Back to Basics – Building Blocks of Human Movement

Australia prides itself as having a reputation or at least an image of being a great sporting nation. Yet less than 6% of our population use gym facilities of any kind and an equally small percentage of us exercise regularly on a daily basis. Add to that, we as Australians have the highest obesity rate per capita in the world and when it comes to our schools physical education is even removed on some curricula or made an optional extra. These are just some of the obstacles that as coaches, teachers and educators we face every day.

So how do we address this problem and create a solution that is ongoing and achieves results? Every successful person regardless of what they do in life has a system or a map to chart progress and move forward to get to where they want to be. This takes time effort and dedication but those who stay on the path to the end picture will always succeed. The most important thing here is to create a system that is adaptable, can be progressed or regressed around changing circumstances, but it has to start at the very beginning! It has to go back to the basics and establish a firm foundation so that the building blocks are solid and stand the test of time!

So where do we start with physical education to establish these building blocks? Is it at the primary age or do we make it technical and focus on skills learning and adaptation in the secondary schools? The answer is scientific and it comes back to how we learn not what skill level is imposed upon us.

There are many great programs that are helping us to keep our children active and involved in junior sports development but if these are so successful why are we having so many children drop out of sport altogether in their early teens? Sure there are the environmental and social factors that influence including computers, easy lifestyle, fast foods etc. But one thing is not being addressed enough and that is that our children are finding it physically challenging just to move because they are not being taught the basics of movement! So when they play a sport quite often they do not have the motor skills to kick, catch or throw. We can teach the basics of these sports skills but lifestyle issues do not allow some of our children be competent and confident in this area. Most of the time our teachers and coaches have limited time to get them up to a required skill level so the children give up and do not attempt to try any more.

There is no secret formula but there is a template and guide that we should all use when developing physical activity. These principles apply regardless of age or skill level and can be adapted to children, individuals, teams, games or elite athletes. The activity has to be functional, progressive, have a challenge level and most of all it has to be fun!

Let’s look at the definition of functional movement. This is defined as” activity that trains everyday life” and is usually multi-planar and multi–directional. It involves the integration of the core muscles and joints. So why do we continue to focus on isolated movements in a gym that only move in one direction and strengthen only one muscle group through a small range of motion? In fact one of the most used strength tests at elite level selection is “how much can they bench press?” This exercise has no crossover into functional movement in their sport or in everyday activity. As infants we learn to crawl, squat, push, pull, rotate, jump and balance as our bodies grow and adapt to stand and bear load. But then we assume that we no longer need to train these elements of movement to be able to carry out advanced sports skills later on in life and because this firm base or building block has not been cemented solidly, the foundations collapse or just give up! We do not allow our children to climb things such as trees or monkey bars anymore for the fear of being sued. We have become over protective in many ways due to the way our society has developed.

Go back twenty years and have a look at how we played as children and how active we were compared to today. Our children have forgotten the basic skills of how to play so we need to teach them again at a beginner level so they are able to perform these skills later on in life and remain functional. These skills include, balance, agility, acceleration, change of direction, controlled deceleration and reactivity. All of these are developed at an early age but if they are not fostered throughout the rest of our life, these skills not practiced are forgotten!

I want to share with you now the back to basics building blocks that work and establish functional movement and success. These principles are based on science and have been successfully integrated into the curricula of every school in British Columbia from the ages of 7 through to Senior High School. So here it is.

We work on in triangle and integrate these 3 basic principles. If you do not develop all three together, there is no progression. So if the child cannot master the skill at the basic level, you do not give them something which is more advanced. It sounds simple but we quite often do not stick to one to achieve success with the others.

Fundamental movement patterns are based on the following template:

So, at the top of the triangle is the balance component. This is essential. Without the balance being achieved first, movement cannot be efficient and cannot be carried out at speed and therefore leads to injuries. We spend time in this area developing drills that allow us to balance on one leg, move from different points and integrate full body movement so it works together as a unit. Drills such as catching and throwing on one leg and playing hopscotch and ladders help here.

Movement involves the speed agility skills integrating balance and deceleration, to be able to quickly react and change directions effectively. Again we would use quick feet drills, opposed drills and just getting upper and lower body in synchronization. Without effective deceleration and braking, there is no possible way to accelerate without causing some kind of injury sooner or later. Sport and life is organized chaos where we have to position our bodies quickly and effectively and this requires training so it becomes second nature with a quicker reaction time.

The last phase is the strength phase and this is where the other elements combine to progress the skill. We load up the joints and harness power to create the strength. But without the other two elements, our foundation is not solid.

Let’s go back to the science now. For these building blocks to be strong and successful, the key is in how we develop our bodies and when. Most sports and activities are categorized in age groups and skill level. But we know that this is not the best way to do things. For example in Brisbane recently there was a case in junior rugby union where a ten year old weighed approximately 80kg’s and was two to three times the size of other children in that age group. So Rugby union is now looking at size categorization not just chronological age.

When looking at how humans grow, we look at the physiological and neurological systems as well. These include muscular, skeletal and the neural development. Each one of these develops at a different rate and different age. It is also different in boys and girls at puberty and sometimes a growth spurt in one area is way too fast for the other areas. This creates coordination problems, and their bodies find it hard to cope. There is a crossover age where all of these things develop together giving us a window of opportunity where we need to concentrate our basic movement patterns. If we do develop these skills at this age, they remain with us through life as a motor learning skill. If we do not develop these, we can lose them in later life and the body finds it difficult to adapt. This age crossover is between 8 to 14 years of age where the neural pathways, the muscle and skeletal development is at its optimum. Why? Because by the age of ten our neural pathway is almost completely developed and has learnt all the fundamental skills of gross motor patterns – crawl, walk, run, jump, skip, throw, catch and coordination. Teach these early and you’ll have a good grounding in skills. Now if the muscles and skeletal systems do not have the capacity to carry out the movements this growth or progress is limited.

So in summary, establish the motor learning patterns of basic movement as outlined above in the primary ages up to 10 years of age, reinforcing these skills in a game format that gives a fun and challenge element (hopscotch, throw and tag, crawling tunnel ball, jumping etc). From ages of 10 upwards, focus on the skill development more, with progression and add in the speed. In the age groups of 14 upwards, you can add in the strength development side of things with weighted challenges and more endurance based activities as this is where you will get the best results. Remember that people develop differently and at different ages but use the triangle for your development progress and you will find it will all fall into place. Good building blocks of movement create less injuries and a better athlete. This training method is successful because it is founded in research and scientific theory. When we train children it must be age appropriate and based on growth and maturation and able to be modified for males and females.

Remember kids are NOT little adults and should not be trained that way!

By Ken Baldwin

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