The Art Of Movement

    We were not built to functionally utilize our universal gift of strength and athleticism through isolation. Unless you're in rehab or a "bodybuilder" that's the closest to isolating the muscles you'll be noticing or taking on. Functional is being overused and it has become a joke among the mainstream media of fitness. Functional in reality really means being able to move with whole body or certain sets of muscles in a state of realistic use. Sure you can curl a good amount but can you do a pull-up have the skill to climb? Sure you can balance a little on a bosu ball but will that really matter if you can't balance on an uneven stretch of a sidewalk? Wow you can bench press 300 lbs. good for you but will that come in handy if you need to lift up a log or a heavy boulder off of somebody? When you utilize every muscle into one given movement or series of consecutive moves you're building real functional power along with agility and awkward type strength. What I consider moving weight I'm talking some real heavy stuff none of this 3 pounds crap or 10 pound lateral raises I'm talking heavy presses, pulls, odd objects, squatting and have some crazy grip strength.

 
    When you can creatively move in various ways to achieve newfound levels of athleticism; you're developing aspects of the human body that is useful, real functional strength and putting your body in awkward positions. Whether it's Hand Balancing, Animal Flow, Gymnastics, Lifting, Crawling, Jumping & Squatting you're programming the body to be used what it was meant for. Real world training is not always up and down or left and right; it's working into positions that seem out of element to the human eye. Sure you can do a pull-up but will that fair out if you need to change positions while rock climbing? Think about it, it takes a great deal of skill and strength to move in the most amazing ways. It takes practice and a well-rounded mind and body to do things that go beyond the normal level of fitness. It's amazing to watch someone who is over 200 pounds to do Cartwheels (they're fun but I'm far from perfect) or someone with a shredded physique lifting some serious weight (without the use of steroids) and it's even amazing to be able to do what I call chain movements; mixing different moves into one fluid motion (watch Ido Portal or Mike Fitch) it is mind-blowing. Being able to climb a tree or jump in perfect motion into a lake or ocean with a beautiful dive. Be creative in how you move, when you do that, movement becomes Artistic.

 
    When you truly want to progress in how you move, there's no time table from start to finish. Progression is key but if you're constantly timing and speeding up without understanding the concept of technique and awareness you're decompressing your progress and not expanding your level of achieving great strength and agility. Timing and speed is good to a degree for testing out what you can do but the real progression is when you develop in your own timeframe and it doesn't matter if it takes you 2 minutes or 2 years; it's still your way of reaching what you want to achieve.

 
    Movement is life, we spend 1/3 of our lives practically sleeping but the other 2/3 is being on the go and using our bodies in various ways. Movement is freedom, expressing your love of what you can do and creating opportunities for yourself to move even if you're in a wheelchair or have no arms, you can make things happen when you learn to believe in the possibilities instead of the limitations. How you create those possibilities is up to you and the way you live your life through your own set of possibilities. Not everyone can perfect everything or master everything but you can however master what you see as a possibility and make things work for you in your own unique way. I was taught to do this or that or get a normal job or go to rehab when I broke my legs and do what people tell you to do and if they say you can't do it it's most likely true; but you know what, I say screw it I'm going to do what I love, I'm going to rehab by myself even if not one person is behind me and I certainly can care less what people say I can or can't do because I find the possibilities and firmly believe in what I can accomplish even in the toughest situations. Move the way you want to because you are capable of doing amazing things and that's the beauty of movement, it is an aspect of life that can be used in a variety of ways regardless of your age, sex, creed, religion, sexual orientation or possible deformity that people will ridicule you on; so show them what you are capable of despite what has become of you. Be movement and be free to challenge the norm and open the window of possibilities.