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3 lost functional movements to do EVERY DAY

  • Writer: movemethics
    movemethics
  • Jan 6, 2023
  • 5 min read

Updated: Jan 10, 2023

Newborns became my favourite movement experts to watch recently (mostly based on so many of my friends giving birth and being privileged to watch their little ones grow). What is worth noticing is that before we bombarded ourselves with chairs, socks, shoes, technology (making everything easy and accessible without having to move), we had really been true movement experts. Our day to day was filled with movement and for some miraculous reason - WE WERE NOT EXHAUSTED! We understood our motor control without having to open a book and read about it from an 'expert' that examined the movement and told us what is (the non-existent) right and wrong of it. The felt perception and natural instincts were enough, and guess what - they are enough. Unfortunately, as we grow we create habits that put our natural instincts to sleep.


Here are few things I observed in babies that became pretty much non-existent in adults:


1. Reaching


We became so lazy and accustomed to convenience that we make sure we prepare our surroundings in the way that we only have to put minimum to no effort into accessing what we need. The remote control is always close to the armchair you watch your tele from, the salt and pepper are always laid out ready to be used on the table we are about to have our meal on, etc. And hey it is not about inconveniently rearranging your entire existence but about rethinking where your convenience turns into a difficult to reverse laziness that eliminates movement from your life.


Why is reaching so important?


Reaching forces you to mobilise your joints, access greater ranges of motion and decompresses the joints from long days of mostly sedentary lifestyle. With the assistance of constant gravitational pull, reaching is the way to forward to find that extra space in your body and challenge the overload of compressive forces. Don't get too worried here about some of the bigger vocabulary. The compressive forces are naturally occurring forces in your body (the arrows in the figure below demonstrate the direction of these forces giving you a rough idea on how these work). However, due to the lifestyle of modern society filled with compressive forces, in order to provide some harmony for our body (as otherwise in the long run we will have to deal with damages of overuse and compromise), we need to allow for the opposite to happen so... that's right, you got it, we need to apply some tensile forces!


And how do we do that?


You guessed it again, one of the simplest way to look at it is reaching. Reaching for objects from slightly further than usual distance, stretching regularly and consistently and one that can be super fun and incredibly relieving for the spine - hanging! Grab onto a pole, a doorway, a bar or whatever that can withstand your weight and give yourself that joy of space, plus you will give some nice and healthy care to your grip strength while doing so.





2. Lifting


There is a perception, especially amongst older generation that you have to be careful and not strain yourself as you grow older. People often tell you that you should leave lifting to other, stronger people, mostly referring to men. But here is a trick, we all, especially women, should lift and give our body some resistance to fight against to get stronger (regardless of the age - this has to have other considerations and reasonable resistance). Menopause can speed up some of the degenerative processes that contribute to the decrease of bone density making the bones weaker and more prone to breaking resulting in bone diseases such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis. Research shows us that our body only gets stronger when it gets challenged to have to do so, therefore when you are required to lift, carry and manage heavier resistance try not to skip the tasks as these are your strengthening buddies! These activities could do wonders for women, especially as we age. So next time, try lifting things yourself and maybe only ask for a hand, when you need to make your man feel good in his manhood :)


Another thing to consider in this section are overhead lifts. Lifting with your arms above your shoulder level will provide some great mobility challenges for your shoulders and engage your upper back which in the generation of convenient (not to say lazy) technology geeks are becoming more and more 'asleep' (aka weak, slow to activate) and very much prone to injuries causing pain.

The lack of strength in your upper body is a big catalyst for all the 'icks and outches' you experience around your shoulder girdle, neck and upper back, especially when exposing your body to sudden intense use of that part of the body (waackers, poppers, voguers - I'm talking to you).


More on upper body considerations coming soon.


3. Balancing


Again, thinking about your old self living your best life as you age gracefully, working on your balance from now is fairly crucial. Although the unpleasant consequences of falling can already be felt as we reach our, let's say teens and early 20s, for an elderly person something as trivial as a fall may be life-threatening. Halvarsson, Dohrn and Ståhle (2015) in their research on improving balance in older population state that 'impaired balance is a major risk factor for falls among older adults'(3).


So in a nutshell - falls are caused by lack of good balance, falls cause injuries, falls are bad for elderly people (who are naturally weaker), therefore working on balance equals less risk of falls and that equals less injuries and that eventually equates to better quality of life or perhaps in more extreme cases - saving it. Sounds epic, right? And imagine that you could ensure that safer life from now with very little effort.


You could start with simple challenges throughout the day such as single leg stance as you brush your teeth, wash dishes or wait in the queue. However, as a performer that relies on their balance on such a high level, you may want to try some more sophisticated and creative ways of challenging yourself that even your discipline does not get out of you.


Here are some examples of exercises found on social media that can help you get creative with your balance practice:

More about balance and proprioception for the performers soon!


There are plenty of resources online for simple or more advanced solutions to laziness. Yes, it is laziness whether we like to admit it or not. Consult a professional if you are not sure where to start but as per usual my advice will be to start with simple and let your movement be your guide and indicator.


Feel free to let me know how your journey out of laziness is going using comment section below or use contact details and get in touch!


With love,

Angie









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