Tools We Use At Motive Training

At Motive Training, we’re committed to providing clients with more than just workouts—we equip them with the tools and systems they need to succeed. Our personal training programs and KINSTRETCH classes are designed to help people move better, improve joint health, and stay pain-free in the long run.

We integrate specific tools into our sessions to reinforce key principles, such as posture, stability, and control. From mobility sticks to yoga blocks, each tool is carefully selected to enhance the way your body moves and feels—not just during training, but in everyday life. Below, we’ll walk through some of the tools we use and explain how they support your progress, both in the gym and at home.

A Closer Look at the Tools That Power Our Mobility and Strength Programs

Yoga Toes

Yoga Toes are one of the more unique tools we use at Motive Training—and they’re a game-changer for foot health. By gently spreading the toes, they help correct alignment, improve flexibility through the smaller foot muscles, and restore function to an area most people neglect.

Foot health plays a massive role in overall movement quality. Your feet absorb impact, provide stability, and maintain balance during nearly every standing exercise. When they’re stiff, weak, or misaligned, problems tend to show up elsewhere—knees, hips, or even the spine. That’s why we use tools like Yoga Toes to address the root of the issue.

Clients dealing with plantar fasciitis, arch collapse, or chronic foot pain benefit from incorporating toe spacers into their routine. Used consistently, they can help restore the foot’s natural shape, improve the function of the arch, and reduce compensation patterns that lead to injury.

Healthy feet create a strong foundation for everything else. Yoga Toes may seem small, but they play a big role in helping our clients move better from the ground up.

Yoga Blocks

Yoga blocks are a foundational tool at Motive Training. We use them across mobility work, strength training, and stretching sessions to improve control, enhance positioning, and increase confidence in challenging movements.

They provide structure when clients need support—helping maintain alignment, reduce compensation, and build awareness during difficult positions. Blocks are especially useful during deep mobility drills and stretching routines, where they allow clients to hold positions longer and with better form.

For those with limited flexibility, yoga blocks act as an extension of the body. They make difficult positions more accessible without compromising intent. This gives clients the chance to improve mobility gradually while staying in control of the movement. Over time, that consistent exposure leads to greater range, balance, and joint strength.

Blocks also play a role in strength development. In movements like elevated push-ups or long-duration isometric holds, they help us set the right height, dial in position, and keep clients focused on the right muscular output. It’s not just about support—it’s about precision.

We use yoga blocks to meet people where they are and help them go further. They might seem like a basic tool, but in the right hands, they make a huge impact on how the body moves and performs.

Mobility Sticks

Mobility sticks are a staple at Motive Training. We use them to improve joint control, reinforce proper positioning, and build full-body strength in a way that’s both scalable and effective. From shoulder dislocates to thoracic spine drills and hip openers, these tools help us target tight, underused areas that get neglected in traditional training.

We recommend two primary options depending on your experience level and training needs:

• Premium Mobility Sticks: Built from high-quality, flexible material, these sticks are made to bend under tension. That bend creates resistance, which activates deeper stabilizers and increases the intensity of drills. They’re ideal for advanced users working on strength-based mobility, active stretching, or full-body control.
• Budget-Friendly Mobility Sticks: A great starting point for clients new to mobility work. These sticks are sturdy, simple, and effective for improving joint range, enhancing posture, and learning the basics of controlled movement without a large investment.

Mobility stick training is especially useful for addressing stiffness in the shoulders, hips, and upper back—areas that tend to lock up from too much sitting or repetitive movement. Incorporating these drills into your routine helps improve neuromuscular control, increase usable range of motion, and reduce the risk of injury through better movement efficiency.

They’re easy to underestimate but hard to replace. When used with purpose, mobility sticks can completely change how your body moves and feels.

Yoga Wedges & Slant Boards

At Motive Training, we often use yoga wedges to improve ankle mobility and reduce wrist strain, especially during KINSTRETCH classes. These wedges are simple yet effective tools that support better positioning in movements such as squats, push-ups, and planks.

When placed under the heels during squats, yoga wedges help clients achieve more depth and maintain proper alignment, especially when ankle dorsiflexion is limited. They also ease tension on the wrists by providing a gentle incline during upper body movements, allowing for more comfort and better technique. For a small investment, they offer a lot of value.

We also use slant boards in our programming—especially when the focus shifts to more precise ankle mobility work. Compared to yoga wedges, slant boards are stiffer and heavier, offering a consistent angle that can be adjusted for progressive loading. Their rigid surface provides more control during drills like loaded calf stretches or squat variations focused on ankle improvement.

