What is Motion IQ – And why should you care?

Push, Pull, lift, rotate, twist, hinge, lunge, squat, gait, balance

Yep all of these are relevant and good for you when moving your body.

But what does all this mean to someone who isn’t a fitness professional?

Probably not much but let me explain to you in simple terms why these are necessary for your body.

 

Motion IQ is movement intelligence or what I am always referring to as mind-body connection.

It is the awareness of one’s body, the particular movement and how it moves through space.

And we are on auto pilot most of the time with little to no awareness of how the body does what it does.

You would most likely perform all of these movement patterns in a day, however, are you aware of them?

Push – Pushing a stroller, pushing a chair or table away

Pull – Pulling a heavy pot towards you, pulling a kitchen appliance down from the top cupboard

Lift – Lifting a washing basket, a child, pet

Rotate – Moving an object from one side of your kitchen bench to another

Hinge – Picking up an object from the floor

Twist – Dancing and twisting your hips/knees to your favourite song

Lunge – Getting down on one knee to weed the garden

Squat – Ready to pick something up (lift) like a couch, table or garden bucket

Gait – Walking or stride

Balance – Hoping over a spillage on the floor, taking one leg off the ground

 

Motion IQ (movement intelligence) brings you back to centre. Allows you to tap into your body (mind-body connection) and perform movements in an aware state.

Controlled by the nervous system, movement is achieved through a complex and highly coordinated interaction between bones, muscles, ligaments and joints within the musculoskeletal system. Connective tissue also plays its part by helping create space between the muscles, joints and organs.

So why do I need to move and lift, push, pull, rotate, twist, hinge, lunge, squat, gait, balance?

Our bodies are designed to move. Do you remember that 2008 kids’ movie, Wall-E where the robot is sent to clean up the trash on earth after all the humans left and have been living in space?

According to the plot they have degenerated into helpless bodies due to laziness and micro gravity and have robots to do everything for them. If you haven’t seen the movie the humans all sit in these comfortable chairs that they are able to fly around wherever they wish within the spaceship. They never leave their chairs and robots are at their beck and call.

If we were to sit or lay for a long period of time, we would have muscle wastage. Our bodies become weak and cannot perform against gravity.

Hence why finding different ways to move are important for one’s overall health and wellbeing.

And yes you may walk everywhere which is great!! Or you may be a runner, which is also fantastic!!

You may also be a power lifter or mountain climber which is absolutely awesome!!

 

There is no one way to move your body.

There is also no superior way to move your body, as much as some will tell you there is.

Finding ways to incorporate pushing, pulling, rotating, twisting, lifting, carrying, balancing, etc in your day to day life across different movement practices will help:

  • Build your body IQ
  • Your nervous system
  • Your brain
  • Build strength
  • Protect your joints
  • Build your core
  • Connect your mind to your body
  • Release feel good hormones
  • You feel calmer
  • Be more flexible

As you can see there are so many benefits to moving your body in different ways.

And it doesn’t need to be time consuming or complicated.

I think that is where many people get stuck and feel like it is all too much and end up not doing anything.

Consider a quick game of catch for a moment.

How many of those movement patterns do you think it covers?

It covers just about all of them if you are not standing in one place catching and throwing. If you are dynamic and moving around throwing that ball then you are doing all the movement patterns.

Just in a quick game of catch, which most of us can do and have access to.

How hard you play that game of catch is up to you and where your body is right now.

Start slow and build up.

As you begin to move more you could add in a heavier ball or use a different piece of equipment to move around to add more strength. The options are endless!

Play, it is a perfect representation of all the patterns and is one way of ticking them off.

Of course, there are many other ways too. Experiment, make shapes with your body, try new things and if you want some structure to start reach out.

How will you be moving today?

Feel free to download my Strong Body Guide , with video tutorials to help you move well.

 

About the Author: Rachelle is a movement, rehabilitation and Women’s Health Coach who loves to work with women, helping them step off the sidelines of life, find their mind body connection and live well through her movement and health programs. She believes every body is unique and individual offering a holistic approach to her coaching.