3429: The Benefits of Foundational Movement by Eric Leija on Physical Foundations

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Health Daily, The Benefits of Foundational Movement by Eric Leija of EricLeija.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs out there, with permission from the websites, and always with a bit of my commentary at the end. And with that, let's get right to the post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:57] The Benefits of Foundational Movement by Eric Leija of EricLeija.com When you think about the word foundation, it helps to think of a house. If you want the strongest, most stable house that protects you for decades to come, what type of foundation do you build it on? Sand? Or stone? Or perhaps strong wood? Obviously, you're going to choose the stronger elements because the foundation is what holds your entire house in place.

[00:01:25] Well, guess what? The same is true with your body. Foundational movements help give your body a solid foundation of strength so that you can build properly and effectively. What are foundational movements? Foundational movements are basic, functional movements that not only build strength in their own right, but also serve as the base of other, more complicated movements. These movements are things like squats, deadlifts, presses, and lunges.

[00:01:53] And in the case of kettlebell work, swings and get-ups. These movements mimic natural movements humans perform every day, or at least the ones our ancestors did, when picking things up, pushing and pulling objects, and carrying materials. They are some of the first movements we engage in as children since they helped develop our major muscle groups. These foundational movements act like the foundation of all our movements. So, to have a stronger body, we need a stronger foundation.

[00:02:24] Benefits of Foundational Movements Whether you're a beginner or seasoned vet, perfecting foundational movement patterns can massively benefit your strength, coordination, and power. If you're new to working with kettlebells, the same benefits apply when it comes to kettlebell foundational movements. 1. Increases Strength and Power Output Foundational movements are functional.

[00:02:47] They not only utilize large muscle groups, but also tend to work several at once, all while engaging smaller, stabilizer muscles. Why is this beneficial? Why is this beneficial? Well, imagine a piece of fabric. When everything is sewn tightly together, the fabric not only looks great, but if it's a blanket or coat, it keeps you warmer, and is also stronger.

[00:03:10] If that same fabric has a weak link in a few sides, holes might develop, and this will cause the blanket or coat to let in air. And since the entirety of the fabric isn't sewn up tightly, it's actually weaker overall. Our musculoskeletal system can be imagined in the same way. When everything is sewn tight, there are no weak links. Foundational movements avoid isolating muscles. Isolating muscles can leave other muscles weak.

[00:03:40] Instead, during foundational movements, the muscles function together during the movement and are all strengthened together. This means the smaller muscles that support the larger muscles are also worked, so that they can support their growth. As you can imagine, this creates a solid foundation of strength and can result in more power output. The stronger your foundation, the stronger your pushes and pulls can be, which ultimately results in larger muscles and more efficient movements.

[00:04:09] After all, when you have a strong squat, this will translate into a strong base for heavier squats, a stronger kettlebell swing, more force through plyometric movements, and more. 2. It can increase speed and coordination Speed and coordination are also increased when we've mastered foundational movement patterns. Again, when all of our muscles are working strong together, we have faster reaction times.

[00:04:36] And with more power available and more stability from the strength of the smaller muscles supporting our large muscle groups, we also have increased stability and coordination. This is obviously perfect for sports, but also translates into real-world strength. If you ever need to complete a time-based challenge or simply react efficiently and quickly in real-life scenarios, foundational movements can help you do that. 3. Helps mitigate injury risk This is another biggie.

[00:05:06] Having a strong foundation can help reduce your risk of injury, especially muscle pulls and muscle strains. This is because foundational movements are functional and tend to flow while using more than one muscle group, creating strength through various ranges of motion all at once. This doesn't leave much room for weak links, providing you're performing the movement correctly. Foundational kettlebell movements, for instance, are designed to strengthen throughout ranges of dynamic movement. Take the kettlebell swing.

[00:05:36] Multiple muscles are used, including your glutes, core, shoulders, and stabilizer muscles, all working together to handle the weight of the bell. Because all smaller muscles are strengthened alongside the larger ones, it's less likely that one will be weaker than the others and end up strained. The risk of injury can become higher when we only do isolation movements, since the surrounding muscles aren't being strengthened simultaneously. And 4. Increased burn potential

[00:06:06] Typically, foundational movements are also compound movements, meaning they involve more than one muscle group at a time. And because of this, the calorie burn is also typically higher, and the muscle strength will end up being typically higher, which means more gains. You just listened to the post titled, The Benefits of Foundational Movement by Eric Leija of ericlea.com And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:23] I wanted to lift heavier and heavier. But sometimes I ignored perfect form because I couldn't lift that heavy while keeping that perfect form. I just wanted to lift heavier. Well, that was when I started to experience strength imbalances. Looking back, I was lucky to not get injured. But instead, I would compensate and let the stronger half of my body do more of the work. And I didn't really take the time to correct this until it became really obvious.

[00:08:51] Like, when I was on a family trip and we all went swimming, And my niece told me that my left chest muscle was smaller than my right. And once these strength imbalances, or in my case, aesthetic imbalances, started to happen and become noticeable, I found it takes extra time and effort to correct them. So, definitely take today's author Eric's advice and learn from my experience and practice foundational movements now and regularly.

[00:09:18] And, as often as you can, perform them perfectly. So, you don't end up with one side of the body doing most of the work and ending up with an imbalance. Alright, that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being a subscriber or follower of the show. I hope you have a great rest of your day. And I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.