Why Move?
The body was designed to move, that fact is most dysfunction develops when you stop moving. When you stop moving you lose muscle, your metabolism slows, your joints get stiffer and you lose the ability to function. This is the first article on looking at why it is essential to move.
You may have heard the statement use it or lose it. This statement rings true for your body, when you live a sedentary lifestyle. One of the major impacts a sedentary lifestyle will have on your body is a loss in your ability to move into a full range of movement- by this we mean moving to the end point of a movement. Muscles are weaker at the end phase of a contraction, this means as a person muscles weaken due to a sedentary lifestyle that their ability to move and support their body weight is reduced. This is often seen when a person sits down, rather than siting into the chair they fall. Demonstrating a loss of the muscles ability to support the person’s body weight as they sit (which is the end range of movement).
When you live sedentary life, your body loses muscle (hence, use it or lose it), and they become weaker. This then amplifies the weaker zones of the muscles that then lead to a decrease in a person’s ability to move. More specifically impacting movements such as sitting, stepping off a cure and getting up and down from the floor. By participating in a good functional strength training program, you prevent muscle loss. More importantly you will work the muscles through this weak phase preventing further loss of strength and muscle atrophy. This increases the strength of your muscles, and improves your body’s ability to move into the end range movements – increasing your range of movement.
Squats help you sit, lunges help you get up off the floor, dips and push ups help you push yourself up off a bench/chair, shoulder press helps you reach over your head. All of which are essential aspects of living great quality of life. So, keep moving.