Here’s how we typically differentiate:

• Yoga wedges are ideal for general mobility training. They’re portable, lightweight, and support both ankle and wrist comfort. For clients just getting started or needing multi-use options, they’re a smart, cost-effective tool.
• Slant boards are better suited for targeted ankle mobility training. When we need more structure and stability—especially for drills aimed at improving dorsiflexion—slant boards deliver the precision needed to create lasting change.

Both tools are useful. The key is using the right one at the right time based on the client’s needs. In many cases, we start with yoga wedges and progress to slant boards as training becomes more specific. Either way, the goal is the same: create better movement from the ground up.

Medicine Balls

Medicine balls are a versatile tool to enhance mobility and movement quality. We incorporate them into our routines to assist with knee, hip, and spine stretches, providing dynamic resistance that helps clients achieve a fuller range of motion. When used during stretching exercises, the medicine ball adds a functional load that challenges the body to stabilize and align properly, ensuring that each stretch is effective and contributes to improved joint health.

In our KINSTRETCH classes, medicine balls are particularly valuable for training Spine CARs. By integrating the ball into these controlled articular rotations, clients develop a better awareness of their spinal movement while reinforcing proper alignment throughout the entire range of motion. This focused approach helps maintain spinal integrity and builds resilience and coordination in the muscles surrounding the spine.

Additionally, using medicine balls during knee and hip stretches encourages a natural flow of movement and supports the body in achieving deeper, more controlled stretches. The added weight of the ball serves as both a gentle resistance and a proprioceptive cue, allowing clients to feel the correct muscle engagement and joint positioning.

Overall, medicine balls contribute to a more dynamic and integrated training session by combining elements of strength, balance, and flexibility. They are an essential part of our toolkit for helping clients move with purpose, ensuring that every movement—whether a stretch or a functional rotation—enhances their overall mobility and stability.

Lacrosse Balls Or Yoga Tune-Up Balls

Lacrosse balls and Yoga Tune-Up Balls are tools we use for self-myofascial release, a technique used to alleviate muscle tension and improve tissue quality. These tools are highly effective for breaking up adhesions and improving the mobility of the soft tissues. Our clients often use them to work on tight areas, such as the back, glutes, calves, and shoulders, as part of their personalized exercise prescription. They’re compact, easy to use, and an excellent tool for maintaining mobility and easing muscle soreness.

Self-myofascial release helps improve blood flow to the muscles and reduces tension, which can be especially beneficial for individuals dealing with chronic pain, muscle tightness, or joint stiffness. Regularly using lacrosse balls or Yoga Tune-Up Balls can help clients recover faster from intense workouts and maintain better joint health, ultimately contributing to better performance and reduced risk of injury. We often guide clients on specific trigger points to target, depending on their unique needs and areas of tension.

These tools are used for recovery and as part of our warm-up routines to prepare the body for movement. Clients can improve their range of motion and activate key muscle groups more effectively by using a lacrosse ball to release tension in tight areas before starting a workout. This helps them get more out of their workouts, improving both performance and safety.

Yoga Straps

Yoga straps are a fundamental tool we use at Motive Training to support flexibility, joint mobility, and end-range control. They help clients access deeper positions, hold stretches more effectively, and stay aligned through the entire range of motion.

Straps are handy during KINSTRETCH classes, where we use them to add control and assistance in movements that challenge mobility. For clients working through tightness, recovering from injury, or dealing with general stiffness, yoga straps provide a safe way to explore and expand range without forcing it.

We regularly use straps for hamstring, hip, and shoulder-focused mobility work. They make it easier to stay in a position longer and with more precision, allowing the body to adapt gradually. That added support leads to better outcomes, enabling a more usable range, stronger joints, and greater awareness of how the body is moving.

Straps also play a role in end-range strength work. By creating tension in lengthened positions, we can reinforce joint stability and control at angles that are typically hard to train. Over time, this leads to more resilient joints and smoother, more coordinated movement patterns.

Yoga straps are lightweight, durable, and incredibly effective when used with intent. They’re one of the simplest ways to improve flexibility and build better movement, no matter where someone is starting from.

Superbands

Superbands are versatile resistance bands used for strength training and stretching. They help provide additional resistance for bodyweight exercises, improving power and conditioning. Superbands are also commonly used to assist with pull-ups, support clients who are building upper body strength and work towards performing unassisted pull-ups.

Superbands are also excellent for rehabilitative work, offering a low-impact way to strengthen muscles and maintain stability. The bands can target specific muscle groups, such as the glutes, shoulders, and core, in a challenging and supportive way. They are ideal for banded squats, glute bridges, and shoulder external rotations, which help build strength and stability while minimizing joint stress.

