MOVE: January 30, 2015

Taking Inventory and Moving Right

Spoiler Summary: The human body was built to MOVE - and if you play your cards right, it can keep going and going and going.

There I was, in front of a room of about 50 (or so) construction workers about to talk through some techniques that are known to warm the body up and lower the risk of injury in the process. These weren't just any techniques, they were chosen based on both the knowledge of the tasks, the challenge of doing so in a group and the social barriers ("this seems weird" mentality) that sometimes overtakes groups who try to avoid looking silly in front of their peers.  It wasn't the first time I had spoken on this particular topic.  It wasn't even the first time for this group.....but somehow, this time was different.  People were paying close attention and almost every person was up trying the techniques.  Some made it look easy, others struggled some, but to my surprise, almost every person was making an attempt.

Why should this seem like such a big deal?  Almost every person who does heavy work knows the fine balance between pushing too hard and recovering......and many see the training and effort athletes put in to "stay in the game" for as long a stretch as possible and know it makes sense; but knowing and doing are not the same.....more like distant cousins.....and since doing (consistently over time) is what improves health and lowers safety risk....knowing is only one of many steps.

At some point however, when the outcome is important enough, and the plan required to achieve that outcome is clear enough, knowing morphs into doing....maybe only in a fleeting way....but at first that doesn't matter....because once an action is taken, inertia has been overcome and the ball is rolling.  For this group at least, it seems that moving in a healthy and pain free way was important enough.....and I was totally impressed.

Now, there was of course work to be done - even though the group was generally healthy, perhaps as much as 25% of the group needed a few pointers and modifications on where to start in order to start nudging the aches from years-gone-by in the right direction - but they didn't hesitate; they knew it would be work and they were still ready to put in the effort and begin correcting the way their body moves.  Some were surprised to learn how tightly integrated health risks and impaired movement really are (nutrition, sleep and smoking having as big an impact on aches/pains and body stress as they have on mental stress in many ways), but it still didn't stop them....they wanted to move forward....they wanted to move well.

So how about you?  Are you moving well?  Here are a few simple questions you can ask yourself if you're not sure:

1. Am I sitting or otherwise sedentary for more than 10 hours total (not including sleeping time) per day?

2. Do I have a body area that "acts ups" and limits me from work or play?

3. Am I fearful of being more active, that my health won't allow it?

4. Am I easily out of breath, such as at the top of a flight of stairs?

Any combination of 2 "yes" answers makes it likely there are areas worth improving in regards to movement and therefore health.

Although it may seem frustrating, and even impossible at times, it doesn't have to be complicated.  Our bodies were built to MOVE....sometimes they just need a plan to do so more frequently or better.

Have a great week,

Mike E.