“Motivation gets you started. HABIT keeps you going” Jim Rohn

I have no problem with the initial motivation, but remaining consistent tends to be the hardest part. The reason I feel I’ve let myself down is because I actually set myself up for failure from the outset. I expected to be able to sustain a huge shift change, just because I’d decided to, rather than building up gradually until the new version was created by simple regular habits.

I hear you. It might not be something you think is a requirement to age well. But I’m not necessarily talking about jumping from a great height or over huge obstacles, so hear me out!

In this blog, I’ll make the case for how jumping, leaping, or any movement that increases the level of impact through your body, even to a small degree, can benefit your body.

Having worked with clients for nearly 4 years now, and since being in pain myself and learning more about biomechanics, I’ve realised just how much the function of one joint can be directly affected by the way another joint moves further up or down the body… Then the story becomes complicated to unravel!

When your hips cause you pain, there are so many things that can be happening as they are such a complicated part of the body.

It’s often the case that daily movement comes lower down the pecking order at this time of year and there’s an increase in longer periods of sedentarism. If we’re fortunate enough to be able to celebrate this festive season with friends and loved ones, let’s turn that on its head and help and be accountable to each other to prioritise daily movement.

Unlike advice about only eating 3 healthy meals a day and avoiding snacking, movement is beneficial to us at any (& every!) time of the day. Obviously 3 larger ‘meals’ of movement would be hugely beneficial, but it’s rare to be able to carve out that time in your day.

It’s far more beneficial to ‘snack’ (or sip) on movement throughout the day to help break up prolonged, but often necessary, periods of sitting.

There are so many false promises out there! I shy away from making specific claims or saying ‘doing X, will fix Y’, because without seeing a person, knowing their individual history and understanding their current life and struggles, how can that claim possibly become a reality, unless it’s through sheer luck?

We all know that we lose muscle mass from quite an early stage in our lives and that bone density decreases due to losing minerals faster than we can lay down new bone. Great!

So, does that mean we’ve all got to don some lycra and hit the gym whether we like it or not?! No! I always think it’s best to start adding in daily movements that involve load bearing and then, if you enjoy the way it feels to be stronger and more capable, it might lead you to create your own intentional ‘loading’ practise.

But it’s best not to jump the gun though and instead work up from where your body is at right now!

Practicality in movement ‘training’

One of the things I struggle with is practising exercises or movement patterns that I don't feel have obvious uses in regular daily movement. Some things I've done in the past and even some things I still occasionally do, feel very reductionist in nature and repetitive.

When I can't imagine myself doing the movement in nature or around the house, I find it less easy to engage with the movement as I find myself thinking, ‘Why are we doing this again?’ If I don't know and can’t guess the answer, I quickly become disengaged.

That’s where ‘whole body movement’ comes in…

We often take our feet for granted, but they actually play a crucial role in our overall well-being and movement. When foot problems arise, we quickly realise their significance as we can suddenly find ourselves capable of doing very little. Surprisingly, many people still fail to recognize the connection between foot health, mobility, agility, and how it affects the rest of our bodies. When we don't actively care for our feet, it can lead to restricted mobility, pain, and other issues. In this blog, I’m going to look at the significance of our wonderful feet, as the ‘foundations of our body’ and the benefits of looking after them!

Living in a more developed world than our predecessors has given us increased life expectancy. I’m very grateful for all the years I will hopefully have on this earth and work hard to ensure I am healthy enough to enjoy them all!

At what (movement) opportunity cost?

Progress, however, can also have its disadvantages. Many things that make our lives more comfortable and increased convenience reduce the amount of daily movement we have to have to survive, and this has a direct impact on our health, both short and long-term.

The fortunate ones taking walking for granted, until we suddenly have reason not to. A hugely beneficial movement both physically and mentally than can bring us so much more than merely putting one foot in front of the other. Read this blog for tips and motivation to walk well for life.

Alignment matters: 3 ways to audit our alignment, 3 things that affect it and things we can do to help

When we challenge our movements less, we can become fearful of falling, leading to reduced confidence in our overall ability. The solution is to mix up our daily movements and add in natural movements that keep us mobile and strong.

You wouldn’t drink your daily 2 litres of water in one go. The same goes for your movement. Try to take sips of natural movement all day.