Twist but Don’t Shout
If you’ve ever spent time working out in a weight room of some kind, I’m wondering what was your approach to training? And I’m wondering if your approach was anything like mine :)? I would approach resistance (weight) training thinking about different muscle groups. For instance, today is a leg day or a core day or a back and arms day or etc. I think you get where I’m going here. It simply made some sense to me to float around the different groups of muscles in a way that many fitness magazines write about.
However, while studying the ACE personal trainer program, I discovered a whole new way to approach fitness training, which includes resistance training. This program encourages breaking down resistance training by their movement patterns that are critical to all the activities of daily living. These five movement patterns include:
Bend-and-lift movements (ie. squats) - We do this movement throughout the day in activities like sitting down and getting up from our desks, getting in and out of our cars, going to the bathroom, etc.
Single-leg movements (ie. lunges) Walking is the very definition of a single leg movement that requires both balance, strength and movement.
Pushing movements, which happen in 4 directions - Forward (ie. push-ups), like pushing open a door, Overhead (ie. shoulder press), like pushing that carry-on bag into the overhead bin, Lateral (ie. , pushing from the side like getting up from lying on one’s side, Downward (ie. dips), pushing oneself up out of your cozy reading chair. NOTE: Be very careful with ‘pushing movements’ when resistance training because incorrect movements can lead to an injury of the very complex and sensitive shoulder joint.
Pulling movements (ie. bent over row) - opening the car door or picking a suitcase up off the floor are examples of pulling movements.
Rotational (spiral) movements - We do these all day and are mostly unaware of it. For instance, in the passenger seat of a car reaching around with your right hand to grab something from the back seat or, in my case, every time I’m out in my rowing scull, twisting my thoracic spine to do a check on a boat I can hear speeding towards me on the water or when I’m twisting my spine to safely see the dock and my landing as I return home. And for those of you familiar with rowing sculls, with not a lot of boat under me, these twists of my thoracic spine need to be very controlled if I don’t want to flip my rowing scull.
When focusing on these 5 movements, the goal is to set the stage for functional aging, being able to physically do the activities of daily living with no impingement. Therefore, the focus of training through these 5 movement patterns need to focus on building muscular endurance while also promoting mobility. You want to focus on a neutral posture, remaining controlled through your body’s centre of gravity and normal range of motion.
Here’s the thing, it’s easy to blow past thinking about training the 5 movement patterns, rolling into a gym and start lifting weights. The problem with this approach is that you will increase your likelihood of suffering an injury, or simply getting bored in the gym because you’re unable to progress, if you haven’t dealt with your postural issues (see: Straighten before you Strengthen) and built up a foundation of these essential 5 movement patterns.
SOURCE: American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer Manual Chapter 5