If you were a football player you’d focus much of your training on the fundamentals of blocking and tackling. If you were a baseball player you’d focus much of your training of the fundamentals of hitting and throwing. I’m guessing that most of you reading this aren’t professional athletes but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on the fundamentals of your sport, too.
What is your sport, you may ask? Simple. Your sport is life. I get asked all the time why we do certain exercises. Here is a quick and all-encompassing version of that answer: It improves and strengthens a fundamental movement pattern. Yes, that’s why we do everything.
When I put together programs for people I’m trying to “improve their game” so to speak. For example, just as a basketball player might need to work on his lateral quickness, one of my clients may need to work on their hip movement. Why is that important? Well, walking around with poor hip movement can lead to back and knee pain. Poor hip movement takes away much of our strength and mobility.
When you really break it down there are only five movement patterns that we perform:
- Knee dominant such as a squat
- Hip dominant such as a hip extension
- Push such as a push up
- Pull such as a pullup
- Rotational movements such as turns