The 4 Reasons Why Movement Matters To You And Your Family
This article is about why movement is specific to you and your family and how to get the most out of your time doing it.
We are born to move.
There is not secret for why we should get moving and what happens when we don’t.
There is one common misconception that us humans continue to deceive ourselves with…
After many years of working with 100s of clients from international athletes to kids and those who just want a better quality of life, there is one thing that gets me more than most when it comes to movement.
The biggest deception that we always tell ourselves is that “I’m doing okay for <insert age>”.
Commonly this was said by people who live in a chronic state of pain or struggle to get up and down a set of stairs. I saw many people throughout a day for years on end and I can honestly say that it is not ‘normal’ to be middle-aged and struggle to maintain 10 minutes of activity in the park with your kids.
Should this ever be completely normal, I will be very disappointed.
The solutions to get on top of movement and back on your feet are very straight forward and simple with the right action and plan of movement. The great thing about movement is that it is not exclusive and there are so many ways to do it!
You really just need to ask yourself, “WHY?”. Why do you want to move and what is going to be the most beneficial to you?
When you understand just a small part of that, life becomes a lot easier!
When I was working in London, I had a particular client who was a very intelligent man who had done so much in the world of business but had neglected his physical health for so long.
When I first met him, he mentioned he wanted to “lose weight”, “sort my knee out”, “feel healthier”. The same thing I hear all the time… this is genuinely superficial to the actual problem that wants to be solved. I’m normally great at getting to the root of the problem but he was extra stubborn!
After several weeks of working and improving his knee and helping him lose weight week-to-week and building up a great relationship with him, he finally broke his hold on his deep and internal reason for wanting to train.
He said “Jordan, I just simply want to walk up a flight of stairs with a tray of drinks to my family without spilling them or losing my balance”. So simple, so important.
This may seem very trivial to you but this is a reality that many are on a trajectory for if we don’t act upon our health. I have written an article that talks about the risks of not creating movement throughout your whole life here.
You’ve got to ask yourself the question, would you allow yourself to be at a point where you’re subbing out of fun games or knocking back trips up the top of a waterslide because it’s too hard or draining on the body.
Or would you want to maintain enough spring in your step and a healthy body to eventually play with your grandkids! Now that would be something!
“Exercise and physical activity can be enjoyable. They give you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting.”
https://www.mayoclinic.org
The great thing about movement is that there are so many ways to do it! And it’s all up to you how you want to act on it!
Before you start anything, the 4 things you need to ask yourself about incorporating movement;
WHY do you want movement in your life?
“Lose weight”, “tone up”, “feel stronger”.
All very good reasons to get moving and very easy ways to measure progress. The only issue is that what problem are these solving?
Do you want to lose weight to fit into your old clothes? Do you want to ‘tone up’ to feel more confident in yourself? Do you want to be stronger so you can pick up the kids, do the washing or grab heavy objects and move them without an unexplainable lower back pain…?
All in all, helping you form your identity and be the role model of who you want to be.
When you find out your “Why”, the rest will easily fall into place.
WHAT do you want to include in your movement?
Once we’ve figured out what your ‘why’ is, we can move into the ‘what’.
What do you enjoy? What is going to put you on the right path to your why? Also, what can you do? As injuries may inhibit your capacity to handle many movements.
The ‘what’ is where we have to choose the right path to get there. There is not use doing endless ‘booty band’ workouts and ‘hot yoga’ if it’s not going to benefit you or get the family involved in it.
At Full Tribe we always lean towards sustainability and togetherness for a lot of the exercise we do. I never recommend doing all our sessions together as a family but I recommend bonding over something enjoyable and fun.
WHERE do you want to go with this?
Where and how far do you want or need to take this?
We don’t all want to get up on stage and show boat in front of a large audience. Most of us, want enough to do the things we want to do and enjoy the food that we want to eat.
There is only so much training that we need to get where we want to go and then we can either change goals or maintain what we have.
Movement is a constant and lifelong journey or exploration and we are the sailors that are a part of this voyage.
There is no use restricting ourselves of food and opportunity for something that we don’t need to.
So where would you like to take this journey?
WHO do you want to be?
Who are you now and who do you want to be?
Struggling up the stairs or running the local park run with the family?
It’s about shaping the identity of ourselves and who our family are.
There is no right or wrong answer for this, the values that you hold dear as a family and on an individual scale are crucial to figure this one out.
Take a moment to think about what you really want or book in a call to find out how you can get to the ‘why’ of what you want to do!
