The Essence of Movement

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Recently I had a couple light bulb moments and thought I would share them with you, otherwise I tend to forget them. I wrote about efficiency of movement before, but would like to speak of it again. Most fitness classes, gyms, or anything other form of exercise neglects this form of training, except for some types of yoga, dance, acrobats, martial arts, gymnasts, etc. That is moving with grace and elegance. When you workout, do you ever practice movements  with grace and have smooth transitions from one position to another? Sadly, we very rarely practice this skill, because it is a skill. The beauty in movement is the grace and elegance of the body and how it moves. This beauty is achieved by being fluid and efficient in your craft or skill.

Movement is velocity specific, that is, our muscles know how to move only at the speed they are trained. So if you only do slow, controlled movement like weight lifting with defined pauses then trying to dance Salsa or Tai Chi, will feel weird because your body is not used to moving at those speeds and flowing into movement. You see all the celebrities wanting to get on “Dancing with the Stars” because they usually end up losing so much weight, and it is because dancing requires you to move around with grace, and not be stuck at a desk all day, which tends to burn a heck of a  lot of calories. Practice the Cha Cha, salsa, and ballroom for 6 days week 5 hours a day, and I’m sure you will lose weight as well!

While taking up a full time job as a dance instructor may be impractical, I have found these types of movements/workouts to be extremely effective at helping the body to recover from lifting or any activity. This is not surprising, because you are asking the body to work in full ranges of motion under neural control, while promoting blood flow to all the major areas of the body which helps flush out and feed nutrients to the muscles. It also happens to be one of the best flexibility workouts, because you have to move in big ranges of motion while keeping the body under control. It also helps calm the mind, and shift you into a more parasympathetic dominant state. Which in today’s world of stimulating environments, chaos, deadlines, and stress, is probably a good thing. You have to find a balance between the hard and soft, yin and yang. Another great thing is it burns calories and helps that foundational physical fitness, or just called “being in shape.” You don’t have to sign up for a Tai Chi Class or dance class, just find some space, and teach your body to flow, be soft, graceful, elegant,and aim for movements that are in reverse/opposite of your typical posture, and try to go the same speed. Check these out…

Flow on Stability Ball – I would tend to go slower at the same speed.

Back Bridge Flow – If too hard try standing up facing away from a wall 1 ft away .

4 Movement Flow – beginner version

Tumbling Flow – Scott Sonnon tumble moves

I tend to like doing this stuff 1-2x/week for no more than 30 min. Works great before or after a workout,  or as a separate recovery session. Try it out, let me know what you think, leave comments!