Our bodies are made up of an intricate network of bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and what we at Primal Human Needs are most interested in… fascia (what we used to call sinew).
As beings we always take the path of least resistance, this is where a lot of our issues stem from. We like the easy way. Car over walking, ready meals over cooking fresh. The same applies to our posture.
We are designed for walking, throwing and standing. These are what we call fundamental movements. This is because evolutionarily this is what we would have spent most of our time doing. Fast forward to 2018. We spend most of our time sitting.
A standing human would ideally have a balanced position where they are centred (standing). All muscles working in unison. However, what we do is spend our times sat down. A sitting position involves putting our hips into flexion (they have evolved to spend more time in extension). Because our bodies chose the path of least resistance the most energy efficient way of keeping our hips flexed is for the muscles to tighten and the glutes to loosen.
This is fine if we spend all of our time sat. However, we want to be able to play, walk, run, jump etc. If we do not address the issues that our sedentary lifestyles cause then we will get injured and cause unnecessary wear and tear.
Loosen the hips by not sitting for too long and performing hip stretches after prolonged sitting (lunges, couch stretch)
Strengthen your glutes by squeezing those friends regularly, performing glute strengthening exercises such as glute bridges and kettlebell swings.
By doing this you will reverse the biomechanical impact of prolonged sitting and be ready for exercise without needing ages to mobilise. Win win.
This is why we focus our sessions in Primal Fitness Class, Mogalates, Group Training and Personal Training on opening up the body and helping return people to an efficient gait cycle.