The Importance of Movement for Wellness: Finding Balance, Building Joint Strength, and Embracing Daily Activity
Movement is essential to overall wellness, affecting both our physical and mental health. While many people view exercise as something to be done in short, intense sessions at the gym, this approach misses a key part of the bigger picture. True wellness requires us to move throughout the day in a variety of ways. By shifting our focus from the intensity of workouts to overall movement volume, prioritizing recovery, and incorporating gentle daily activities like walking, we can create a sustainable path to health. Let’s explore how balancing movement and recovery, retraining movement patterns, and embracing low-grade activities can transform the way we move and live.
Shifting the Focus: Movement Volume Over Time
Many of us are accustomed to thinking of exercise in terms of how intense it is—how fast we can run, how much weight we can lift, or how long we can push ourselves. But while intensity can help boost fitness levels, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. For long-term health and wellness, we need to focus more on movement volume: the total amount of physical activity we accumulate throughout the day.
Movement volume isn’t just what happens at the gym. It’s the small, everyday movements that keep us active—walking to the store, stretching between tasks, climbing stairs, or even gardening. These activities may seem insignificant, but over time, they add up and have a profound effect on our health.
Historically, humans weren’t designed to sit for long hours and then engage in short bursts of intense activity. Instead, our bodies evolved to move steadily throughout the day, which helped maintain strength, mobility, and overall resilience. Adopting this approach in modern life means we need to think beyond workouts and begin incorporating gentle, consistent movement into our daily routine.
Rather than focusing on how hard you can push yourself in a single session, think about how much movement you can accumulate over time. The result? A body that is more balanced, energized, and less prone to injury.
Balancing Movement and Recovery
As much as we need movement, recovery is just as important for our overall well-being. Pushing our bodies without allowing them to rest can lead to injury, burnout, and long-term health issues. Recovery gives our bodies the chance to repair, heal, and recharge, which is essential for keeping our muscles, joints, and nervous system functioning optimally.
Our current fitness culture often emphasizes the “no pain, no gain” mindset, encouraging us to push beyond our limits. However, this approach can cause more harm than good, leading to chronic inflammation, joint problems, and even fatigue. Instead, we need to balance periods of movement with active recovery practices, such as gentle stretching, yoga, or slow walks. These activities help improve circulation and allow the body to repair without placing additional stress on it.
Good recovery also involves taking care of essentials like sleep, hydration, and nutrition. When we allow our bodies the time they need to heal, we’re not only preventing injuries but also enhancing our overall health, allowing us to continue moving and thriving in the long term.
Building Strong, Resilient Joints: Dynamic Neuromuscular Stability (DNS)
Joint health is critical for mobility, strength, and longevity. One effective way to improve joint function and prevent injury is through a movement-based approach known as Dynamic Neuromuscular Stability (DNS). This method focuses on retraining the nervous system to optimize how our bodies move.
DNS works by re-educating the body’s natural ability to stabilize joints and muscles through proper alignment and movement patterns. It draws on developmental movements—similar to the ones we used as infants, like crawling or rolling—which engage our core and help us reconnect to basic movement principles. By retraining our body to use these reflexive stabilization mechanisms, we improve joint strength, reduce pain, and prevent injuries from poor movement habits.
Through DNS, we learn to move with more precision and control, improving the efficiency of everyday movements. This approach not only benefits athletes but also those looking to feel better in daily activities like walking, bending, or lifting. It’s about developing a strong foundation that supports healthy movement for life.
Low-Grade Physical Activity: The Power of Walking and Everyday Movements
One of the most effective ways to increase your daily movement is to embrace low-grade physical activities like walking. Walking is accessible, easy to incorporate into daily life, and has a multitude of health benefits. It’s low-impact, meaning it’s gentle on the joints while still promoting circulation, improving cardiovascular health, and enhancing mental well-being.
Unlike high-intensity workouts that require planned recovery time, walking can be done daily and has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In addition, spending time outdoors while walking has positive effects on mental health, reducing stress, and boosting mood.
Beyond walking, other low-grade activities—such as stretching, light gardening, or taking the stairs—can significantly contribute to your movement volume. These movements may seem small, but they help keep the body active and resilient, supporting joint mobility and overall fitness in a gentle, sustainable way.
Making Movement Part of Daily Life
The key to embracing movement for wellness is to weave it into your daily life, rather than confining it to gym sessions. Look for ways to add small bursts of movement throughout the day, such as standing up and stretching between work tasks, walking or biking instead of driving, or incorporating mindful movements like yoga or stretching into your morning routine.
When movement becomes a natural part of everyday life, we’re able to combat the negative effects of sedentary behavior, such as poor posture, sluggish circulation, and a slower metabolism. Even better, we avoid the pressure of needing to “fit in” intense workouts, which can feel overwhelming or unsustainable over time.
Final Thoughts: Movement for Lifelong Wellness
Movement is a lifelong practice, and it’s essential to view it as something we engage in consistently over time. By focusing on overall movement volume, balancing activity with recovery, and incorporating low-grade activities like walking, we create a foundation for long-term health and well-being.
Remember, movement is about more than just the intensity of a workout—it’s about staying active in a way that feels good, supports joint health, and contributes to a balanced life. Whether through DNS practices, gentle recovery exercises, or simply walking more each day, you can transform how you move and feel, creating a life rich with energy and vitality.
