Functional Movement is Vital for the Winter

There are plenty of complex explanations out there for functional movement, but we’ll keep it simple: it’s natural movement a human body partakes in each day. When a movement engages your joints in a full range of motion and relies on muscles to complete the motion – that’s functional movement. 

The seven basic movements the human body performs on a daily basis, without you truly realizing it: push, pull, lunge, rotation, gait, squat, and hinge. Throughout each day, without even participating in dedicated “gym workouts” the body performs all seven of these functional movements.

Push

At any time during the day that you push  weight away from your body, you’re engaged in a functional movement. Your chest, triceps, and front shoulders are working together to push a door open, a box out of the way, or a stack of papers from one spot on your desk to another. 

Pull

Does anyone truly pay attention to how many times a day you pull something? If you’re pulling any kind of weight towards your body in a horizontal motion, it engages the mid and upper back, along with biceps, forearms and rear shoulders. Nothing has to be super heavy, it just has to require any kind of weight and the motion in order to be labeled functional movement. Pull open a door, or pull your dog on a leash to keep them from running into the street, and that’s movement!

Lunge

All it takes is one foot further forward than the other foot to perform a lunge. We may not realize we lunge during the course of a regular day, because we normally only think about lunges when we’re in the gym doing them for our personal trainer. But, if you start to pay attention, you’ll catch yourself in a lunge and nod to yourself when you remember this article! Like “yeah, damn, Be Well was right, I do lunge”.

Rotation

We rotate all day long in our cars, office chairs, while we cook, and when we’re dealing with kids. If you’re using your core, rotation is happening. Play sports? It’s the main motion when you’re throwing or kicking a ball, and if you change directions when running or walking. 

Gait

Gait is a fancy word for how we walk. We involve a variety of movements in our gait like lunging and rotating. If your gait is funky, it affects your entire body. If your body doesn’t step down properly, it can cause excruciating pain to your knees, hips, and back. Knowing the proper walking motion can help alleviate a number of joint aches and pains!

Squat

How many times do you squat to get a pot out of your lower kitchen cabinets, or to check on what’s roasting in an oven? Need to see something on a low shelf at the store, what do you do? You squat down low to get a closer look at the items on the shelf. Strong glutes, along with a strong core and quads create a much smoother squat motion that can also help you avoid causing injuries.

Hinge

If you pick things up off the floor by bending over, not squatting, you’re involved in a hinge functional movement. If your butt kicks back and your spine remains neutral, it’s the hinge movement. Most people don’t know this is what it’s called, and most people just say “bending over”. Whatever you refer to it as, you want to have a strong set of hamstrings, glutes and of course, a strong lower back. 

In the winter months, our bodies tend to tighten up in cold temperatures. Muscle and tendon elasticity decline when temperatures decrease, and blood flow also declines in lower temperatures. We also participate in activities that are taxing on our bodies, like shoveling snow. 

In order to avoid serious injuries in winter months, improving your functional movement is vital. If you happen to injure yourself, in order to heal faster, functional movement is once again vital to your recovery.