The importance of being skilful in your movement
Welcome to the weekly warble here at Ideanthro Movement.
This week I'd like to talk about the importance of being skilful in your movement and how it benefits your health and fitness.
As the owner of a gym, one of the common goals that I hear from people is that they want to be more capable in daily life. Of course they don't say it quite like that. Instead it comes out in forms like:
- "I want to be able to get up steps easier"
- "I want to be able to keep with my kids as they grow up"
- "I used to find running easy but now it's tough"
Strength, flexibility, endurance etc all help with these sorts of goals. But so does moving more skilfully. I'll give you an example.
In our natural movement class this morning we were practising the basics of vaulting, much like you see in this photograph.
One of our members was doing great stepping up onto the box, but having trouble stepping back down. It felt like her leg wouldn't support her.
After a little bit of investigation I suggested that she position her knee a little bit further out to the side than she had been.
When she did this, not only did she step down, but she did it with ease.
She didn't suddenly get stronger. She didn't become more flexible. But she did become more skilful, and that's all it took in this case.
If you desire to be more physically capable then I hope this post inspires you to consider movement skill as a part of your approach.
Cheers
Jack