January 20, 2025 • 21 mins
Uncover the truth behind society's fitness myths and why your daily workout might not be enough for holistic health. Join host Susannah Steers for this episode of the Heart of Motion podcast as we explore the profound difference between fitness and movement training. Our modern conveniences have created a movement deficit, often leaving us with chronic discomfort despite those frequent gym visits. Let's shift the spotlight from visible fitness markers like sculpted abs to a richer understanding of our body's capacity and language. Together, we'll redefine what it means to be truly fit, enhancing our mobility and quality of life, especially as we age.
We'll also tackle how the decline in manual labor has changed our physical landscapes, and why exercise alone might fall short. Discover how practices like Pilates can transform your flexibility, strength, and body awareness, offering gains for both everyday life and athletic performance. Understand the importance of rehabilitating movement patterns at a pace that fosters learning and exploration. Plus, let's focus on nurturing healthy movement habits in children, who face the challenges of limited physical activity and premature sports specialization. Tune in for insights that promise a more active, vibrant, and connected life through intentional movement.
Heart of Motion Podcast host Susannah Steers is a Pilates & Integrated Movement Specialist and owner of Moving Spirit Pilates in North Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about movement, about connections and about life.
Through movement teaching, speaking, and facilitating workshops, she supports people in creating movement practices that promote fitness from the inside out. She loves building community, and participating in multi-disciplinary collaborations.
Along with her friend and colleague Gillian McCormick, Susannah also co-hosts The Small Conversations for a Better World podcast – an interview based podcast dedicated to promoting the kind of conversations about health that can spark positive change in individuals, families, communities and across the globe.
Social Media Links:
Moving Spirit Pilates Instagram
Moving Spirit Pilates Facebook
Susannah Steers Instagram
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Susannah Steers (00:00):
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
A few weeks ago, I was at anevent talking to people about
(00:22):
the work that I do, and in oneconversation I made a
distinction between fitness andmovement training.
The person I was chatting withlooked at me a little bit
sideways and asked but what'sthe difference?
So that, my dear friends, iswhat we're talking about today.
Thanks so much for joining me.
In 2025, we're still fixated onvisible markers of fitness
(00:43):
defined abs, bulging biceps andrapid weight loss and, while
these goals absolutely havetheir place, we're overlooking a
crucial element in our physicalwell-being the quality and the
variety of our movement.
I'm talking about thefundamental ways our bodies are
designed to move Twisting,turning, reaching, bending these
(01:04):
are all movements that form thefoundation of our physical
health.
You would think that we get allthese movements in daily life,
wouldn't you?
Well, actually, not so much.
In the Western world, ourmodern conveniences have pretty
much eliminated much of thephysical work of day-to-day
living.
We drive in cars or buses tothe places we have to go.
(01:24):
We take elevators instead ofthe stairs.
We don't hand wash our clothesand put them out on the line
anymore.
We have washing machines anddryers.
For all that, people sit attheir desks for hours every day
before going home to plunk downon the couch.
Unlike our ancestors, weactually have to make a
concerted effort to get even theminimal recommended amount of
(01:46):
physical activity formaintaining health.
Now, I'm not recommending we goback a few hundred years to
reclaim the hard physicalrealities of daily life back
then, but we need to recognizethat our current physiology is
not really designed to managethe lives we're leading.
But wait, you say I go to thegym several times a week.
Great, keep doing that.
(02:08):
But tell me, do you experiencechronically tight hips or deal
with low back or neck issues?
Are there little discomforts ormajor pains that keep showing
up in your body likeinconvenient little flies in the
ointment?
Maybe they're not enough toslow you down, or maybe you've
just chalked the changes up toaging.
I'm going to suggest that maybeit's not just your level of
(02:30):
fitness that's an issue there.
Maybe it's the movement thatyou're doing that's the problem.
Do you notice that you propyourself up on something.
When you get up from the floor,do things that require balance
make you a little nervous.
Can you jump down from thathigh curb with ease?
How's your shoulder check inthe car?
Can you catch yourself easilyif you lose your balance?
(02:52):
At first glance, all these seemto be quality issues.
Right, you're still getting upand down off the floor.
You're just a little slowerthan you used to be.
You can still do it.
So what's the problem?
Have you noticed that?
Maybe you've begun to avoiddoing movements that sometimes
feel challenging?
Maybe it's not a consciouschoice, but for the sake of time
(03:12):
and convenience and for thepreservation of our own fragile
egos, we take the elevator more.
We don't do that deep knee bend.
We ask the kids to take over.
Mobility issues seem to sneak upon people you don't realize.
You can't do something untilyou need to do it, and you can't
.
When we're young and ourrestorative powers are still
(03:33):
vigorous, it's probably arelatively quick fix.
As we get older, though, ittakes a little more time and a
little more effort to address,and as we reach our elder years,
mobility issues can become athreat to independent living and
sometimes even to life itself.
