Movement Vocabulary
There's a lot to write about with the goings on of the last week or so.
And if I'm honest, I don't really know where to start.
So let's start with something simple
Son no 1
Oh, hang on, I'm not saying he's simple...
But he did just turn 18 years old.
Many on this email list will remember him being tiny and hanging out in
Wild Geese
Well, that tiny little fella is an 18 yr old lump of a lad, how time has
flown!
This brings me to something I saw on Facebook the other day posted by a
coach I have followed for longer than my kid has been alive, Eric
Cressey of Cressey Sports Performance.
He posted:
"The "Just lift heavy and play your sport" approach to development gets
more antiquated each day.
As early sports specialisation becomes more commonplace, we need
strength and conditioning to provide the rich proprioceptive environment
a multi-sport athlete would normally get"
And in watching my lad become a staple of the Dungannon Hurling clubs
back half, I can see exactly what Cressey is getting at.
Many kids are not getting in the general physical activity previous
generations had, and many kids are locking into a single sport early,
which the sport coaches love, but so many lads in their early 20's are
suffering for as a result.
What is a "rich proprioceptive environment"?
To put it simply, it's exposure to a large movement vocabulary.
In the old day, like when I was a kid, here's a run down of what we
would call a normal day:
School - 1st break, playground games such as chase, scarecrow tig,
bulldog, more class, lunch break - often football, maybe more of what we
did in early break, more class, afternoon break, same as 1st break.
After school, food, then out to meet friends which would often involve
more football, bikes and bike races, any other sport anyone had any kit
for (cricket bats, any size of ball) or army using sticks as guns,
crawling through bushes and climbing trees. There'd be climbing over
wall and onto garage roofs to retrieve balls, and take short cuts.
And I'd also be at karate
In short, a wide variety of activities, leading to a wide exposure to
different movement and loading, which granted us a natural athleticism.
The word "proprioception" describes how we intuitively know where our
limbs are in relation to each other.
It's how you can, and please try this, close your eyes and accurately
touch your nose with your index finger.
Anyone who is described as athletic, coordinated, graceful, cat-like,
has great proprioception.
If you pick up new physical skills quickly, you have good proprioception.
To trip and catch yourself before you fall, that's proprioception.
To jump and land, to get out of alignment and find your way back while
still in motion, that is proprioception.
And that last point, getting out of alignment and finding your way back
is the magic of proprioception, and the result of being exposed to a
large movement vocabulary.
I will try not to type "proprioception" again.....
In my years coaching, I have noticed those who did traditional martial
arts, dance and/or gymnastics grow into easily coachable adults, those
sports by their very nature have a large movement vocabulary.
Athletes who play a variety of sports growing up, get exposed to lots of
different movement and loading strategies.
Those who specialise, not only get exposed to less variety, but the
patterns they do get exposed to are likely done with higher frequency.
This is how "training scars" form.
Specialisation leaves gaps, and it's these gaps that become weaknesses
Weaknesses that may have been exposed in another environment safely, but
may be exposed catastrophically in the specialised environment down the
line.
So, with kids not playing out so much, and people specialising early,
could it fall to the S&C coach to give people more exposure to movement?
I believe so.
So did a guy called Gregg Glassman, the guy who started a thing called
Crossfit, you may have heard of it.....
And as much as I have spoken out about crossfit and that Glassman is not
the best example of a good human being, he was on to something.
Variety is a good thing, and if we're not getting it anywhere else, lets
get it in training.
I did just that with my general population training in WG-Fit.
Having people train with Kettlebells and their bodyweight, using a
variety of exercises, workout and movements, people thrived.
Their movement vocabulary expanded and as a result, they found
themselves feeling unstoppable.
And we'd have former athletes, injured athletes, non athletes and
regular joes and janes training side by side and having a ball.
The thing with variety is it can be hard to track, which is why S&C
coaches don't like it.
It's easy to see your Squat numbers going up week on week, but it's not
as easy to predict progress if you're swapping how you squat on a
regular basis.
But what are we really training for?
Is it squat numbers or is it performance out in the world?
If you're a competitive lifter, ok, but I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to the people who want to perform out in the world.
You don't need to go full crossfit, I like variety, but not a fan of
randomness.
But you do need to build movement vocabulary.
So use different moves.
Explore mobility in your warm ups, go onto You tube and search Dave
Hedges 100 Rep Warm Ups
Do joint mobility exercises, like in my online course
Rotate main lifts, from double limb (bilateral) to single limb (unilateral)
Use swinging implements, like kettlebells, clubs, bulgarian bags etc
Play with different locomotion patterns, from crawling to jumping and
bounding
Tumble, roll, cartwheel
Be playful
And take this stuff out of the gym
You can do mobility and movement stuff in your kitchen.
You can leapfrog over bollards (please don't end up in a "fails" reel...)
You can duck under branches in the local park
It's simple
Not easy
But it can be a lot of fun, if you have a sense of humour and the good
grace to laugh at yourself!
--
Regards
Dave Hedges
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