Human beings have an innate desire to solve problems and the logical solution to weak muscles is to strengthen them, right?
Right. So how have the industry got it so wrong?
Every animal on the planet, including us, is a reactive being. That means we react to our environment.
Even now, while you’re reading this, you’re reacting to the forces of gravity, the ground and your eyes are moving to read the words.
It’s not a conscious thing.
Bodies are so amazing they can do all this without us telling them to. It’s how they function best.
So why, when it comes to movement in the context of fitness or injury rehab, do we think we know better?
At no other time in your day will you “engage your core” or “squeeze your glutes”.
You don’t do it in order to walk down the street, you don’t think about the movement involved to lift your coffee cup, or read this email, or smile at a friend, so why should fitness movements be any different?
It’s worse than that though, by encouraging your body to “engage your core” or “squeeze your glutes” you’re actually teaching your body to behave in a way that’s not only foreign, but actually makes the functioning of your body worse!
Your body is a reactive being. It has it’s own coping strategies. If you’re going to pick up something that you perceive to be heavy, your body will have an anticipatory response, tensing certain muscles to provide stability to your body and protection to your organs.
If that object is indeed heavy, you’re protected, but if it’s not as heavy as you thought, you’ll probably hit yourself in the face with it!
If you put your body in any position and any situation, the same thing happens. Your body reacts to its environment with responses that will only ever serve to stabilise and protect you.
If it’s doing that anyway, why interfere?
By actively “squeezing” and “engaging” muscles we are actually removing the body’s capability of using that muscle or group of muscles in sync with the rest of the body, therefore weakening our reactive responses.
And if that’s not bad enough, we’re teaching the body that those muscles can only react in one way – stillness, so when they’re required to move differently, they can’t.
That’s when injuries happen.
That’s why with Wiggling, you’ll never hear me say “engage” this or “squeeze” that.
I’d much rather help your body make better use of certain muscles by positioning you differently than tell it how to behave.
To see hundreds of exercises detailing exactly how I do this, I’d like to invite you to experience my Wiggle Class. This online mobility video class will have you strengthening your glutes and core, without restricting your body’s function, in just a few minutes!
Go on, give it a try today!