All the latest researchindicates that having good
muscle mass as we age is a keyelement in the pursuit of a long
(03:56):
and healthy life.
I agree.
It's just not the only thing tothink about.
Let me draw you a picture.
Imagine you have two peopletrying to communicate, but each
of them speaks a differentlanguage.
At some point, one of them getsa bit frustrated and starts
speaking more loudly, as ifraising their voice will somehow
(04:16):
power their message across, sothe other person will finally
understand them.
This is a comprehension problem, not a volume issue.
Louder isn't going to doanything except irritate
everyone.
When your body doesn't movewell, indiscriminately, throwing
more muscle training at it is alittle bit like speaking too
loudly to someone who can'tunderstand the language you're
(04:37):
speaking.
Loading, poor movement patternsand unstable joints with lots
of weight may not be your beststrategy.
You have to learn your body'slanguage and the capacity it has
as it is now, not as youremember it from your youth or
how you think it should be fromall the fitness advice that
floods your internet, but thelanguage your body can speak
(04:58):
right now.
So maybe we should go back tothat first question.
What is the difference betweenfitness and movement.
Well, a dictionary definitionis that physical fitness is our
ability to execute dailyactivities with optimal
performance, endurance andstrength, with the management of
disease, fatigue and stress,and reduced sedentary behavior.
(05:21):
The measures are typicallycardiorespiratory capacity,
muscular strength, muscularendurance, body composition and
flexibility.
These are pretty accepted norms.
We've all learned them since wewere kids.
We know those parts.
These are pretty accepted norms.
We've all learned them since wewere kids.
We know those parts.
It seems pretty comprehensive,especially when evidence shows
that if you score well on thosetraditional measures of fitness,
(05:43):
you are likely to live longerand with less illness than if
you score poorly.
And since we can't rely on theactivities of daily living to
help us score well in thosemeasures anymore, a lot of us
choose to exercise as a way tosupport our health or just to
feel good.
Exercise is really just any kindof bodily exertion for the sake
(06:04):
of developing and maintainingphysical fitness.
We perform exercises to developor improve a specific capacity
or skill, and maybe that's wheresome of the difference really
lies.
Maybe it's the gap betweencapacity and skill, because
there is skill involved inmovement, in just walking around
.
You likely don't rememberlearning to walk, but it took a
(06:27):
lot of trial and error, muscledevelopment and likely some
bumps and bruises before youcould reliably walk across a
room.
Still more time and effortbefore you could walk for a
while or begin to run.
Picture the hesitant, almostfalling steps of a toddler.
Then the more gangly movementsof an older child compared with
the smoother, more fluidmovements of an adult.
(06:48):
As you grew up and learned yourmovement skills, your movement
patterns became more organized,more fluid and coordinated.
Maybe you learned some sportsor specialized in something
along the way.
All those things were movementlearning that accumulated in
your body and in your brain andgave you a certain degree of
movement literacy.
And as long as you keep movingand working on them, you can
(07:11):
rely on those movement skills tosupport whatever it is you do
in your life.
Skills are something that wehave to keep working on, though.
I learned to play the piano asa kid and I played in a high
school band.
I wasn't very good at either,but I could read music well
enough to plonk through a fewtunes.
I love music, but I haven'treally played an instrument
(07:31):
since I was a kid.
If you put a piece of sheetmusic up and asked me to play it
, I really couldn't.
I would read the notes like achild sounding out their first
letters.
It's been too long.
I'm sure I could regain thoseskills with practice, maybe more
quickly than someone startingfresh, but it would still take
some extra time and energy.
So why is it that we expectthat we can just do movement?
(07:56):
If you haven't been active in awhile, there'll be some
relearning to do.
How do you support your spineas you do your squats, for
example?
You've likely never actuallyhad to think about that, but if
you're someone who spends eighthours a day at a desk, your body
is predisposed to supportingyou in that sedentary position,
however well or poorly you dothat.
(08:16):
Even if you head out for a runevery day after work, your body
first has to deal with thehangover of the tight hips, poor
posture and inactive core.
It's managed all day before itcan give you what you really
need for a solid, supported andefficient run.
It's like you're starting wayback from the official starting
line without even knowing it.
When we go to the gym or intoour favorite activities, all the
(08:40):
habits we have come with us.
If you have chronically tighthip flexors, we'll find ways to
compensate for that as we addload or increase range of motion
, it might work beautifully, orwe might be stealing that
mobility from other parts of ourbodies.
You won't notice that untileither the function is impacted
or maybe something starts tohurt.
(09:01):
Perhaps you're someone wholoves to hike.
You start to notice that you'regetting more winded than you're
used to, or maybe that yourlegs are getting really tired.
So you decide you need tostrengthen your gluteal muscles,
those big, powerful muscles inyour butt, which are definitely
useful when you're going uphill.
