Core Tenet #2: Move Weird

Next on our list is a highly underrated concept…

Simply because we all think we are doing a good job of it by working out or doing other typical physical activities.

This has become more and more of a fleshed out concept for myself as I’ve gotten older, and to be honest, as I’ve become a dad to two very active boys.

Yet I’m starting to see it repeat itself in patients who are active.

They all share the same stiffness and soreness… but why?

They are doing the “right things”.

It all dawned on me as I was wrestling with my boys—on my knees whilst one jumps at me and I have to barrel roll out of the attack…

Very few of us move like THIS anymore.

We go to the gym and lift weights, or we go for a 5/10/20km run, we practice yoga — or whichever it may be.

These are all very much in the same planes of movement that we use every day for 8 hours.

The same body positions, the same movement patterns: all very forward-facing based…

Not saying that there is anything wrong with these activities, just saying that as we age and in order to maintain ranges of years gone by, they aren’t enough.

We need to Move Weird.

What is Move Weird – you ask?

Do me a quick favor: take your arm, raise it up to the side, now roll it around all the way until it gets back to where you started.

Now ask yourself, in my chosen exercise, does my shoulder do all of this?

Likely, not the same thing can be said about hips.

Think of all the ranges that your hips are not challenged in when doing squats.

So, the goal is to get us into these ranges, but also to challenge the strength in these so our bodies’ connective tissue can adapt and become more resilient.

Right, so…

I’ve told you what we need to do, then shit on all the things you likely are doing.

You’re probably asking so what do I do? I have a few ideas to help out:

Sports, rec or competitive, this is definitely my bias, but there are few things that put you into weird ranges and well and as frequently as sports.

All sports are not created equal in this sense, but just think of what you can do, and enjoy that is gonna put you into some funky positions.

Rugby, jiu jitsu, soccer, volleyball, baseball, even tennis and/or pickleball.

Not to mention you’re gonna have fun doing it.

Dance is another great one.

Moving the body into ranges that are not challenged daily and the great thing about dance is pretty much all of it can work with the leg and arm movements, and will definitely keep the joints greased.

I’m talking about specific mobility work.

These exercises can be done on their own at the end of the gym or cardio session.

My go-to is animal flow, there’s lots of options out there.

A good follow for moving weird and seeing what the body can do if you train it is: @beardthebestyoucanbe.

Hopefully that gives you enough ideas, if you need any more or have any questions, reach out.

Don’t forget to Book Your Appointment to help get you into those bigger ranges as well.

Next week I’ll be diving into Core Tenet #3: Get Treatment and how this acts as the missing piece in all 3 Core Tenets.

Talk soon,

Brandon