Movement done wrong maintains dysfunction. Movement done right supports the corrections we make in the office.
This is by far the most complicated, convoluted, and controversial topic we can talk about. Well, except maybe diet, religion, and politics. But we'll give it a go here.
The most important thing you can do is SOMETHING. ANYTHING.
The best exercise for you is the one you will actually do.
Perfect form doesn't matter if you never start. The optimal program doesn't matter if you won't follow it. Elite athlete training doesn't matter if you're not an elite athlete.
What follows is a framework for movement that supports the corrections we make in the office. Use what works for you. Ignore what doesn't. Just move.
You can't adjust your way out of sedentary life. You can't supplement your way out of muscle weakness. You can't meditate your way out of poor movement patterns.
Movement is how your nervous system learns to control your body. When you don't move, muscles atrophy, joints stiffen, coordination degrades, and compensation patterns entrench. When you move poorly, you reinforce the dysfunction we're trying to correct.
A critical fact: Your brain maintains a map of your body based on movement input. When you stop moving a joint through its full range, your brain "forgets" how to control it. This is called sensorimotor amnesia, and it's why injuries from years ago still affect you today.
The movement practices outlined here are designed to restore proper motor control, maintain the corrections we make in the office, and prevent patterns from returning. This isn't exercise for fitness. It's movement for function.
You can't adjust your way out of sedentary life. You can't supplement your way out of muscle weakness. You can't meditate your way out of poor movement patterns.
Movement is how your nervous system learns to control your body. When you don't move, muscles atrophy, joints stiffen, coordination degrades, and compensation patterns entrench. When you move poorly, you reinforce the dysfunction we're trying to correct.
A critical fact: Your brain maintains a map of your body based on movement input. When you stop moving a joint through its full range, your brain "forgets" how to control it. This is called sensorimotor amnesia, and it's why injuries from years ago still affect you today.
The movement practices outlined here are designed to restore proper motor control, maintain the corrections we make in the office, and prevent patterns from returning. This isn't exercise for fitness. It's movement for function.
Move well before moving often. Move often before moving heavy.
Your body needs mobility first (can the joint move through its full range?), stability second (can you control that range?), strength third (can you produce force through that range?), and power last (can you produce force quickly?).
Most people skip straight to strength training or cardio with terrible movement quality. Then they wonder why they're always hurt.
We're building from the ground up: mobility, stability, strength, power. In that order.
Mobility is joint range of motion under control. If your shoulder can't reach overhead, you don't have shoulder mobility. If your hip won't flex to 90 degrees without your back compensating, you don't have hip mobility.
Without mobility, everything else is compensation.
You can't strengthen a movement pattern you don't have access to. Fix mobility first.
Stability is controlling a joint through its available range. You might be able to get your shoulder overhead, but can you hold it there under load? Can you control the descent?
Without stability, mobility is useless and dangerous.
Unstable joints get injured. Your body knows this and will restrict range of motion to protect you. This is why "stretching" often doesn't work—you're fighting protective tension created by lack of stability.
Strength is the ability to produce force through a stable range of motion. Can you push, pull, squat, hinge, carry?
Without strength, your structure breaks down under load.
Weak muscles can't support joints. Joints that aren't supported subluxate. Subluxations create compensation. Compensation creates pain.
Strength isn't optional. It's structural support.
Power is strength expressed at speed. Jumping, sprinting, throwing.
Most people don't need to train power. Athletes do. Everyone else needs to master levels 1-3 first.
Don't worry about power until mobility, stability, and strength are solid.
These aren't workouts. They're minimum movement requirements to maintain function.
Humans are designed to walk. A lot. Daily walking maintains joint health, supports cardiovascular function, regulates blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and provides low-level movement input to your nervous system.
Minimum: 30 minutes daily at a comfortable pace.
Ideal: 1-2 hours spread throughout the day.
Walking isn't exercise. It's baseline movement. If you're not walking daily, nothing else matters.
5-10 minutes daily of gentle stretching maintains tissue length and joint range of motion between adjustments.
Focus on areas that tighten easily:
Hold stretches 30-60 seconds. Breathe. Don't force range you don't have.
Stretching isn't a fix. It's maintenance.
Mobility is active. You're not passively stretching—you're teaching your nervous system to control range of motion.
Move each major joint through its full range slowly and under control. This maintains joint health and reminds your nervous system how to access that range.
Daily routine (5-10 minutes):
Move slowly. Control the entire range. If you can't control it, you don't own it.
If muscle testing or examination reveals specific joint restrictions, I'll give you targeted mobility work.
Common examples:
Do these daily if assigned. Mobility work between visits maintains the joint corrections we make in the office.
Strength supports structure. Weak muscles can't stabilize joints. Unstable joints subluxate.
You don't need to be a powerlifter. But you need baseline strength in fundamental movement patterns.
1. Squat (knee-dominant lower body)
2. Hinge (hip-dominant lower body)
3. Push (horizontal and vertical)
4. Pull (horizontal and vertical)
5. Carry
Time under tension matters more than how much weight you lift. Muscles respond to mechanical stress. Longer time under load creates greater stimulus for adaptation.
Slow, controlled lifts:
This forces proper form, reduces injury risk, and maximizes muscle recruitment. You'll lift less weight but create more stimulus.
Fast, explosive lifts:
Both have value. Control first. Speed later.
Beginner (first 3-6 months): 2-3 days per week full-body strength training. Focus on learning patterns with excellent form.
