What is movement?

Movement is the process or the state of changing place or position of the body or a body
part from one position to another
Movement – it’s so simple, yet vital for life: Our bodies are designed to move in all different
directions; we run, jump, walk, swim, bend forward, backwards and so on. It’s movement
that gives us healthy joints, strong bones, physical strength, good circulation; including
cardiovascular circulation, good coordination and reflex reactivity; improved learning skills
and concentration, and mental well-being.
Movement is a fundamental aspect of life. Movement is more than just exercise and does
not necessarily require effort, though it does require action. Movement affects everything,
from circulation to digestion to metabolism to immunity. With movement, our bodies
regulate hormone activity, detoxify and respire.
If you don’t move all day, you won’t burn many calories, so you are likely to get overweight.
Also, your muscles and joint will stiffen up from lack of use. You’ll not feel comfortable;
you’ll be in pain. Our bodies are designed for movement; not for sitting.
Three Types of Basic Body Movement

1. Locomotor Movement is a type of movement in which the body travels through

space from one location to another location. In locomotor movements, the body is
not anchored in place and is moving through the transfer of weight from one area of
the body to another.
2. Non-locomotor Movement any movement that does not travel, but uses the
available space in any direction or movement organized around the axis of the body
(axial movement); bending, twisting, stretching, and swinging are examples of axial
movement
3. Manipulative Movements are motor skills that help you in handling objects with
your hands, feet, and other parts of the body.

Movement competence typically refers to how someone is moving—when we demonstrate

movement competence, we move in a safe or effective manner, or both, in order to achieve
the objective of the activity that we are performing.
Regardless of who we are or what activities we are involved in, how we move
matters. It matters when we are participating in an activity or a sport, going about our daily
routines, or performing a job-related task. Moving competently matters to everyone,
everywhere, because we all want to perform well in whatever we do while remaining safe
and free of injury.
Ultimately, when we reflect on why movement competence is so important, it comes
down to one thing: being able to do all the things we need or love to do so that we can enjoy
life today and well into the future.
 Movement competencies are essential to participate in physical activity. If
movement competencies are not developed and nurtured from a young age, this can lead to
inactivity and the health and social problems linked to inactivity.
It encompasses qualities such as balance, coordination, mobility, stability, and
control. When movement competency is present our bodies move with fluidity, strength
and precision, allowing us to navigate various physical challenges with ease.

What Influences How We Move?

