Get Moving
Get Moving
By Shane Sauer
Think back over the years. At what time did you feel like you were at your best?
Imagine what life would be like now if you could still move like you did then.
Would you feel safer? Would you be more active? Would you have more fun?
Your ability to move plays a big role in what you choose to do and not to do. But do you recognize that it works the other way too?!
Movement is a skill. And like all skills, it can be trained or it can be neglected. Training will maintain your ability and promote improvement. Neglect will cause regression.
These rules apply in all phases of life. The only thing that changes is the amount of training or neglect needed to alter your movement abilities.
If you aren’t currently moving like you used to, there could be all types of reasons why. Maybe it was an injury that slowed you down. Perhaps, the hustle and bustle of life got in your way.
No matter the reason, it’s never too late to get back to training and undo the neglect!
The trick to improving your movement skill is to STOP doing the same thing you always do. You need to go back to the fundamentals for movements you do all the time and begin exploring movements that you haven’t been doing.
To help you get started, here are some examples:
Working on your fundamentals can be achieved with some basic joint mobility. Your brain creates habitual movement patterns. The effectiveness of these patterns is defined by the mobility of the individual joints. By working on your joints individually, you’ll provide your brain with more options and create better-quality movement. This warm-up will get you started!
If you’re like most people, I bet you spend a lot of time sitting in the car, at your desk, or on the couch. When this happens, your hips get tight. Use this movement sequence to work them in new ways. It has a second challenge in it too; movement you may not do much of anymore.
If you believe you could benefit from improved movement, give these a try and let me know how they go for you.
As good as these examples are, there is so much more than can be done to improve your movement. So when you need more guidance, consider a movement screen at MATRIX to identify what you need the most.