Intermediate (after stability is established):
Once you've built a solid foundation, vary the stimulus across the week:
1x per week: Lift heavy, slowly
1x per week: Lift light, quickly
1x per week: Lift medium
This variation prevents adaptation plateaus and trains different aspects of strength.
Advanced goal: Sprint once per month If your mobility, stability, and strength are solid, occasional sprinting (true max effort for 10-30 seconds) builds explosive power and tests your system's capacity. But this is a pinnacle goal, not a starting point.
Most people aren't ready to sprint. Build the foundation first.
The best exercise is the exercise you will actually do.
A perfect program you don't follow is worthless. A mediocre program you do consistently beats everything.
If you hate lifting weights, don't force it. Find movement you enjoy: hiking, swimming, martial arts, dance, rock climbing, whatever. Movement quality matters more than the specific modality.
Consistency beats intensity. Show up. Move well. Progress slowly.
Most people do cardio wrong: too hard to build aerobic base, too easy to create adaptation. They live in "no man's land"—breathing hard but not hard enough to improve.
Zone 2 is aerobic base training. You're training your body to use fat for fuel, building mitochondrial density, and improving cardiovascular efficiency without excessive stress.
Heart rate calculation (180 Formula):
Adjustments:
Stay at or below this heart rate for Zone 2 training. You should be able to hold a conversation. If you're breathing too hard to talk, you're going too hard.
Training protocol:
This feels "too easy" for most people. That's the point. You're building aerobic capacity without the stress that prevents recovery.
Zone 2 training improves:
Do this consistently for 3-6 months and your aerobic base transforms. Then you can add higher-intensity work if desired.
Flexibility is passive range of motion. You need some, but it's less important than mobility (active control) and stability.
Yin yoga uses long-held passive stretches (3-5 minutes per pose) to create lasting changes in connective tissue and joint capsules.
Unlike dynamic stretching or traditional yoga, yin targets deep fascia and joint structures through sustained, gentle stress. This creates adaptation in tissues that don't respond to brief stretching.
Key principles:
Common yin poses:
Benefits:
Yin yoga is best done as a separate practice, not before workouts. 1-2 sessions per week creates lasting flexibility improvements that active stretching doesn't achieve.
Hold stretches 30-90 seconds to increase passive flexibility. Best done after workouts when muscles are warm, or as a separate session.
Don't stretch before strength training or athletic performance. Static stretching before activity temporarily reduces power output and increases injury risk.
Stretch after training or on recovery days.
Foam rolling doesn't "release" fascia. It doesn't "break up" adhesions. The research is clear on this.
What foam rolling actually does:
Foam rolling is fine. Just don't expect it to fix structural problems.
Use it for:
Don't use it as:
Roll if you want. But understand its limitations.
Start simple. Add complexity as you master basics.
Daily:
2x per week:
Daily:
3x per week:
Optional:
Daily:
Strength training (3x per week):
Optional high-intensity:
1-2x per week:
Movement becomes a practice, not a chore. You move because your body functions better when you do.
Mistake 1: Exercising through pain
Pain is a signal. Ignoring it creates chronic dysfunction. If a movement hurts, stop. Figure out why it hurts. Fix the pattern. Then progress.
"No pain, no gain" is how people stay injured for years.
Mistake 2: Skipping mobility for strength
You can't strengthen a dysfunctional pattern. If your squat looks terrible, adding weight makes it worse. Fix the pattern first. Then load it.
Mistake 3: Doing too much too soon
Your nervous system adapts slowly. Adding too much volume or intensity too quickly overwhelms recovery capacity and creates injury.
Progress incrementally. Small, consistent improvements compound.
Mistake 4: Ignoring recovery
Movement breaks down tissue. Recovery builds it back stronger. Without adequate recovery, you're just accumulating damage.
Sleep, nutrition, and rest days matter as much as training.
Mistake 5: Training like an athlete when you're not
Instagram fitness influencers are genetic outliers with exceptional recovery capacity, often enhanced pharmacologically. Their training won't work for you.
Train for your goals, your recovery capacity, and your current function. Not someone else's.
Mistake 6: Doing cardio in "no man's land"
Most people exercise too hard to build aerobic capacity but not hard enough to create real adaptation. They're constantly stressed, never recovering, and not improving.
Zone 2 training (180 minus age) builds your aerobic base properly. Do that consistently before adding high-intensity work.
The adjustments I make restore proper joint function. Movement maintains it.
If you get adjusted and then go home and sit for 12 hours, the patterns return. If you get adjusted and then move well throughout the day, the corrections hold.
Movement is part of your treatment plan, not optional.
When I tell you to do specific mobility work or strengthening exercises, I'm not giving you homework for fun. I'm giving you the tools to maintain the corrections we make in the office.
Do the work or accept limited results.
Movement isn't negotiable if you want lasting results.
Your body is designed to move. When you don't, it breaks down. Joints stiffen. Muscles weaken. Compensation patterns develop.
You can't adjust your way out of sedentary life. The corrections I make provide the foundation. Movement maintains the structure.
I'll tell you what your body needs. You decide if you're willing to do it.
This movement guidance does not substitute for chiropractic care and Applied Kinesiology treatment. Treatment does not substitute for moving right.
Both are necessary. Structure, chemistry, and movement are three sides of the same equation. Address all three, and your body functions optimally. Ignore one, and results are limited.
If muscle testing reveals movement dysfunction or muscle imbalances affecting your patterns, I'll recommend specific exercises tailored to what your body needs.
This primer is the foundation. Individual cases may require additional work based on examination findings and your specific dysfunction.
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