Movement First
When we assess our training progress, we often assess it in terms of numbers—”How fast can I run?” “How much weight can I lift?” Or, we assess our progress in visual aesthetics—”How good do I look?” This is in no way a bad way of assessing progress, and we also advocate that you assess your progress in measurable terms—this is a helpful way of looking at your progress from a more objective standpoint. And as we have stressed in other articles, there is a correlation between strength and conditioning numbers and aesthetics. If you lift the same as last year, then there is a good chance that you look the same, too.
But there is a different way that you can assess progress, and we think it is a superior approach—focusing on movement first. That means constantly striving for ideal movement patterns, recording them with your smartphone, and reviewing your progress over time. What movements need the most work? What movement patterns have you mastered? This is about mobility, for sure, but it’s also about your strength in the entire range of motion of a particular movement.
The squat is a perfect exercise to explore this methodology. If you look at any member of the Chinese national weightlifting team, you will see very fit individuals, that are all squatting “ass to the grass,” with perfectly upright torsos, moving insane amounts of weight. It’s easy to admire them—we envy their physical appearance, their strength, and their movement pattern—but if we want to be more like them, which of these qualities should we strive for first? Yes—you guessed it—the movement pattern. Hence the title of this article “Movement First.”
We should ignore the weight and the aesthetics, and learn the movement perfectly. If we keep the squat as an analogy, then mobility will often be an issue. But instead of doing a lot of mobility and yoga, try using the squat itself as a mobility routine. Alternate between slow eccentric and concentric movements and use pauses in the different phases of the movement. This will promote mobility and strength throughout the movement and make you a better mover. When you’ve mastered the movement, then add more weight.
These same principles hold true if you have never laid eyes on the Chinese national weightlifting team, and are working on body weight squats in your living room. Can you sit in the bottom position of a squat, with a straight back and upright torso? It was second nature to us as toddlers—we could all do it then, and with a little work, we can do it now. If we don’t strive for these ideal movement patterns, then we will settle for movement compensations that will result in tighter and tighter muscles, and eventual injury. If we strive for ideal movement patterns during training, they will transfer to our everyday lives. We will pick up our kids properly, carry firewood properly—even pick something off the floor properly—and we will stay injury-free and mobile.
We have spent plenty of time exploring the other side of this coin. We have both spent years training powerlifting and weightlifting movements, in an attempt to improve our performances in CrossFit. We were always gunning for heavier and heavier lifts, and often the movement quality suffered, and eventually we ended up with back, shoulder, and hip injuries. Now we are putting “Movement First,” and even sending videos to each other so we can coach each other in performing better movement patterns. And, guess what? Our lifting numbers are starting to rise.
In our opinion, it is well worth the investment to hire a coach to help you with basic movement patterns. If this is not an option for you right now, check out some videos of the Chinese national weightlifting team for inspiration—it would be a huge victory if we could all do a bodyweight squat as well as they squat 250 kg. Or, grab a training buddy and coach each other’s movement patterns. Aim for better movement, and not for more weight. Here is a link to our YouTube channel, where we have addressed movement patterns and mobility:
Here’s to putting “Movement First,”
Scott & Lennart