MOVEMENT FOR NEUROPERFORMANCE

‘Functional movement’ is a term that has many definitions in the health and fitness industry. We use the term to describe movement that is useful for our everyday life, that nourishes our structural health and respects our evolutionary traits.

Humans have developed our structure from a combination of movement patterns – described by Paul Chek as ‘primal pattern movements’ - These are pushing, pulling, bending, squatting, rotating and moving across terrain in gait. Unfortunately in our modern lives, we often neglect these movement patterns that our have shaped our bodies for millennia but when we move in this way, we build strength in our joints through their full range of motion, improving mobility, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, balance and skill.

On top of this, when we move our bodies at a higher intensity, we increase the density of mitochondria in our cells, this help us to convert our food into energy efficiently, assisting with fatigue, recovery and injury rehabilitation. We also build muscle and burn fat leading to greater insulin sensitivity, hormone balance and reduced inflammation whilst boosting neurotransmitters such as endorphins, dopamine, GABA, Glutamate and serotonin – making us feel lighter, calmer, happier and more resilient to stress.

The brain benefits don’t end there. When we move our bodies in multiple ways on a regular basis, we can help to boost our memory, improve our cognition, learn new skills faster and reduce the likelihood of neurodegenerative disease. Perhaps the most useful aspect of any movement practice though is the psychosomatic response – every practice is an opportunity to connect with our physical bodies and build up the brain-body communication we all benefit from.