You go to the gym and, based onadvice that you'll find anywhere
about strengthening your glutes, you'll probably decide doing a
(09:23):
variety of squats is a good wayto go, and for lots of people
that works just fine.
For others, though, especiallythose with poor core stability
and really tight hip flexors,they may just experience
increased tightness in the thighmuscles and hip flexors, maybe
a sore back, and they may notget the results squats are
famous for.
(09:43):
If this is happening to you,despite how much work you throw
at your glutes, you're not justfailing at squats.
It's probably something moreabout your movement patterning.
You might be better off with astrategy to improve how your
body accesses your gluteals, bylengthening your hip flexors or
stabilizing the spine, and onceyou can access those things
better, you'll have bettersuccess in gaining strength in
(10:06):
your buttocks.
Resolving to do more squats orheavier deadlifts may not be
your best path From a fitnessperspective.
Movement training addresses howwell you can move your joints
through their full range ofmotion.
That might mean working toimprove range of motion in your
hips or your spine or yourshoulders or your sacroiliac
joint, really anywhere, evenyour feet.
(10:26):
More than likely it'll meanimproving joint motion in all
the joints.
As you mobilize, you'll learnnew strategies for supporting
your new mobility.
As you unlock new mobility,entirely new chains of support
and strength become available.
An active mom will havedifferent needs than a
competitive mountain climber.
So understanding the demandsnot just of your favorite sports
(10:48):
but of your daily tasks canmake big differences to the
choice you make of your favoritesports but of your daily tasks,
and make big differences to thechoice you make for your
exercise.
The way I see it, go to the gym,do the run and, instead of
punishing yourself for whatisn't working, maybe start to
pay more attention to how itfeels.
Where does it feel?
Smooth and effortless?
Where is it sticky or tight?
When do you lose coordination?
(11:09):
Just because it's hard doesn'talways mean it's good.
Be present to whatever is goingon in your body.
Learn your body's own languageand start to increase the
vocabulary of your movementalong the way.
Try new things, rebuild yourown movement literacy, that
ability to plan and execute evenbasic motor skills like running
(11:30):
, jumping, catching, kicking andthrowing, with agility and
balance and coordination.
Instead of pursuing theseactivities in spite of movement
challenges, you can learn tomove better and feel better
doing the things that you loveto do.
Movement training often lookslike mobility training.
It's about how well you canmove your joints through their
(11:51):
full range of motion.
Control and stability are asimportant as power and
flexibility.
Think of it as if you weretraining technique around your
own habitual movements.
An active and energetic clientsaid to me not too long ago that
the work we do together doesn'tfeel like exercise.
It feels like learning a brandnew sport, and that kind of made
(12:12):
sense to me.
Learning to notice andexperience specific things in
your body and in your movement,encouraging new pathways that
provide greater stability ormobility and generally offer a
more fruitful platform formovement, takes a different kind
of energy than working to maxload and max reps at the gym.
Because of this, I think a lotof people have looked at
(12:34):
movement and mobility trainingas being somehow less valuable
than traditional fitness andstrength training, which I've
never understood.
Instead, I think they go handin hand.
Movement and traditionalfitness are not mutually
exclusive.
They actually go together likepeanut butter and jelly.
Every movement we do is a wholebody movement.
(12:54):
When we can't rely on good,stable mobility in our hips and
spine because we've been sittingat a desk for too many years,
how can we expect that we willrun, squat, ride a bike or ski?
Well, good quality fitnesstraining includes improving
movement skills and mobility.
Training includes improvingmovement skills and mobility.
So if squats, deadlifts andplanks are the staple diet for
(13:16):
improving your fitness, it'stime to expand your horizons.
I'm starting to see a shifttoward a more holistic approach.
People are beginning torecognize that it's not just
about burning calories orbuilding muscle anymore.
But in the search for a fitnessprogram that we can fit into
just a few hours a week, peopletend to prioritize strength and
cardio.
It's only as they get older andthe training they've always
(13:38):
done starts to deliverdiminishing returns or maybe
they just can't keep up thatthey start to explore what they
often see as softer options.
I mean, let's face it, we didn'tsee this coming right, this
shift in the demands of ourdaily movement.
Maybe we did.
Magazine ads for washingmachines and cars from the 1950s
sure looked ahead at a futurewhere manual work was a thing of
(14:00):
the past.
Perhaps what we didn't fullycomprehend was the effects on
our bodies of this lack ofphysical activity.
We're built to move.
Movement quite literallynourishes every system in our
bodies.
So here we are, having let goof a lot of the daily work our
bodies once did, and now,understanding that most of us
live in a movement deficit, welook to exercise as a way to
(14:24):
improve that.
The blind spot now is that theway we move matters too.
All we need to do is create alittle more intention around
moving well as we do theseseemingly harder exercise
activities.
So what does that look like Ifyou're just starting out?
Incorporating more movement intoyour life doesn't require a
complete lifestyle overhaul.
(14:44):
Start small.
