mobile & Strong as We Age

As a retired professional dancer and Pilates instructor who overcame an autoimmune disease that once caused chronic inflammation, debilitating pain, and restricted movement, I’ve learned a thing or two about maintaining a healthy body. Here are some of my most valuable tips for keeping your body strong, flexible, and pain-free.

Fascial Release Work

Fascial release techniques—like massage, foam rolling, Fascia Stretch Therapy™, and Rapid Release Therapy—help break up adhesions in the tissue, allowing muscles and surrounding structures to glide smoothly over one another. This fluid movement is essential for optimal flexibility and pain-free motion.

As we age, our bodies naturally stiffen without movement, making everyday movements—like getting up and down from the floor—more challenging. Muscle tightness can also come from other sources: past injuries, inactivity, overuse, poor posture, emotional stress, hydration, and nutrition. When muscles become thick and bound, they lose their full range of motion, impacting alignment, posture, joint health, mobility, strength, and balance—ultimately increasing the risk of injury. Overly tight muscles can also overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system, creating a vicious cycle of tension and stress.

One of the greatest benefits of foam rolling is how accessible it is. This powerful self-care practice can be done anytime, saving both time and money compared to frequent visits to massage therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. Incorporating fascial release into your routine is one of the most effective ways I’ve found to prevent and relieve aches and pains, keeping your body strong, mobile, and resilient.

Flexibility

Once you’ve released the “knots” or fascial adhesions in your tissues, it’s essential to restore your muscles’ potential for length and flexibility. Stretching alone may not fully address adhesions trapped in the tissue, limiting your muscles’ ability to reach their full range of motion. Tight muscles—connected to bones via tendons—pull on your skeleton, causing misalignment and decreasing joint space, which can lead to injury.

Maintaining flexibility becomes crucial for effortless movement as we age. Techniques like stretching, Yamuna Body Rolling®, and Fascia Stretch Therapy™are excellent ways I use to preserve flexibility and keep the body mobile and resilient.

Mobility

Mobility is the ability to move freely and easily. It’s about translating your flexibility into full-body, large-range movements—not just isolating individual body parts. The fascial system is a complex network of connective tissue that surrounds and penetrates every structure in your body—muscles, bones, organs, and nerves.

Tight fascia can disrupt bone alignment, create adhesions in organs, and pinch nerves, all of which hinder fluid movement and overall mobility.

For optimal function, all parts of the body need to work together in harmony, facilitating smooth, efficient movement.

Effective mobility practices I recommend include Pilates, yoga, dance and martial arts—anything that involves dynamic, full-body movement to help maintain peak form and vitality. Simple exercises like deep squats, lunges, the 90/90 stretch, and downward dog are also fantastic for improving mobility.

Strength Training

In addition to improving mobility, building strength within those expanded ranges of motion is essential. Flexibility alone isn’t enough—without the strength to support it, you risk injury. True functional movement isn’t about isolating muscles in the gym; it’s about engaging the entire body. To achieve this, combine mobility work with strength training.

Functional exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and push-ups are excellent choices, allowing you to progressively increase weight load over time. Pilates and yoga are also fantastic for blending strength and mobility seamlessly. A balanced body, where flexibility and strength work in harmony, is key to long-term vitality and mobility.

Be Well My Body Offers a Pilates for Longevity on demand weekly classes.  These classes work to maintain a strong and mobile body so you can remain pain-free as you age.

Taking care of your fascia and muscles isn’t just about avoiding potential pain—it’s about embracing a life full of freedom, strength, and ease of movement at every age.