We were built to move in all the ways. Most of us aren’t doing that, and it’s to our detriment.
Our bodies are constructed of layers of muscle surrounding the axis of our spines, and because of that structure, we have the ability to bend, rotate, reach, and roll.
Our bodies have the potential to lunge and jump, to brace against force and to drive against it, as well.
If reading this is triggering a bodily memory that’s making you antsy to get up and GO, I’m not surprised. Except in cases where extenuating circumstances apply, this is how most of us moved about as children.
But somewhere along the way, most of us stopped moving in all the ways we can. This doesn’t apply only to those who are sedentary. Even those of us who do belong to a health club (in America, that’s 52.9 million people, according to recent research) tend to perform the exact same movements nearly every time we go.
Unfortunately, both ends of the spectrum—too little exercise OR too much of the same old thing—can lead to pain in the back, hips, shoulders, elbows, and so on. (In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, about 80 percent of adults experience low-back pain at some point in their lifetimes! That pain is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed workdays.)