Forever Strong

Categories: Blog Jun 04, 2017

When one starts thinking about movements one would always want to do in order to stay healthy, one soon realizes that it is hard to put a limit on the movements you love to do. After all, we are made to move - without too many limits.

In the last couple of weeks I presented loaded walking and roll flossing as two movements I would not want to do without. Loaded walking is my first pick - if I had to narrow down my gait training. However, my second pick was probably a tie between rolling/roll flossing and rocking. To be honest, I want to remain strong and healthy, always, no matter my age. And, if that is my intent, how can I not employ rocking on a daily basis? After all, rocking is movement that renews all the major joints of the body. Heck, rocking even soothes the mind and emotions. Rocking has to be one of my “forever strong” movements. I’d say desert island movement, but lets be real. If Tim rocks on an island and no one is there to see him, did Tim really rock at all?

Anywhoooo….

I want to be healthy. I want to feel good. Always. I have to be able to rock. Here is why:

1. Rocking connects the shoulders to the hips. It teaches them to cooperate. When the shoulders move into flexion, the hips do too. When the shoulders move into extension, so do the hips. This is foundational for the gait pattern as opposite limbs not only move together when we walk or run, they mirror each other; at least they should. Rocking connects and coordinates our opposing limbs.


2. Rocking restores our posture. To move well and remove any limitations from our body, we need to have optimal, reflexive posture. When we rock, we reestablish or reaffirm the cervical curve and the lumbar curve in our spine. Having said that, if you rock, please hold your head up! Unless of course you are looking for lost contacts or money on the floor. Otherwise, your head should be up and level with the horizon.          


3. Rocking integrates all our joints together; it makes the body “whole” and doesn’t isolate it into parts and pieces. It helps mobilize the toes, feet, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, neck and wrists. Want to restore immobile ankles? Rock. Want to recover from hip or knee surgery? Rock. Want to heal angry shoulders? Rock. Rocking teaches the brain how to hold, or stabilize, the joints, while the body moves.


4. Rocking activates the vestibular system in a linear, forward and back, motion. This activation helps feed the brain information about where the body is and what all the parts of the body are doing. This forward and back motion also soothes the brain; the mind and emotions. It can calm you down. It can allow you to enter into a more restful state. Just like when a mother rocks a child to soothe him, it still works…


5. Rocking helps keep the back happy. Something about rocking that I and many others have noticed is that rocking can help soothe back pain and even chase it away until it becomes a rare occurrence. For back discomfort, rocking is the number one “go to.” Who wouldn’t want to be able to rock throughout their life if it would help with back pain?

These are some of the reasons why I would have to be able to rock every day; why I wouldn’t want to leave it out of my “forever strong” movements.

Rock and roll is more than just a music genre. It’s a way to stay healthy and have vitality throughout life. And that’s important!

To recap, here’s my Three Must Do’s, in no particular order:

1. Loaded walking.


2. Roll Flossing.


3. Rocking.

If a person did these three things consistently, they’d feel pretty good and be pretty able to enjoy life in all its seasons.

Rock on, friends!

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