How to move better: range you can use, not range you borrow.

Out of bed, the lower back aches, the knee says good morning and the hips click-clack through the first steps. The Tin Man, each morning. Sound familiar?

The body gets good at what you do most. Sit for hours and it gets good at sitting. Old injuries add guarding, and stress adds tension. Stiffness is often the body protecting range it doesn't trust you to control.

Both, in the right places. Stand with the feet straight, big toe down and arches lifted, close your eyes and feel. What pulls against the position is tight: stretch it. What shakes or can't hold is weak: strengthen it. Most people find both, and it's usually different on each side.

Then strengthen at the end of the range. A stretch you can't control won't last; the body takes it back. That's what borrowed range means.

Ten minutes, spread through the day:

• Morning: deep squat hold for 60 seconds, a dead hang for 20 to 30 seconds, calf raises with the big toe down.
• Midday: stand up, feet straight, squeeze the glutes, open the chest, walk for two minutes.
• Evening: half-kneeling hip flexor stretch, 90/90 hip switches, and some time sitting or kneeling on the floor.

For more on the hips, read hip mobility. For the neck and shoulders, read forward head posture.

Test it. The six benchmarks, from good to elite, are: the Big Toe Test and a deep squat; kneeling on the feet and a pistol squat; the splits and barefoot distance. Pick the one you can almost do and work toward it.

If you're starting from aches rather than stiffness, begin with how to fix my body. If you want to play faster, read how to become a better athlete.