How we move while performing any physical activity, whether that activity is
something we need or want to do, is influenced by many factors—for example, our
motivation, our abilities, and the environment. Movement is influenced by our
characteristics as individuals and by everything around us. In other words, how we move
depends on the context in which we are performing an activity. The factors that influence
our movement patterns can be broadly categorized into three types:
Personal factors Think about how and why you move as an individual while
throwing a baseball. How you throw the ball will be influenced by many unique personal
characteristics, including your physical attributes, fitness level, coordination, confidence,
attitude, emotions, motivation, and awareness of both your body and your surroundings.
For instance, factors such as limited shoulder range of motion, feeling exhausted after a late
night, or playing baseball every summer for the past six years could all influence how you
throw a ball.
Environmental factors How you throw a baseball is also influenced by the
environment you are in. For instance, the surface on which you are standing (e.g., grass
versus pavement), the temperature (e.g., hot versus cold), weather conditions (e.g., rainy
versus sunny), background sounds or music, verbal instructions from a coach, and the
presence of social groups such as friends or peers could all influence how you throw
the ball.
The task or activity Lastly, features of the specific task or activity that you are
performing will influence your movement. When you throw a baseball, task-related factors
such as the size and weight of the ball or the type of pitch being thrown will influence how
you move. Suppose you were throwing a boomerang instead of a baseball. This difference
could clearly influence your throwing action.
When someone lifts a bag into an overhead compartment on a plane, various
contextual factors affect the person’s movement patterns. These factors include the
person’s size, strength, and fitness; the size, weight, and shape of the bag; and the
temperature inside the cabin of the plane. Think of other examples of how your movement
patterns are influenced by personal, environmental, or task-specific factors.
Balancing Our Demands and Capacity
How we move is central to balancing our capacity and demands. This perspective is
known as the demands capacity framework. To perform at our best and maintain good
health both today and in the future, we must have the capacity (e.g., the awareness,
motivation, and ability) to handle the demands of our lives—the activities we need or want
to perform on a daily basis.
Regardless of what activities define your daily life, all the activities you want or need
to do reflect your demands. Capacity is a term used to describe your confidence, motivation,
strength, endurance, flexibility, and so on—in performing a physical activity safely and
proficiently.
Demands are the activities you need and want to perform safely and effectively.
Capacity is your ability, awareness, motivation, etc. to perform those activities safely
and effectively.
When your demands are greater than your capacity, the risk of musculoskeletal
injury, cardiac distress, and respiratory distress increases, while your performance and
your quality of life decrease.
When your capacity is greater than your demands, however, the risk of
musculoskeletal injury, cardiac distress, and respiratory distress decreases, while your
performance and your quality of life increase.
The Seven Key Movement Features
As a first step in improving your movement competence, it is important to know
which features of a movement pattern matter. When performing activities such as jumping
for a rebound, lifting a backpack, or sitting in a chair while studying, which aspects of your
movement will influence your performance, your susceptibility to injury, or your long-
term health? Paying attention to the seven key movement features, which are shown and
described in detail on the following page, can help you build your capacity and enhance
your overall quality of life.
Failure to understand your movement competency and engaging in physical
activities with poor movement quality can have significant consequences. Activities
performed without proper movement competency can lead to increased stress on joints,
imbalances in muscle activation, and inefficient energy expenditure. Ultimately, this results
in decreased performance, increased risk of injury, and time lost due to necessary recovery
and rehabilitation. Simply becoming aware of these key movement features could change
your movement behaviours, alter your daily movement habits, and improve your
enjoyment of life. The seven key movement features are:
1 Knees in line with the feet and hips
2 Body weight centered over mid-foot
3 Normal low back curvature (avoid rounding and arching)
4 Normal low back curvature (avoid bending sideways—the shoulders and hips remain
parallel)
5 Shoulders and hips rotate together
6 Shoulders down and away from the ears
7 Shoulders back (elbow and shoulder move in the same direction)

