Quality Over Quantity
Have you ever explored all the different directions we can move? All the neglected muscles we forget to include in our workouts?
What movement do we focus on in our daily lives? Like a lot of bending at the knees like going up the stairs, running to class, squatting in the bathroom, deadlifting our belongings on/off the ground, etc. Have you ever noticed your daily movements? What about your shoulders? Your back? Your ankles? How are they doing?
What are the planes of motion that these exercises or movements fall under?
Answer this: What movements does the knee joint allow? What muscles of the knee require that strength and load to keep up for a continuous amount of time? What other muscles and joints can I pair with the knee to decrease/increase the load? Strengthen it as a whole? What is the knee connected to? What is it disconnected from? What’s in a knee?
Hey, remember when we could refer to our knees as left and right instead of The Good One and The Bad One? Good times.
As a basic rule of thumb for anyone who is unaware of their anatomical structure:
HIGH LOAD = PROGRESSIVE DANGER
We complain of pain, but we do not recall it’s reason. Maybe we’re overdoing it at the gym and then under doing it at home? Or is it the complete opposite? Hmm.
But aren’t our bodies meant to move in all directions? How can we move with quality if we don’t know how to move at all? How can we expect to-perform before we are taught how-to-perform?
Being aware of yourself, means that it is your duty to know how-to-move. Then we know what to strengthen and what to release. What to progress and what to regress, what to load and what not to. - This is not just a job for a physiotherapist/doctor/rehab expert. It’s our job as human beings to be. It’s common sense. We just get so busy/lazy/excited in our lives and forget about quality.
Ever think about how we were born to move as opposed to how we are USED to moving?
Food for thought
What is the first movement baby humans learn? Crawling.
Next? Balancing.
Finally? Walking.
A NEVER ENDING RISE AND FALL CYCLE
What movements do these babies learn between crawling and walking? Twisting, bending, extending, flexing, abducting, adducting all of the joints of the body hence activating all of the muscles of the body. Have you ever noticed how a baby can not stand tall? He falls forward on his face. Maybe his muscles aren’t strong enough to support him yet?
Of course, nature vs nurture argument here is key. - we’ll talk about this in another post.
Take Tarzan for example: Why was he so fast, lean, strong and muscular? Where did he live? What was his daily lifestyle like? What did he eat? How did he sleep? Who did he interact with? How did this little boy with no muscle mass grow up to have every muscle in his body ripped?
Won’t you think about that the next time you over train? …Or under train….
#QualityWins