Take a walk during your lunchbreak, do some stretches or try
a Pilates class.
Pay attention, bring someawareness to how you're moving.
How does it feel to bend, twist, jump, lift, roll, extend,
reach and fall.
Open yourself up to exploration.
Try activities you've neverdone before.
(15:05):
Don't expect to be good.
Just vary your activities in asmany ways as you can, be
curious and if you run intostuff along the way that doesn't
feel good, do some research,either on your own, in your own
body, or with someone who canhelp you learn something new
about your body.
A seasoned movement pro canhelp shine a light on things for
you to help you take the nextsteps.
(15:27):
Now I'm probably a little bitbiased, because something like
Pilates can provide a way inPilates seems to me to exemplify
effective movement training.
It's a whole body.
You're moving all the time inall kinds of different ranges of
motion.
It improves flexibility, buildsstrength, enhances body
awareness.
It's low impact too, whichmakes it accessible to a wide
(15:47):
range of people.
It works systems rather thanisolated muscles.
It can reveal some of therelationships between you and
the various parts of you thatyou might never have connected
with before.
There are lots of other ways todo it.
If you're an athlete or someonewho considers themselves to be
very fit, you can use movementtraining too.
I ran into athletes all thetime who are, by all traditional
(16:08):
measures of physical fitnessrock stars.
Their numbers are through theroof and yet overuse patterns,
patterns of attack, lack ofadequate rest these are things
that can create vulnerability toinjury or holes in the
integrity of the moving bodythat result in everything from
less than optimal performance tofatigue and a whole bunch of
other things.
(16:28):
It might be a matter oflearning to move better so you
can survive the demands of yoursport.
Athletes are used to pushingthe envelope at every
opportunity.
The idea of a softer approachcan feel like you're slacking
off.
It might not feel as thoughyou're taxing yourself enough to
be gaining anything, and it'strue it won't feel like it takes
(16:49):
a lot of effort to retrainmovement habits for better
control and efficiency, but itdoes take attention, curiosity,
brain power and somehigh-quality repetition.
At first it might feel morelike mental gymnastics than
physical work, but gradually, asyou find your way, your
movement gets easier and yourperformance improves.
Remember it's about improvingcommunication, not just
(17:13):
increasing the volume.
We begin by bringing awarenessto where old patterns aren't
serving you as well as you might.
Then we identify a new, moreeffective pattern and we work to
gain control with appropriatemuscle actions at the right time
.
Then it's stamina You've got tobe able to repeat the new
pattern and sustain it, or youwon't be able to carry it into
your higher-level activity.
(17:34):
Only then can you start tobuild strength and grow the
range of motion that you'replaying with.
It's that simple and it's thathard.
Rehabilitating movement patternstakes some time.
In my experience, it doesn'toften work well at Mach 10 and
under heavy loads.
There's got to be a littlespace to explore, to try and
fail and try again.
(17:54):
If we load too much too soon,we just go back to our old
patterns to get the job done.
So to some degree.
If you're doing high levelphysical activity and wanting to
add some movement training, itmight initially be a case of
separating these out a littlebit in your training.
At the beginning, you're goingto add some time for movement
and mobility that is separatefrom the other stuff that you're
(18:15):
training.
What most people find, though,is that once they've started to
find new patterns in theirbodies, they can bring that new
awareness into everything theydo, and then, suddenly, every
training activity becomes notjust an exercise in building
strength and stamina andtechnique for the sport, but an
opportunity to improve movementskills overall.
I think it makes for a moreskilled and resilient athlete.
(18:37):
And whether you're an athleteor a fitness junkie or someone
who enjoys just moving around inthe world, adding some movement
training into your week has amultitude of benefits for your
health and well-being.
You will start to find supportbetter support for your
structure, a more balanced andsustainable strength with fewer
compensations.
Better injury prevention.
(18:58):
Better brain-body relationships.
There are positive effects onyour nervous system balance,
which can support better mentalhealth.
You'll discover more effectiveways to support your own daily
movement, whatever the heck thatis.
Tuning in and attending to yourmovement as part of your
overall fitness integrates yourbody and mind as a whole, so you
(19:19):
get to know and understandyourself better too.
I don't think it's an either orconversation.
If many of us are involved inefforts to reclaim healthy
movement in our bodies, I thinkour kids would be well served
with some attention to theirmovement too.
They're faced with many of thesame things as we've been Too
many screens, not enough variedphysical activity.
(19:40):
Too many kids just aren'tgetting the fundamental movement
skills and practice they needto be healthy.
Among those who are, a lot ofkids are specializing in
individual sports way beforeit's healthy to do that.
It really changes theadaptability of their systems.
In many school districts,physical education has been
(20:00):
eliminated to prioritize otherlearning, and before that, pe
was often just about learningsports.
