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When we break it down “Building a Better Human” is why we want to get fit. Unless you are an athlete with specific performance goals in mind, exercising is about improving those qualities that make us a better functioning human being (and perhaps also looking better naked).
So what does it mean to be fit?
We work out to achieve cardiovascular protective effects that breathing hard gives us. We want to get stronger to complete the simple things in life for as long as we can. Squatting is a normal everyday movement. You do it every time you sit on a chair or sit on the toilet. If you can exercise safely until your 60’s, 70’s and beyond, then the longer you can squat to a toilet independently and get in and out of bed, thus the further you will be from a nursing home and/or full time care.
Being Human is being able to use your body to the maximum of its potential. How many of us by the time we are 40 (or 30 or 20!) have lost the normal range of some of our basic movement patterns. Examples include shoulders that are not able to lift things overhead without pain; backs that are tight and painful doing everyday tasks that were once pain free; knees stopping us from bending our legs to pick up kids toys so we compensate by bending our backs until it too gives up on us.
Regardless of what exercise you undertake, an important component of Building Better Humans is mobility. Mobility is far more than “stretching” and mobility work when undertaken correctly can improve and even reverse some of these restrictions that may have started to plague us as we have got older . We believe that every person should be able to perform simple and systematic mobility exercises and techniques on themselves to improve pain, regain normal ranges of motion in joints, and treat mild niggles as they arise rather than pushing through and causing bigger problems down the track.
Performing basic mobilisations on yourself should be a normal everyday habit just like showering and brushing your teeth. Whilst we would never advocate to replace doctors or physios, simple things such as a tight shoulder or “stiff” knee can often times be ironed out by performing some basic exercises and techniques yourself that address the common causes of dysfunction.
As part of our all-round focus on fitness and building better humans, we include basic mobility work into almost all of our daily workouts at Flourish. It’s another important piece of the puzzle that if overlooked can severely impact your progress towards becoming a better human. We've got another article in the pipeline that will delve into this concept of mobility in more detail so stay tuned :)
Want to get started building your better human? Visit our Get Started page for more info.