Amazing Adaptability
For my first blog of 2023 I’d like to talk about one of the amazing things about being a human - infinite adaptability!
One of my favourite pieces of imagery from the Back To Roots internship* is the idea that humans are like clouds and not clocks - that we are complex and ever-changing as opposed to a mechanical object.
It’s a useful analogy when thinking about how pain works and how we can understand the causes of our symptoms in order to move beyond pain. If we look at the body only in terms of biomechanics and rely solely on passive interventions like manipulations or even surgery - we are treating the body like a machine that needs “fixing”.
In some cases this works, but if it hasn’t worked for you, think of yourself as a complex system like a cloud, where many factors such as family, work, beliefs, fear, past treatments and knowledge can all contribute to how you are experiencing pain.
We can also use the Clouds not Clocks comparison when thinking about adaptability in the body and brain.
For example, if you slowly keep adding weight to a car (a machine like a clock) it's eventually going to bend and break. But with slow, steady resistance training, our body will always adapt to a heavier weight.
The cells in our body continue to reproduce, and therefore adapt, right up until we die! The more we can challenge ourselves and require our body to make changes, to stronger this ability becomes.
One of the common things my clients say when we have been working together a while is that they would never have imagined that their knees could feel stable and strong, or that they could do a press up or that they would even want to lift weights!
It doesn’t just apply to weight tolerance - it’s why it’s important to build up running capacity slowly to allow the cardiovascular system to adjust and also to allow the body to get accustomed to the repetitive impact of your foot hitting the floor.
The body is going to struggle in many ways if you start with too heavy a weight or too long a distance and there might be injuries. However with time and slow steady development the body will always make the adaptations necessary to manage the tasks you are giving it!
And of course we know that practice is essential to improve any skill. The more repetitions we correctly execute, the more that movement or pathway is ingrained in the body and it becomes more accurate and easier to do.
It can even apply to making a habit of moving! A long workout can seem overwhelming if it’s something we are not used to doing, If you begin with short bite-size sessions, they can start to feel like a no-brainer and gradually start to build the habit!
To further explain why this is important I’d like to paraphrase a quote I heard recently** - we are like clay; if we let our bodies and brains sit static, they will dry up and harden, but if we play with them, move them, massage them, they will continue to take on new shapes.
I would love to know your thoughts on this!
What ways are you moving and playing with your brain and body right now? What do you want to incorporate this week, this month, this year?
Please let me know in the comments!
*If you are a movement professional or therapist, I highly recommend getting on the waiting list for the next Back To Roots Internship (if you book - please let them know I sent you!)
**From Fighting Monkey via one of my teachers Samantha Emanuel