Nothing wrong with that, but Iwould love to see some
courageous educators take on theidea of increasing movement
literacy as a basic life skill,like learning to read or write
and understanding how to usethose skills not just to be good
(20:22):
at sports because noteverybody's an athlete but to
improve health and well-being,to be comfortable in our own
bodies.
We need more physical educationin schools as well as the arts.
We need more physical educationin schools as well as the arts,
not less.
With better movement literacyoverall, maybe our kids will
have better success moving intoadulthood and old age in good
(20:43):
health and independently.
So remember, movement isn't justabout fitness metrics.
It's about living life fully,being able to play with your
kids, explore new places andtackle life's challenges with
ease.
It's about connecting withyourself and building resiliency
.
Whatever you're up to, includea little more movement.
(21:03):
After all, in this grand danceof life, it's not about
perfecting the steps, it's aboutenjoying the music.
So get out there and play andkeep moving, y'all.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
(21:24):
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
Welcome to the Heart of Motion podcast.
I'm Susannah Steers and I'll beyour host as we explore the
heart, soul and science ofmovement as a pathway to more
active, vibrant and connectedliving.
Nothing happens until somethingmoves, so let's get started.
A few weeks ago, I was at anevent talking to people about
(00:22):
the work that I do, and in oneconversation I made a
distinction between fitness andmovement training.
The person I was chatting withlooked at me a little bit
sideways and asked but what'sthe difference?
So that, my dear friends, iswhat we're talking about today.
Thanks so much for joining me.
In 2025, we're still fixated onvisible markers of fitness
(00:43):
defined abs, bulging biceps andrapid weight loss and, while
these goals absolutely havetheir place, we're overlooking a
crucial element in our physicalwell-being the quality and the
variety of our movement.
I'm talking about thefundamental ways our bodies are
designed to move Twisting,turning, reaching, bending these
(01:04):
are all movements that form thefoundation of our physical
health.
You would think that we get allthese movements in daily life,
wouldn't you?
Well, actually, not so much.
In the Western world, ourmodern conveniences have pretty
much eliminated much of thephysical work of day-to-day
living.
We drive in cars or buses tothe places we have to go.
(01:24):
We take elevators instead ofthe stairs.
We don't hand wash our clothesand put them out on the line
anymore.
We have washing machines anddryers.
For all that, people sit attheir desks for hours every day
before going home to plunk downon the couch.
Unlike our ancestors, weactually have to make a
concerted effort to get even theminimal recommended amount of
(01:46):
physical activity formaintaining health.
Now, I'm not recommending we goback a few hundred years to
reclaim the hard physicalrealities of daily life back
then, but we need to recognizethat our current physiology is
not really designed to managethe lives we're leading.
But wait, you say I go to thegym several times a week.
Great, keep doing that.
(02:08):
But tell me, do you experiencechronically tight hips or deal
with low back or neck issues?
Are there little discomforts ormajor pains that keep showing
up in your body likeinconvenient little flies in the
ointment?
Maybe they're not enough toslow you down, or maybe you've
just chalked the changes up toaging.
I'm going to suggest that maybeit's not just your level of
(02:30):
fitness that's an issue there.
Maybe it's the movement thatyou're doing that's the problem.
Do you notice that you propyourself up on something.
When you get up from the floor,do things that require balance
make you a little nervous.
Can you jump down from thathigh curb with ease?
How's your shoulder check inthe car?
Can you catch yourself easilyif you lose your balance?
(02:52):
At first glance, all these seemto be quality issues.
Right, you're still getting upand down off the floor.
You're just a little slowerthan you used to be.
You can still do it.
So what's the problem?
Have you noticed that?
Maybe you've begun to avoiddoing movements that sometimes
feel challenging?
Maybe it's not a consciouschoice, but for the sake of time
(03:12):
and convenience and for thepreservation of our own fragile
egos, we take the elevator more.
We don't do that deep knee bend.
We ask the kids to take over.
Mobility issues seem to sneak upon people you don't realize.
You can't do something untilyou need to do it, and you can't
.
When we're young and ourrestorative powers are still
(03:33):
vigorous, it's probably arelatively quick fix.
As we get older, though, ittakes a little more time and a
little more effort to address,and as we reach our elder years,
mobility issues can become athreat to independent living and
sometimes even to life itself.
All the latest researchindicates that having good
muscle mass as we age is a keyelement in the pursuit of a long
(03:56):
and healthy life.
I agree.
It's just not the only thing tothink about.
Let me draw you a picture.
Imagine you have two peopletrying to communicate, but each
of them speaks a differentlanguage.
At some point, one of them getsa bit frustrated and starts
speaking more loudly, as ifraising their voice will somehow
(04:16):
power their message across, sothe other person will finally
understand them.
This is a comprehension problem, not a volume issue.
Louder isn't going to doanything except irritate
everyone.
When your body doesn't movewell, indiscriminately, throwing
more muscle training at it is alittle bit like speaking too
loudly to someone who can'tunderstand the language you're
(04:37):
speaking.
