No days off movement

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Life is movement.
Without movement, we experience a congealing of body-parts. The use it or lose it syndrome!
Poorly functioning joints and muscle lead to very stressed organs and creep in to our mental, emotional bodies.
You were designed to be amazing!. In the movement arena this statement deserves a little respect and time explaining.
At 206 bones, 100's of movable joints, 650 muscles and 100's of nerves firing everything up, it is safe to say we have an amazing machine to say the least. 
I love pondering the why?. Why we have these moving parts. What are they designed to do?. If we develop pain and dysfunction, is that a sign of misuse?, inactivity?, overuse?. 

A few examples that came up this week: 
Why do my shoulders ache?. My explanation can describe what I call a trade off for survival. The Glenohumeral joint is the most mobile joint in the body. It is a multi axial synovial ball and socket joint with very limited interface between the humerus and the scapula. In lay terms it is a very shallow socket between the arm and shoulder girdle. 
It is therefore prone to instability and injury. The upside is that it has a huge variation of movements it can instigate for sport, play, and survival. 
Now, the conversation goes on to describe the responsibility you have for looking after this one complex. If you choose to develop poor posture, putting the entire shoulder complex in a permanent aberrant position, you risk neck, shoulder and a host of cascading pain and dysfunction.
So what do I do?. Do what it was made for: Pushing, Pulling, Rotating, Hanging, Throwing, etc...
You don't have to reach Olympic standard with these movements, you just need the basics to achieve a fun, pain free life with longevity of body-parts. I create a WOF for each person depending on what they require.
Another discussion was the vulnerable neck. In comparison to the very protected chest cavity with literally a cage of bones surrounding it, the neck seems a little vulnerable to attack. A similar discussion can take place regarding the cervical spine and how the movement of the head is extremely important in our evolution as humans. The ability to see in all directions and keep ourselves safe seems to trump the requirement for a bony designed battle amour around the throat that would surely restrict movement. 
So once again we come back to posture, getting the head which weighs about 5kg's to sit in a position that does not chronically pull on neck musculature all day. 
How are the neck aches?, How are the headaches?, how is the mental focus?
Keeping strength up in the upper realms of the physique require a bit of creative programming. Are we throwing hay bails, backing a car without mirrors, wrestling, rolling daily? 
NO! So a conditioning program can add movements to strengthen, decompress and stretch the neck. 
I have mentioned just the neck and shoulder areas. Obviously there are many more to care for. 
We now come to the title: No days off movement!
If you really hate pain and dysfunction, you cannot afford to have a day off creative movement as a human being. We are designed to move approximately 3 1/2 hours daily of undulating intensity. (A fair guess from historic research). This is not 3 1/2 hours running or gymming. It is as it states; undulating intensity, which will vary considerably from person to person. The scorecard is really dependent on your function and dysfunction ratio.

So I can lay out an example of a week that I find gets most people to a state of happy function:
10,000 steps daily- walk, jog, take the stairs, park further from the shops.
A gym program- 2-4 days of workouts (Push, pull, squat, lunge, bend, twist variations) 30-60mins
Sport or gardening- 1-3 sessions of choice. 30-60mins
Mobility skills- Specific list of home stretches, basic joint care, self massage. 10mins daily

I am really big on the 10 minute mobility routine for home. You can do it in front of T.V. 
I love daily hanging from a bar or rings (Irons out the days kinks) and dynamic hip movements on the ground. 

So the take away message:
Move more, move smart, move with variety and variation, and move every single day!

If you don't know what to do, look me up.


Tony Small
Health Coach



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