What the Heck is a Movement Pattern?
Whether it be in athletics or basic daily activities, the gym should be a place to improve our capacity to perform outside of the gym. Disclaimer: If you have a clearly defined goal of competing in bodybuilding, powerlifting, or simply being a badass in the gym (because that’s what you’ve consciously defined as important to you), that’s different, and I will absolutely talk on that in the near future. However, if you’re a General Fitness Joe and don’t necessarily care about those things, training to enhance functional capacity makes a little more sense.
Now, I know that you’re thinking, “Sunny beaches! There are just so many different gosh-darn movements that I wouldn’t even know where to start!” Don’t worry. I know it may seem overwhelming, but in actuality, it’s pretty simple. Though different activities use a diversified barrage of movements, they can all be allocated to five general movement patterns. Movements patterns are schemas of integrated actions that encompass and organize movement. Just to beat a dead horse, these movement patterns will all utilize the same general biomechanics that we discussed last week. These five primary patterns are:
Double Leg Stance
Single Leg Stance
Push
Pull
Rotation
Double Leg Stance (DLS)
Definition: This general pattern is comprised of lower extremity movements in which the feet are symmetrically planted next to one another.
In Real Life: Sitting down, picking up furniture, jumping, etc.
Suggested Exercises for Specificity: Goblet Squats, Deadlift, Squat Jumps, Kettlebell Swings.
Single Leg Stance (SLS)
Definition: This general pattern is comprised of lower extremity movements in which the feet are asymmetrically positioned, either with both (bilateral contact) or just one (unilateral contact) planted on the ground.
In Real Life: Running and walking, lungeing to tie your shoe, stepping up stairs, etc.
Suggested Exercises for Specificity: Running (if you know how without hurting yourself), Walking Lunges, Single Leg Box Squats, Ice Skater Jumps.
Push
Definition: This general pattern is comprised of upper extremity movements in which the load is pushed away from the center mass of the body. This can occur from a full range of arm angles.
In Real Life: Putting groceries away in the cupboard, pushing someone, shooting a basketball, etc.
Suggested Exercises for Specificity: Landmine Press, Push Press, Cable Press Variations, Medicine and Sand Ball Chest Passes,
Pull
Definition: This general pattern is comprised of upper extremity movements in which the load is pulled towards the center mass of the body. This can occur from a full range of arm angles.
In Real Life: Opening a door, pulling up onto a wall, starting a chainsaw, etc.
Suggested Exercises for Specificity: Pullups, Cable and Loaded Row Variations, Inverted Rows.
Rotation
Definition: This general pattern is comprised of full body movements in which a combination of lower and upper body joint rotations (mainly the hips, thoracic spine, and shoulders) generate power.
In Real Life: Throwing a ball, swing a golf club, punching that dude from high school you always hated, etc.
Suggested Exercises for Specificity: Medicine Ball Rotary Throw Variations, Cable Chop and Lift Variations, Plyometric Drills.
Bam. All of the movements under the rainbow. You’ll find a lot of different professionals classify these movement patterns differently. Some refer to bend-and-lift patterns, and others will classify gait separately in itself. I’ve said it before, I think very structurally, so the way I classify these movements is based on that. Eventually I’ll write brief articles for each of these patterns, but if you want to get in depth I highly suggest checking out Movement 101. As I said, it covers how to do each movement pattern and the specific exercises for those patterns .
In any case, use these patterns and their associated exercises as a basic framework to create a complete movement-based program. Make sure you’re covering them all in your routine, and add practice to the patterns that apply to the physical skills you want to get better at.