Loading, poor movement patternsand unstable joints with lots
of weight may not be your beststrategy.
You have to learn your body'slanguage and the capacity it has
as it is now, not as youremember it from your youth or
how you think it should be fromall the fitness advice that
floods your internet, but thelanguage your body can speak
(04:58):
right now.
So maybe we should go back tothat first question.
What is the difference betweenfitness and movement.
Well, a dictionary definitionis that physical fitness is our
ability to execute dailyactivities with optimal
performance, endurance andstrength, with the management of
disease, fatigue and stress,and reduced sedentary behavior.
(05:21):
The measures are typicallycardiorespiratory capacity,
muscular strength, muscularendurance, body composition and
flexibility.
These are pretty accepted norms.
We've all learned them since wewere kids.
We know those parts.
These are pretty accepted norms.
We've all learned them since wewere kids.
We know those parts.
It seems pretty comprehensive,especially when evidence shows
that if you score well on thosetraditional measures of fitness,
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you are likely to live longerand with less illness than if
you score poorly.
And since we can't rely on theactivities of daily living to
help us score well in thosemeasures anymore, a lot of us
choose to exercise as a way tosupport our health or just to
feel good.
Exercise is really just any kindof bodily exertion for the sake
(06:04):
of developing and maintainingphysical fitness.
We perform exercises to developor improve a specific capacity
or skill, and maybe that's wheresome of the difference really
lies.
Maybe it's the gap betweencapacity and skill, because
there is skill involved inmovement, in just walking around
.
You likely don't rememberlearning to walk, but it took a
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lot of trial and error, muscledevelopment and likely some
bumps and bruises before youcould reliably walk across a
room.
Still more time and effortbefore you could walk for a
while or begin to run.
Picture the hesitant, almostfalling steps of a toddler.
Then the more gangly movementsof an older child compared with
the smoother, more fluidmovements of an adult.
(06:48):
As you grew up and learned yourmovement skills, your movement
patterns became more organized,more fluid and coordinated.
Maybe you learned some sportsor specialized in something
along the way.
All those things were movementlearning that accumulated in
your body and in your brain andgave you a certain degree of
movement literacy.
And as long as you keep movingand working on them, you can
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rely on those movement skills tosupport whatever it is you do
in your life.
Skills are something that wehave to keep working on, though.
I learned to play the piano asa kid and I played in a high
school band.
I wasn't very good at either,but I could read music well
enough to plonk through a fewtunes.
I love music, but I haven'treally played an instrument
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since I was a kid.
If you put a piece of sheetmusic up and asked me to play it
, I really couldn't.
I would read the notes like achild sounding out their first
letters.
It's been too long.
I'm sure I could regain thoseskills with practice, maybe more
quickly than someone startingfresh, but it would still take
some extra time and energy.
So why is it that we expectthat we can just do movement?
(07:56):
If you haven't been active in awhile, there'll be some
relearning to do.
How do you support your spineas you do your squats, for
example?
You've likely never actuallyhad to think about that, but if
you're someone who spends eighthours a day at a desk, your body
is predisposed to supportingyou in that sedentary position,
however well or poorly you dothat.
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Even if you head out for a runevery day after work, your body
first has to deal with thehangover of the tight hips, poor
posture and inactive core.
It's managed all day before itcan give you what you really
need for a solid, supported andefficient run.
It's like you're starting wayback from the official starting
line without even knowing it.
When we go to the gym or intoour favorite activities, all the
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habits we have come with us.
If you have chronically tighthip flexors, we'll find ways to
compensate for that as we addload or increase range of motion
, it might work beautifully, orwe might be stealing that
mobility from other parts of ourbodies.
You won't notice that untileither the function is impacted
or maybe something starts tohurt.
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Perhaps you're someone wholoves to hike.
You start to notice that you'regetting more winded than you're
used to, or maybe that yourlegs are getting really tired.
So you decide you need tostrengthen your gluteal muscles,
those big, powerful muscles inyour butt, which are definitely
useful when you're going uphill.
You go to the gym and, based onadvice that you'll find anywhere
about strengthening your glutes, you'll probably decide doing a
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variety of squats is a good wayto go, and for lots of people
that works just fine.
For others, though, especiallythose with poor core stability
and really tight hip flexors,they may just experience
increased tightness in the thighmuscles and hip flexors, maybe
a sore back, and they may notget the results squats are
famous for.
(09:43):
If this is happening to you,despite how much work you throw
at your glutes, you're not justfailing at squats.
It's probably something moreabout your movement patterning.
You might be better off with astrategy to improve how your
body accesses your gluteals, bylengthening your hip flexors or
stabilizing the spine, and onceyou can access those things
better, you'll have bettersuccess in gaining strength in
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your buttocks.
Resolving to do more squats orheavier deadlifts may not be
your best path From a fitnessperspective.
Movement training addresses howwell you can move your joints
through their full range ofmotion.
