Learning to Move Effectively
This section helps readers understand movement basics and controlling the body throughout a range of positions. If we wish to move effectively, we must consider all the unique positions our bodies can go make and how to move from one position to the next.
Effective movement involves the controlling of various body positions so that we can power ourselves into and out of them at our desired speeds.
It can be hard to notice at times, but each position we make involves a unique combination of muscle tensioning and control. We move by commanding ourselves across various positions depending on our goals, destination, and environmental factors. Time spent learning to move effectively allows us to do more, improve our body control and reduce the risk of injury.
In order to develop our ability to move, we must first explore positioning to discover where our bodies can effectively maneuver and how to move from one position to the next.
Why Positioning Matters
Physical injuries occur when our body enters into a position it cannot handle. When we take the time to get ourselves into different positions and understand where we can move from these various contortions, we are developing our experiential knowledge of what it feels like to move throughout our range of motion. This knowledge is key to keeping ourselves moving safely and effectively while accessing our extensive ability to move. To see why this is important, let’s think about injuries:
There are two major ways an injury typically occurs. We are most often (physically) injured either when (1) we move ourselves into a position our body is not prepared to handle or (2) an outside force places us into a position we cannot support.
Let’s start with #1: Imagine walking on a trail and stepping on a rock concealed in the path. In this situation, it is easy to be knocked off-balance and land in an unconventional position, leading to injury. If we are familiar with the strength and flexibility of our foot/ankle that landed on the rock, we have better odds in the split-second decision of whether we should to continue stepping on and through the rock or take weight off that foot and readjust our stride.
Turning to #2: This situation largely has the same end result as #1, but is caused by an outside force rather than or own movement. Let’s say you’re walking down the same trail but instead of landing on a rock, you are bumped by a passerby (it seems no one pays attention on this trail). Your understanding of where your body can move and support itself determines how smoothly you brush off the bump. There are times when an outside force is powerful enough to cause injury regardless of our body control (good hip positioning can’t save you from an oncoming truck), but we can best best prepare ourselves to move by taking time to learn where our bodies can go.
The Three Levels of Positioning
For practical purposes, there are three major levels to learning to move:
- Being able to get oneself into a position;
- Being able to move oneself into and out of a position effectively; and
- Having full control of one’s strength and range of motion from a given position.
We must be able to safely get ourselves into a position to be able to control it. For example, we can’t learn to master a full range of motion squat if we can’t squat all the way down safely in the first place. With that said, there is a major difference between being able to get into a position and being able to control our movement once we are in the position.
Understanding Positioning Prevents Injury
Imagine you are walking down a path in the wintertime and catch a patch of ice, causing one leg to slip forward and one backward. Your understanding of your leg strength in a lunge can hugely impact how you are able to protect yourself and recover from nature’s booby trap.
If you end up in a position that is within your available range of motion but that you cannot control (Level 1), you have possibly avoided injury but may need to fall to a side or ask for help to exit the position.
If your legs end up at a point within your range of motion that you can somewhat control (Level 2), you will likely avoid injury and be able to get back to walking relatively easily.
If the end state is a position you fully control (Level 3), you are likely able to smoothly readjust from the ice and keep moving almost as though the slip were you adding some flair to your walk.
Mastering different body positions requires regular and deliberate efforts to understand how our bodies move. While we do not all need to learn to do the splits or push the limits of our ranges of motion, we can improve our regular life by studying how our body moves from one position to the next.
Building A Practical Knowledge of Movement
I often best improve my movement when I take time to think about what I feel when I am conducting regular activities (consider using touch as a compliment to these movement studies). From getting out of a chair to walking around, each movement is an opportunity to study our ability to control our bodies. While we have often been doing these movements all our lives, it is important to take time to study our basic daily movements because these actions are frequent, recurring, and often involve more nuance than we credit. For example, I spend a lot of time studying my walking:
When I walk, I take time to feel how each leg feels when it moves into the next step. I start with how my foot hits the ground, and move up (and back down) the chain until I understand how each leg feels in a walk. After assessing my legs, I move up the chain to my hips, core, upper limbs, and head and neck to better understand my whole body as the vehicle for movement.
At first, I feel silly and robotic. It’s like I forget how to walk when I slow down my steps to think about how each leg feels when it lifts up, drives forward, lands and pulls through the ground. That’s a part of learning.
After a while, I like to vary my walk by switching from short steps to long strides, switching how I drive my knees and adding various levels of pop to my step.
We often find ourselves uncomfortable when exposed to new situations or perspectives, causing us to behave in a shy or uncharacteristic manner. Combine this with the fact that our bodies may not have actually taken the time to carefully study how it feels to walk and we find ourselves questioning whether we’ve ever actually walked before.
I have found that combining more regular walks with time devoted to actively thinking about what I feel when I walk not only improves my leg coordination, but also helps me address my posture and muscle control throughout my body.
Diverse Information is Key
As with any movement, it is important to vary how we walk when we are studying the movement so that we can build a more in-depth understanding of how the movement can feel. For example, I like to change my walking speed and where I land on my feet so that I better understand how my body controls walking in different situations and with varying levels of effort. I find it easier to reduce strain on my legs when I know what it feels like to strike the ground my heel first vs. my midfoot or forefoot or land on the outside vs. inside of my feet. I also like to adjust my torso positioning, feeling what happens to my movement when I increase my forward lean or pull my chest more upright.
While we can often control how we move, there are often times when outside forces move us into unanticipated body positions, making an understanding of how our body can move given various situations critical to reducing injury risk.
When we test out our bodies, think about what we feel, and allow ourselves to enter into new positions, we build our body knowledge base for when we may need it down the road. If you want to take a closer look at walking itself, I discuss it more HERE. Otherwise, we will return to our study of the body’s systems of movement with Micro Assessments.
-G
Efficiently ELITE
At the end of the day, this site is designed to serve as a resource. Like many good resources, Efficiently ELITE is always seeking outside input to refine its content and improve its ability to help people take more autonomy over their ability to move. Do you have any suggestions? Please contact me and let me know below!
