Movement Matters

We are in an exciting time when it comes to healthcare here in the United States. There is currently a slow but steady shift in mindset happening where people are starting to see the importance of primary prevention of disease and illness to promote longevity and health span rather than fully relying on treatment of disease and illness after you have already been diagnosed. Unfortunately, if we rely on treatment after diagnosis alone, we are already way behind in the race. If we can all start thinking about how we want to feel and what we want to be able to do in the latter parts of our lives, we can start implementing practices now that will give us a much better chance of us actually reaching those goals. The earlier you start, the better chance you give yourself!

With this idea of health span and longevity in mind, we have to think about what practices we need to have now that will allow for this. While there are many healthy practices we should be implementing in our lives, the research shows that there is one thing that yields better results than any diet, drug, or modality when it comes to addressing all the body’s processes that can lead to longevity. Exercise and movement! Movement matters and should be a cornerstone in all our daily lives!

Many people realize that exercise and daily movement are healthy practices but I don’t think many people realize just how important it is. Our bodies are designed to move and when we don’t use our bodies for what they are designed to do, we end up loosing the ability to move efficiently over time. This loss of appropriate movement can lead to a variety of orthopedic injuries, which, in turn, leads many people to avoid moving out of fear of pain and further injury. So yes, movement and exercise matter, but the way we move also matters. We have to have appropriate neuromuscular control, meaning good communication between our brains and the muscles we are trying to use, and good overall movement patterns if we want to be able to exercise and avoid injury. We always say, it is hard to strengthen something that you do not have control over!

So, I encourage everyone out there to be moving daily. As a good rule, we should all be trying to get 2-4 days of strength training in per week and 3 days of cardiovascular exercise in per week. Especially if you have never really participated in a structured exercise routine or if it has just been quite a while since you have exercised, it is probably a good idea to seek out some help as you start up. Finding someone who can evaluate the way that you move and assess where you are at from a baseline fitness stand point can be very beneficial. With a little bit of guidance, you have a much better chance of building a sustainable exercise and movement routine that brings you joy and you will also reduce your risk of injury as you start on your fitness journey.

One functional movement that you can start thinking about is a hip hinge. This movement is vital for many of the activities that we perform on a daily basis and is also the starting point for many common exercises that someone might perform in the gym (squatting, deadlifting, rowing, and running). If you can get this movement pattern down, you will be off to a great start and will feel much more confident when you start performing some of those bigger movements in your training routine. When you break the movement down, a hip hinge allows you to disassociate your back from your hips. To perform the movement, start by making sure your spine is in a neutral position. Your goal is to keep your spine in the same position that it starts in as you begin to lean forward by flexing your hips. If done appropriately you should feel very little work happening in your back and quite a bit of work happening in your glutes and hamstring muscles. Sometimes performing this movement in front of a mirror can be helpful so you can monitor to make sure the movement is happening at the hips and not the back. Give it a try and many of you will see that it is not always as simple as it sounds. It might take some time for you to re-establish that brain-muscle connection needed to make this movement smooth and effortless.

So remember everybody, movement and exercise matter, and the way we move also matters and can be vital in preventing injury. I challenging all of you to start building your exercise and movement routines and make them a priority. If you need help getting started or if training is already a part of your life but you are dealing with nagging injuries or just want to move and perform better, come see us at Uplifted Movement & Performance Therapy and let us help you continue living life on purpose!!