Human beings are designed to move. Period. Plain and simple. No ifs ands or buts.... Well maybe butts, because that is, in most cases, is the most active muscle group when people move...
We are a series of muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and bones that act to cause movement.
Numerous studies have shown that lack of movement is very, very, very , very, bad for us. Period. Plain and simple.
(Sánchez-Zuriaga D, et al, 2010)
But.... (There is always a ‘big but’)
We don’t move nearly as much as we are designed to. Even those of us who CrossFit, Run, play kickball (or soccer depending on your persuasion), do yoga, run triathlons, rescue meth-heads out of trees (cats are smart enough to self-extricate), or chase bad guys for a living, do not get as much movement as our grandparents did. And they did not get get as much movement as their grandparents before them...
As a society we have become accustomed to being very well supported in the daily activities that we undertake. We sit passively much more than our ancestors. I emphasis ‘passively’ because the generations before us were more active when they sat than we.
As an example, sit in the drivers seat of a 2010 Volvo. Take it for a spin. Feel the all-wheel drive, the power steering with one finger on the comfortable sized leather steering wheel with built in audio and phone controls, the warm heated leather seats that conform and support your body including a nice lumbar support.
Now, hop over into my Grandma Gladys’s 1957 Chevy. Great car! Big solid rear-wheel drive, huge hard baked enamel and metal steering wheel, large hard pleather bench seat that you have to work at just to stay behind the wheel and not slide across every time you take a turn a little too sharply, never mind the rigid nature that forces you into a very upright Oates Military Academy seated position of attention...
Huge difference between ‘sitting’ in 1957 and being supported in a pseudo-seated position in 2010.
So, getting to the point.
As I see it, there are 7 (maybe 8 if you are looking for extra credit) human movements. These are not just movements of a joint, but rather basic human movements that are needed for healthy human existence.
Push, Pull, Squat, Lunge, Flex, Extend, Twist
(bonus prize if you can guess what may be the 8th movement)
For each of the next 7 (maybe 8) weeks we will focus on each of the seven human movements.
This week we will start with ‘Push’.
Every hour that we are awake this week, we will do 1 push up.
Ideally we will do 1 every hour. If you have ‘circumstances beyond your control’, the HomeWork judges will allow you to catch up, before you go to bed, for hours that you missed.
So, if you get up at 5:30 and go to bed at 8:45, you would complete 16 push ups that day (15 for every hour and then one more for that extra 15 minutes).
Boy style, girl style, easy style, hard style, hands and toes, hands and knees, or however you desire...
Now, this will definitely not make you better, faster, stronger, but it will simply serve to give you a break from whatever you may be doing whether it is passive or active and get in touch with your inner ‘Push’...
The idea is not to be strict about type and/or quality of push up, just to ‘Push’!
Have a great week,
MRoss
P.S.
Whoever can tell me the 8th Movement that I am thinking of will get to assign the HomeWork for the 9th week!
-DrTri