That might mean working toimprove range of motion in your
hips or your spine or yourshoulders or your sacroiliac
joint, really anywhere, evenyour feet.
(10:26):
More than likely it'll meanimproving joint motion in all
the joints.
As you mobilize, you'll learnnew strategies for supporting
your new mobility.
As you unlock new mobility,entirely new chains of support
and strength become available.
An active mom will havedifferent needs than a
competitive mountain climber.
So understanding the demandsnot just of your favorite sports
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but of your daily tasks canmake big differences to the
choice you make of your favoritesports but of your daily tasks,
and make big differences to thechoice you make for your
exercise.
The way I see it, go to the gym,do the run and, instead of
punishing yourself for whatisn't working, maybe start to
pay more attention to how itfeels.
Where does it feel?
Smooth and effortless?
Where is it sticky or tight?
When do you lose coordination?
(11:09):
Just because it's hard doesn'talways mean it's good.
Be present to whatever is goingon in your body.
Learn your body's own languageand start to increase the
vocabulary of your movementalong the way.
Try new things, rebuild yourown movement literacy, that
ability to plan and execute evenbasic motor skills like running
(11:30):
, jumping, catching, kicking andthrowing, with agility and
balance and coordination.
Instead of pursuing theseactivities in spite of movement
challenges, you can learn tomove better and feel better
doing the things that you loveto do.
Movement training often lookslike mobility training.
It's about how well you canmove your joints through their
(11:51):
full range of motion.
Control and stability are asimportant as power and
flexibility.
Think of it as if you weretraining technique around your
own habitual movements.
An active and energetic clientsaid to me not too long ago that
the work we do together doesn'tfeel like exercise.
It feels like learning a brandnew sport, and that kind of made
(12:12):
sense to me.
Learning to notice andexperience specific things in
your body and in your movement,encouraging new pathways that
provide greater stability ormobility and generally offer a
more fruitful platform formovement, takes a different kind
of energy than working to maxload and max reps at the gym.
Because of this, I think a lotof people have looked at
(12:34):
movement and mobility trainingas being somehow less valuable
than traditional fitness andstrength training, which I've
never understood.
Instead, I think they go handin hand.
Movement and traditionalfitness are not mutually
exclusive.
They actually go together likepeanut butter and jelly.
Every movement we do is a wholebody movement.
(12:54):
When we can't rely on good,stable mobility in our hips and
spine because we've been sittingat a desk for too many years,
how can we expect that we willrun, squat, ride a bike or ski?
Well, good quality fitnesstraining includes improving
movement skills and mobility.
Training includes improvingmovement skills and mobility.
So if squats, deadlifts andplanks are the staple diet for
(13:16):
improving your fitness, it'stime to expand your horizons.
I'm starting to see a shifttoward a more holistic approach.
People are beginning torecognize that it's not just
about burning calories orbuilding muscle anymore.
But in the search for a fitnessprogram that we can fit into
just a few hours a week, peopletend to prioritize strength and
cardio.
It's only as they get older andthe training they've always
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done starts to deliverdiminishing returns or maybe
they just can't keep up thatthey start to explore what they
often see as softer options.
I mean, let's face it, we didn'tsee this coming right, this
shift in the demands of ourdaily movement.
Maybe we did.
Magazine ads for washingmachines and cars from the 1950s
sure looked ahead at a futurewhere manual work was a thing of
(14:00):
the past.
Perhaps what we didn't fullycomprehend was the effects on
our bodies of this lack ofphysical activity.
We're built to move.
Movement quite literallynourishes every system in our
bodies.
So here we are, having let goof a lot of the daily work our
bodies once did, and now,understanding that most of us
live in a movement deficit, welook to exercise as a way to
(14:24):
improve that.
The blind spot now is that theway we move matters too.
All we need to do is create alittle more intention around
moving well as we do theseseemingly harder exercise
activities.
So what does that look like Ifyou're just starting out?
Incorporating more movement intoyour life doesn't require a
complete lifestyle overhaul.
(14:44):
Start small.
Take a walk during your lunchbreak, do some stretches or try
a Pilates class.
Pay attention, bring someawareness to how you're moving.
How does it feel to bend, twist, jump, lift, roll, extend,
reach and fall.
Open yourself up to exploration.
Try activities you've neverdone before.
(15:05):
Don't expect to be good.
Just vary your activities in asmany ways as you can, be
curious and if you run intostuff along the way that doesn't
feel good, do some research,either on your own, in your own
body, or with someone who canhelp you learn something new
about your body.
A seasoned movement pro canhelp shine a light on things for
you to help you take the nextsteps.
(15:27):
Now I'm probably a little bitbiased, because something like
Pilates can provide a way inPilates seems to me to exemplify
effective movement training.
It's a whole body.
You're moving all the time inall kinds of different ranges of
motion.
It improves flexibility, buildsstrength, enhances body
awareness.
