Rules

I often think about this: Are there rules to movement? We have put rules on how to move, how to pick things up, how to stand, squat. I guess my real question is: Should there be rules to movement? 

No one taught you how to walk. When you were young, no one taught you how to crawl or roll or stand up. You learned how to do the perfect squat on your own. When you were a toddler and you went to pick up a ball, no one stopped you and showed you correct form. Growing up, there were no rules to movement. You developed quite well on your own - hopefully. 

Somewhere along the way as we age, we are given rules for movement. We now have to be taught how to squat, how to hold our head as we move, how to pick things up. There are hundreds of rules out there in the world of fitness when it comes to moving. Is this the way it is supposed to be? I really don't think so.

No one has to teach a baby how to move because a baby learns how to move naturally. And, babies keep on learning to move and they keep on moving to learn. It is quite a beautiful and circular process. This is the way it is meant to be. We are supposed to keep moving and in doing so we would know how to move. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We are taught to keep and sit still for hours upon hours a day. And in doing so, we forget and unlearn how to move. Thus, enter all the rules for movement. 

I am not saying the "rules" for movement, or lifting weights, or standing properly are wrong. They are obviously needed in our current world. I am saying though, that I don't think we were meant for rules. We weren't born with instruction manuals. We were born with a built in program that was designed to perfectly help us grow, develop and learn. We are just supposed to know how to squat, to know how to pick things up properly, to know how to run, to know how to MOVE. We were not meant to be taught proper form for a squat. Not only that, sometimes our rules are wrong! Remember the whole "don't lock your joints" phase? We don't even think about some rules! If we weren't supposed to lock our joints, why did God make our joints so they would lock? If we weren't supposed to squat past 90 degrees, why did God make it so we could squat butt to calves? I'll bet one day this whole neck position debate gets turned upside down too. We are perfectly made! Sorry - big tangent that could grow even larger, so I'll stop right here.

Anyway, if we just went back to the basics, if we just became a kid again and started to explore movement, I bet we would learn how to move again without having to be fed rules for how we should move. We (people) over complicate things. And we over complicate things because we think we are so smart that we can sit around all day and figure out how the body is supposed to move. That is upside down from how it should be. Our wisdom seems foolish at times. 

Should we move certain ways? Sure. Should we have to be taught how to move certain ways? I really don't think so - at least not if we would do what we were meant to do. You weren't born with a manual. 

Marinate on that and have a great week.

TA