Joe Yoon notices it even in the middle of a conversation – a subtle tightening in his back, the instinct to shift in a chair, the small signals the body sends when it has not been moved enough.
The sensations are easy to ignore. But for a mobility expert like Yoon, it is exactly the kind of thing that reveals a much bigger truth about how we age.
“Even sitting here doing this interview, my back starts to get stiff and I shift around,” says Yoon, 39, over Zoom from his home in Charlotte, in the US state of North Carolina. “When people start noticing those feelings, they begin searching for solutions.”
That search, increasingly, is happening later in life – often when stiffness, discomfort and limited movement begin to interfere with everyday activities. And by then, Yoon says, many people are already playing catch-up.
Mobility – the ability of joints and muscles to move freely through their full range – is one of the most overlooked components of fitness. While strength training and cardiovascular exercise dominate most routines, mobility is often treated as an afterthought.
Yoon sees that as a common mistake, particularly when it comes to ageing well.
“It is underrated,” he says. “People treat it like a side dish. But it shouldn’t compete with strength training – it complements it.”