In class we use a few words that I want to differentiate: movement vs exercise. Some people use them interchangeably, but they’re actually different. Let me explain each.
- A movementis an action that your body does. There are seven primary movement patterns: push, pull, squat, lunge, hinge, locomotion, and rotation. There are many exercises under each, but these are the patterns of movement.
- An exerciseis something you make your body do under a certain movement pattern. An example would be a row with the band. Row is the exercise, pulling is the movement pattern.
These sound very similar, right? They are and they aren’t. Let’s look at the movement pattern of a PUSH. Under that pattern are many exercises; push up, overhead press, chest press, etc. Now lets look at a HINGE movement pattern. Under that pattern are many exercises; clean, deadlift, bent over row, etc. Are you getting this? When you do a sandbag clean we ask you to do a clean. When demonstrating we explain that you are doing a hip hinge movement to perform the exercise of the clean. Now is it coming together?
When creating the workouts for each 8-week program, I take these movement patterns into account. On most days we have each movement pattern represented in one workout. As the program progresses, so do the exercises. We will combine movement patterns. For example: week 1 = sandbag clean (hip hinge); week 7 = rear step sandbag clean to squat and overhead press (hip hinge, squat, rotation, press). See how this works? Now you know some sciencey stuff behind why we do what we do in our program. LOL. Make sure your exercise program trains movement patterns and not muscles. The body moves together, not isolated muscles.