Also, a squat is a squat:
A Simple Movement Philosophy
By Kristian Martorana
There are hundreds of different variations of each type of exercise and it can be hard to decipher what intended exercise is supposed to actually look like. We want to help you with that process by shifting your mindset a little bit. We view movement not so much as exercise-based but pattern-based instead. Also, we advise you to get familiar with that mindset as well if you aren’t already.
There are only so many movement patterns that a human body is capable of doing, but we innately should be doing them all, all the time, and really well! Unfortunately, societal norms, laziness, technological advancements, and many other variables have changed how humans move or lack-there-of. We are supposed to be able to push, pull, squat, hinge, lunge, rotate and gait. These patterns are embedded in our DNA so why can’t we all do them really well?
Anyways, back to applying patterns to movement; I always think of it very similarly to how I was taught to read a difficult word: sound it out! For example, you may encounter something like a “TK 1A Low Row w/rotation” and yes I fully understand that we can create a name for that exact exercise but before we create a nickname for our exercise we need to fully understand each part of the movement. Let’s break it down now:
TK 1A Low Row w/rotation
1. Based on the abbreviations provided in the “workout terminology” we can start by breaking those words apart. TK = Tall kneel and 1A = One arm so right away we know we are going to be doing a one-arm exercise in a tall kneeling position.
2. Low Row – Ok, a row is a row which means you are pulling something toward you. And “Low” describes where the anchor point of the exercise is. So now we know we are going to be doing a Low Anchored Single Arm Row from a Tall Kneel Position.
3. Finally, we have “rotation” – so we take that Low Anchored Single Arm Row from a Tall Kneel Position and add rotation to it
I find that thinking about movements in this fashion will help you decipher exactly what in the world you actually should be doing. Don’t worry! We understand that it will be a timely process before you will unmatch your workout skills are but we are here for you every step of the way!
