THE 7 BASIC MOVEMENTS

the body is made up Of several complex systems that work together as one unit. in functional training, one should focus on movement patterns (rather than isolated muscle groups) to build total-body strength, power and stamina.

all about the seven basic movement patterns

At its core, exercise is all about movement. Learning and understanding each basic movement pattern is a critical first step in functional training. Eventually, you may explore combinations and modifications of these basic movement patterns in order to create compound movements for building real-world, functional strength.

Fitness is not only about looks or aesthetics. Exercise is about movement and functionality: the ability to move all parts of your body in order to do the things you need (and want) to do. It sounds simple enough, but in today’s world, most of us are living a sedentary lifestyle. Our ancestors were always functionally fit because they spent their days staying active: walking and running many miles per day; gathering and preparing food; hunting/fishing; playing sports and holding athletic competitions; taking care of children; building homes; the list goes on. In indigenous cultures, for most of history,  movement was so heavily integrated into daily life that the ancestors did not need a gym or special space for "fitness," and there was no need to set aside extra time for fitness training.

Today, the world is different. People are often stuck behind a desk or sitting on a couch or in a car most of the day. Because of our sedentary lifestyles, we need to focus on spending some extra time training in order to avoid becoming sick with modern lifestyle diseases such as diabetes or obesity.  If you want to reactivate your lifestyle and embark on a commitment to functional training, learning these seven basic movement patterns for full-body functional fitness is a great place to begin. 

Here at Well For Culture, we follow and support the idea of seven basic movement patterns, but we did not invent it. Here's an excerpt from a great article by Marc Perry, functional training expert and author of builtlean.com,  

Our bodies are an amazingly complex web of interconnected muscles, joints, fascia, ligaments, tendons, bones, and other tissues and organs that work synchronously and seamlessly. When we are lean and fit, every cubic centimeter of our bodies has a purpose, a function to help us survive and thrive.

So, if the body is this interconnected web that’s really more like one unit, one muscle, why would we focus on only one muscle group during a workout or one type of exercise activity? The idea of focusing on only one muscle group in a workout is definitely not efficient, nor is it athletic. You should focus on movement patterns -- not isolated muscle groups -- when exercising to develop a functionally strong body.

We recommend learning the following basic movement patterns. Once you become comfortable with good form in each of these basics, work with a trainer or coach to progress to more advanced exercises by combining and adding weight. These seven basic movements should serve as the basis of countless other exercises and workout routines. 

THE SEVEN BASIC MOVEMENTS IN ACTION: A VISUAL REFERENCE