In both personal training and group KINSTRETCH sessions, superbands add resistance to stretches, helping clients develop strength at their end ranges of motion. This approach is crucial for improving joint health and preventing injuries, as it ensures that clients are flexible and strong throughout their entire range of motion. Superbands are used to help clients progress toward their fitness goals, whether they are working on strength, mobility, or a combination of both.

RMT® Rope

The RMT Rope is a dynamic fitness tool that enhances strength, coordination, and mobility through rotational movement training. With its weighted, flexible design, it allows users to perform swinging and rotational exercises that challenge the body’s ability to generate and control power. These movements improve athletic performance and build functional strength and joint stability, making the RMT Rope a versatile addition to any fitness program, whether it’s in a gym, a personal training session, or a tailored mobility program.

At Motive Training, the RMT Rope plays a crucial role in improving movement patterns, addressing imbalances, and developing overall resilience. By incorporating rotational and fluid motions, the rope encourages better coordination and control across multiple planes of movement. This approach, unique to the RMT Rope, helps clients strengthen their core, improve joint health, and reduce pain, all while promoting efficient, natural movement patterns.

The RMT Rope is particularly effective for enhancing mobility and functional strength, targeting areas of the body often overlooked in traditional training. By integrating it into workouts, clients experience improved range of motion, better posture, and a stronger connection between their body’s movements. Whether used in personal training sessions or as part of a tailored mobility program, the RMT Rope provides a fun, challenging, and highly effective way to support fitness and health goals, instilling confidence in its users.

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Vivobarefoot Shoes

At Motive Training, we emphasize strong foundations, and that starts at the feet. We recommend Vivobarefoot shoes because they support natural movement in a way traditional footwear simply doesn’t. Most shoes today compress the toes, restrict motion, and weaken the small, stabilizing muscles in the feet. Over time, this leads to poor alignment, reduced sensory input, and compensations that manifest throughout the body.

Vivobarefoot shoes are designed differently. With a wide toe box, minimal cushioning, and thin, flexible soles, they allow the foot to move, bend, and respond the way it was built to. That freedom helps strengthen the arch, improve balance, and restore natural gait mechanics—something we see carry over into strength training, KINSTRETCH classes, and everyday life.

We’ve seen firsthand how switching to barefoot-style shoes improves foot strength, ankle stability, and even posture. The increased sensory feedback makes it easier for clients to feel grounded, stay centered, and move with more intention. For clients dealing with pain or seeking to improve their movement, reconnecting with the floor can often make all the difference.

This isn’t about a brand or a trend—it’s about choosing footwear that supports how the body is supposed to function. Vivobarefoot aligns with our philosophy of training smarter, addressing the root of dysfunction, and building a system that holds up under load.

If you’re serious about improving how you move, don’t ignore your feet. Changing what’s on them might be the simplest way to start.

Also, don’t forget to read our in-depth article on barefoot shoes and barefoot training, Here.

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How These Tools Support Your Progress

At Motive Training, we don’t add tools into a workout just to make things interesting. We use them with purpose—to help you move better, build joint strength, and stay in control of your body through every phase of training.

Built for Real-World Movement

Tools like mobility sticks, yoga blocks, lacrosse balls, and straps show up across all of our training systems. In one-on-one personal training, we use them to reinforce joint positioning, layer resistance into mobility drills, and help you build strength at the outer edges of your range of motion.

You’ll also see these tools used in our KINSTRETCH classes, where they play a key role in helping you create tension, explore new movement options, and improve how your joints function in space. It’s not just a workout—it’s an education in how to move better and move with purpose.

Adaptable, Effective, and Scalable

If you’re dealing with pain or stiffness, the right tools can bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to go. They allow us to modify exercises without losing intensity, create safe and effective regressions, and progress your program when the time is right.

The best part? These tools aren’t limited to the gym. With KINSTRETCH Online, you’ll learn how to use these same tools in your own space, on your own time. We’ll show you how to get real results with simple, intentional movements using what you already have.

Tools That Keep You Accountable

Progress doesn’t just happen in a training session. It happens when you take ownership of your movement outside of it. We teach clients how to use tools at home to reinforce what they’re learning—building habits that improve mobility, posture, and overall function over time.

From isometric holds using a yoga block to joint training with a mobility stick, the equipment we use isn’t there to make exercises look fancy. It’s there to make them more effective.

The Tools Are a System—Not a Shortcut

Using the right tools helps you connect with your body in a way traditional fitness often overlooks. You start to feel what’s working, what’s not, and where you need to improve. That kind of awareness drives lasting change. And once you have it, you carry it into everything—lifting, running, walking, and just existing in your body with more ease.

At Motive Training, our mission is simple: help you move with purpose. The tools we use are part of that system. They support your progress in the gym and give you the power to keep building momentum at home.

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