Improving your performance and reducing injury risk

Integrating or “ingraining” the seven key movement features into your daily activities so that
they become habits will go a long way to preventing injuries to your joints, bones, muscles,
ligaments, and tendons. Integrating the seven key features into your daily routines will also
help you improve your performance. These key movement features are relevant to everyone,
everywhere. They provide a common framework that you, your friends, and your family can use
to understand and improve your movement competence in ways that are meaningful to you.
Take a look at these pictures to see these:
Fundamental Movement Patterns
Have you ever wondered why some elite or professional athletes have enjoyed such
long careers and have managed to avoid career-ending injuries, while others have not?
Similarly, have you ever wondered why some of your adult role models have managed to stay
fit, healthy, and injury-free, while others have experienced poor health or been hurt? The
answers to these questions are complex. However, one potential reason for many of the
success stories you hear about is that these individuals are often very competent movers.
Learning to move better. The good news is that we can all learn to move better,
regardless of our life’s pursuits and current abilities. We can learn to move more competently
at school, at home, at work, and at play. In order to become better movers, however, we need
a way to categorize or describe the various recreational, sport-related, or work-related
activities that we perform.
 All human movement, no matter how complex, involves variations of general or
fundamental movement patterns. These patterns are commonly listed as: • push • pull • squat
• lunge• hinge
These patterns can be used to describe and help us better understand activities that we
perform daily, such as tying our shoes, lifting objects, and playing our favorite games and
activities. We push or pull to open doors, and we squat or lunge to pick up objects from the
floor. We hinge every time we bend at the waist.
By reading what follows, you will learn how these fundamental movement patterns give
us a framework for describing, observing, and evaluating how we perform the complex skills
involved in our sport-, work-, or life-related activities. Whether you wish to be an elite athlete
or to perform everyday tasks safely and efficiently, learning how to perform these patterns
properly—in particular, by maintaining the seven key features—will help you attain your goal.
Push. A push movement pattern often involves moving an external object away from
your body or pushing your body away from an object or surface, as in a push-up. Most
descriptions of pushing as a fundamental movement pattern refer to the upper body only. In
performing a push pattern, however, actual movement is not always necessary. A front plank is
a push pattern, for example, as is holding a picture up against a wall before hanging it. The
push-up is an effective exercise for improving core stability and upper-body pushing strength.
Push-ups can strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, and abdominal muscles (see Chapter 4).
The push-up is also an excellent exercise for improving control of key feature number 3, which
focuses on keeping your lower back straight and avoiding arching or rounding. Properly
performed pushing exercises require precise levels of motor control, functional strength, and
body alignment that can be achieved through practice and repetition. Pushing a small suitcase
overhead to stow it away in a closet and pushing a grocery cart, lawnmower, snow shovel, or a
snow blower are examples of pushing movements used in daily life. Pushing tactics in football
and rugby are examples of pushing movements used in sports. When an offensive lineman
pushes against a defensive lineman to create space for a throwing or running play, the offensive
lineman is using a push pattern.
Pull. A pull movement pattern is the opposite of a push movement pattern: generally,
you pull an object toward your body, or pull your body toward an object. Like pushing, pulling is
typically used to describe the upper body only. As for pushing, movement is not necessary to
use a pull movement pattern. Pulling is the act of contracting against a load or resistance.
Hanging from monkey bars, performing an isometric biceps curl, and carrying groceries in both
hands are all examples of a pull pattern. A single-arm tubing row, shown here, is a variation of
a pull pattern. This exercise can help improve control of key feature number 7—keeping the
shoulders back and elbow and shoulder aligned in the same direction. As everyday examples,
we use a pull pattern when we lower window shades and pull open fridge doors. We use a pull
pattern when kayaking, sailing, wind-surfing, and rock climbing. Shooting a bow and arrow
involves both pushing and pulling patterns
 Squat. Frequently, a squat movement pattern requires lowering your body weight by
bending your ankles and knees. A squat movement pattern is unique to the lower body
compared to pushing and pulling. Doing a squat exercise like the one shown here builds overall
leg strength, especially in the muscles that affect the hips, knees, and ankles. To perform a
squat exercise properly, start by using your own body weight as resistance. You can then
increase the level of difficulty by adding further resistance using dowelling, dumbbells, barbells,
or kettlebells. This exercise can help improve control of key feature number 2—body weight
over mid-foot—to enhance performance and reduce risk of injury. We use a squat pattern
every time we get in and out of a car, sit down, and get up off a chair. Baseball catchers,
wrestlers, and football players use a squat pattern when performing their sport-specific
activities. Jumping for a rebound in basketball is a squat pattern, as are all two-foot jumps.
Snowboarding, skateboarding, and surfing all involve a squat pattern.
Lunge. The lunge movement pattern generally involves one leg extended or bent in
front of the body while the other leg is extended or bent behind the body. This pattern includes
any form of gait: walking, running, skipping, and so on. Like the squat pattern, the lunge pattern
is specific to the lower body. You can do a lunge exercise in any direction—forward, backward,
and sideways. The forward lunge exercise, shown here, is an excellent way to build strength in
the muscles that affect the hips, knees, and ankles, depending on how it is performed. Safe and
effective performance of a lunge exercise involves integrating and maintaining control of key
feature number 1: keeping your knees in line with your hips and your feet. Activities such as
gardening, tying your shoelaces, and picking something up off the ground all involve the lunge
pattern. Key feature number 1 is relevant here: whether you are running after a ball or cross-
country skiing, your knees should always be in line with your hips and your feet. Pitching in
baseball, hitting a ball in cricket, and performing a dig in volleyball all require players to use a
lunge pattern
Hinge. The hinge movement pattern (also known as the “hip hinge pattern”) describes
any movement that involves flexion and extension of the hips. Ideally, the spine will be kept in a
neutral position to prevent injury, maximize performance, or improve quality of life. For
example, a basic understanding and use of this pattern can help prevent lower back injuries
when you are picking objects off the ground, going from a sitting position to a standing position,
moving furniture, or even brushing your teeth. Think back to key features number 3 (no arching
or rounding), number 4 (no lateral bend), and number 5 (no twisting). The hip hinge is
important for performance as well. It is the basis of the athletic-ready stance, it is critical to the
vertical jump, and it is the dominant pattern in sports such as rowing. Track athletes also begin
their race by adopting a hinge pattern to position themselves in the blocks. Baseball players
hinge when accelerating forward to chase down a ground ball. Basketball players hinge when
dribbling the ball to avoid defenders.