Life is movement. And the opposite of movement is motionlessness, which you could say is an apt definition of death. The cave man was constantly on the move in one way or another so he suffered few of the problems that people do today, problems brought about largely from a lack of quality movement.
As people age and take on more responsibilities, they tend to slip into stillness. They sit too much, and they get rigid. They fail to move, and so they start to creak like the tin man.
This pattern is unfortunate but highly preventable and, if it has already set in, easily remediable. A life rich in movement wards off the deleterious effects of aging. It keeps the cells fresh, the muscles toughened, and the joints well oiled. And if life is movement, then surely movement stimulates life — it rejuvenates muscle tissue, upsurges joint nutrition, and even spurs the growth of new brain cells.
Although you need to move every day, you don't have to work out with great intensity every day; just move. When you plan how to move every day, keep it easy, but do it often.
There’s no such thing as a wrong movement. You can suffer only from a lack of movement.
For now, a few basic human movement patterns every day will suffice. Explore new positions, postures, and patterns, like the following:
Bend
Carry
Crawl
Flex
Hang
Hinge
Jump
Lunge
March
Pull
Push
Roll
Rotate
Squat
Throw
Twist
Don’t confuse movement with exercise. Although exercise includes movement, the means and the ends aren’t the same. Exercise induces stress and is often intense, such as five sets of five heavy reps on the back squat. Movement promotes rejuvenation and is usually lighthearted and playful, such as crawling around on the ground with a newborn.