It's low impact too, whichmakes it accessible to a wide
(15:47):
range of people.
It works systems rather thanisolated muscles.
It can reveal some of therelationships between you and
the various parts of you thatyou might never have connected
with before.
There are lots of other ways todo it.
If you're an athlete or someonewho considers themselves to be
very fit, you can use movementtraining too.
I ran into athletes all thetime who are, by all traditional
(16:08):
measures of physical fitnessrock stars.
Their numbers are through theroof and yet overuse patterns,
patterns of attack, lack ofadequate rest these are things
that can create vulnerability toinjury or holes in the
integrity of the moving bodythat result in everything from
less than optimal performance tofatigue and a whole bunch of
other things.
(16:28):
It might be a matter oflearning to move better so you
can survive the demands of yoursport.
Athletes are used to pushingthe envelope at every
opportunity.
The idea of a softer approachcan feel like you're slacking
off.
It might not feel as thoughyou're taxing yourself enough to
be gaining anything, and it'strue it won't feel like it takes
(16:49):
a lot of effort to retrainmovement habits for better
control and efficiency, but itdoes take attention, curiosity,
brain power and somehigh-quality repetition.
At first it might feel morelike mental gymnastics than
physical work, but gradually, asyou find your way, your
movement gets easier and yourperformance improves.
Remember it's about improvingcommunication, not just
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increasing the volume.
We begin by bringing awarenessto where old patterns aren't
serving you as well as you might.
Then we identify a new, moreeffective pattern and we work to
gain control with appropriatemuscle actions at the right time
.
Then it's stamina You've got tobe able to repeat the new
pattern and sustain it, or youwon't be able to carry it into
your higher-level activity.
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Only then can you start tobuild strength and grow the
range of motion that you'replaying with.
It's that simple and it's thathard.
Rehabilitating movement patternstakes some time.
In my experience, it doesn'toften work well at Mach 10 and
under heavy loads.
There's got to be a littlespace to explore, to try and
fail and try again.
(17:54):
If we load too much too soon,we just go back to our old
patterns to get the job done.
So to some degree.
If you're doing high levelphysical activity and wanting to
add some movement training, itmight initially be a case of
separating these out a littlebit in your training.
At the beginning, you're goingto add some time for movement
and mobility that is separatefrom the other stuff that you're
(18:15):
training.
What most people find, though,is that once they've started to
find new patterns in theirbodies, they can bring that new
awareness into everything theydo, and then, suddenly, every
training activity becomes notjust an exercise in building
strength and stamina andtechnique for the sport, but an
opportunity to improve movementskills overall.
I think it makes for a moreskilled and resilient athlete.
(18:37):
And whether you're an athleteor a fitness junkie or someone
who enjoys just moving around inthe world, adding some movement
training into your week has amultitude of benefits for your
health and well-being.
You will start to find supportbetter support for your
structure, a more balanced andsustainable strength with fewer
compensations.
Better injury prevention.
(18:58):
Better brain-body relationships.
There are positive effects onyour nervous system balance,
which can support better mentalhealth.
You'll discover more effectiveways to support your own daily
movement, whatever the heck thatis.
Tuning in and attending to yourmovement as part of your
overall fitness integrates yourbody and mind as a whole, so you
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get to know and understandyourself better too.
I don't think it's an either orconversation.
If many of us are involved inefforts to reclaim healthy
movement in our bodies, I thinkour kids would be well served
with some attention to theirmovement too.
They're faced with many of thesame things as we've been Too
many screens, not enough variedphysical activity.
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Too many kids just aren'tgetting the fundamental movement
skills and practice they needto be healthy.
Among those who are, a lot ofkids are specializing in
individual sports way beforeit's healthy to do that.
It really changes theadaptability of their systems.
In many school districts,physical education has been
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eliminated to prioritize otherlearning, and before that, pe
was often just about learningsports.
Nothing wrong with that, but Iwould love to see some
courageous educators take on theidea of increasing movement
literacy as a basic life skill,like learning to read or write
and understanding how to usethose skills not just to be good
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at sports because noteverybody's an athlete but to
improve health and well-being,to be comfortable in our own
bodies.
We need more physical educationin schools as well as the arts.
We need more physical educationin schools as well as the arts,
not less.
With better movement literacyoverall, maybe our kids will
have better success moving intoadulthood and old age in good
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health and independently.
So remember, movement isn't justabout fitness metrics.
It's about living life fully,being able to play with your
kids, explore new places andtackle life's challenges with
ease.
It's about connecting withyourself and building resiliency
.
Whatever you're up to, includea little more movement.
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After all, in this grand danceof life, it's not about
perfecting the steps, it's aboutenjoying the music.
So get out there and play andkeep moving, y'all.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Subscribe and if you love whatyou heard, leave a five-star
review and tell people what youenjoyed most.
(21:24):
Join me here again in a coupleof weeks.
For now, let's get moving.
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