Movement as medicine : getting the dosage and prescription right

The broad consensus is that movement is good for your existence. 

But every existence has different constraints and pains. 

So if movement is medicine. Some prescriptions are clearly more appropriate than others.

Take walking. Necessary? Yes. Overdone at the cost of getting stronger? Hell yes. 

Take squatting. Necessary? Absolutely. But think step ups, single leg, heel elevated and sumo. Load and control trumps volume. 

Take push ups. Necessary? Yes. But augment them with lateral raises, pressing in various planes and throwing too. The shoulders can do far too much and need to rotate, abduct, adduct, flex and extend. 

Take deadlifts. Necessary? Yes. Picking a weight of the floor feels like a necessary life skill at any age. But your hips can rotate. That movement can help roll, get off the floor and help your back move freely. 

Your heart can operate at multiple intensities. Just walking or even running won’t cut it. Learning to operate at varying percentages of your maximal heart rate and for different durations is necessary. 

Movement can be medicine. But arbitrary prescriptions or overdosing on one medication can neuter their effectiveness. 


Takeaway 

Movement produces adaptations. The adaptions are the medicine. So the adaptations need the same amount of thought and informed implementation as real pills do.