We need to move, we evolved through movement. Its just that with our current life choices, we don’t move enough. We have cars, internet shopping, sofas, take away food. We no longer need to hunt, track, think or work for dinner. Our survival no longer depends on moving.
If you watch a child, they move naturally and gracefully. No one has taught them to keep a straight spine and bend at the knees when lifting, they just do.
And if we look closer at their movement patterns in comparison to ours, we can see that they initiate their movements from the centre, the torso, long before the limbs are used. This is where they know they have power, not in the shoulders, arms or legs but starting, rooted in the core. As adults, we have learned that our arms and legs are strong and neglect the trunk, the point where it is all connected.
A common set of movements, sometimes known as the primal movement patterns are, in developmental order:
Flex
Twist
Push
Pull
Squat
Lunge
Walk
Run
Play
We should become like children again and do these every day. Only then will we start to find out how we are restricted and what we need to change to get the best from our bodies.
The Camford Clinic 