What is movement competency and why is it important?

Movement competency is the ability to execute fundamental human movement patterns with efficiency, control, and proper biomechanics, crucial for injury prevention, enhanced performance, and maintaining functional capacity throughout life.

What are the core principles of movement competency training?

The core principles include focusing on fundamental patterns, prioritizing quality over quantity, using progression and regression, integrating movements, and practicing mindfully with attention to how your body feels and moves.

What types of exercises are best for developing movement competency?

The best exercises are categorized by fundamental human movement patterns: squats (e.g., goblet squat), hinges (e.g., RDL), lunges (e.g., reverse lunge), pushes (e.g., push-up), pulls (e.g., bodyweight row), carries (e.g., farmer's walk), and rotational/anti-rotational movements (e.g., Pallof press).

How should I incorporate movement competency training into my routine?

You can incorporate it by using bodyweight variations in warm-ups, dedicating specific sessions to movement quality, prioritizing foundational movements at the start of strength workouts, and continually assessing and adjusting your progression or regression.

Are there any key considerations for effective movement competency training?

Key considerations include seeking a professional assessment (like an FMS), individualizing exercises to your capabilities, working with a knowledgeable coach for feedback, and committing to consistent, deliberate practice.

What are the best exercises for movement competency training?

Movement competency training focuses on mastering fundamental human movement patterns to enhance functional capacity, prevent injury, and optimize performance, with key exercises including squats, hinges, lunges, pushes, pulls, and carries, prioritizing quality and control over load.

Understanding Movement Competency

Movement competency refers to the ability to execute fundamental human movement patterns with efficiency, control, and proper biomechanics. It's not merely about strength or endurance, but about the underlying quality of how we move. This foundational capability is crucial for everything from daily activities to peak athletic performance.

Why Movement Competency is Crucial:

Injury Prevention: Poor movement patterns often lead to compensatory strategies, placing undue stress on joints, ligaments, and tendons, increasing the risk of injury.
Enhanced Performance: Efficient movement allows for greater force production, better energy transfer, and improved athletic skill acquisition.
Longevity and Quality of Life: Maintaining competent movement patterns helps preserve independence and function as we age, reducing the likelihood of pain and disability.
Foundation for Advanced Training: Without competent foundational movement, attempting advanced exercises or heavy loads can be counterproductive and dangerous.

Key Pillars of Movement Competency:

Mobility: The ability of a joint to move through its full, unrestricted range of motion.
Stability: The ability to control movement and maintain proper posture, often involving co-contraction of muscles around a joint.
Motor Control: The nervous system's ability to coordinate muscles and joints to produce smooth, efficient, and intentional movements.
Strength: The capacity of a muscle or muscle group to exert force, applied within a competent movement pattern.

Principles of Movement Competency Training

Effective movement competency training adheres to specific principles that distinguish it from general strength training.

Focus on Fundamental Patterns: Prioritize the basic human movements that underpin all physical activity.
Quality Over Quantity: Emphasize perfect form and control, even if it means using lighter loads or fewer repetitions.
Progression and Regression: Start with the simplest variation of a movement and gradually increase complexity or load as competency improves. Be ready to regress if form falters.
Integration, Not Isolation: Train movements that involve multiple joints and muscle groups working synergistically, mirroring real-world demands.
Mindful Practice: Pay close attention to proprioception and kinesthetic awareness – how your body feels and moves in space.

Fundamental Movement Patterns & Best Exercises

The following exercises are foundational for developing robust movement competency, categorized by the core human movement patterns.

The Squat Pattern

The squat is a fundamental lower body movement involving simultaneous flexion at the hips, knees, and ankles. It's essential for picking things up, sitting down, and jumping.

Bodyweight Squat: Focus on depth, keeping the chest up, and knees tracking over toes.
Goblet Squat: Holding a dumbbell or kettlebell against the chest helps counterbalance, often improving squat depth and torso uprightness.
Overhead Squat (Assessment): While challenging, performing a squat with arms overhead is an excellent diagnostic tool for identifying mobility and stability limitations throughout the kinetic chain.

The Hinge Pattern

The hinge is a posterior chain-dominant movement where the hips are the primary movers, with minimal knee flexion. It's crucial for lifting objects safely from the floor and powerful athletic movements.

Glute Bridge: Lying on your back, lift your hips to activate glutes and hamstrings, teaching hip extension without spinal flexion.
Romanian Deadlift (RDL): With a slight bend in the knees, hinge at the hips, pushing them back while keeping a neutral spine. Focus on feeling the stretch in the hamstrings.
Kettlebell Swing: A dynamic hinge exercise that builds explosive hip power and teaches efficient force transfer.

The Lunge Pattern

The lunge involves unilateral (single-leg) leg strength and stability, mimicking walking, running, and climbing stairs.

Forward Lunge: Step forward, lowering until both knees are bent at approximately 90 degrees, ensuring the front knee tracks over the ankle.
Reverse Lunge: Step backward, often easier for balance and knee health for beginners.
Lateral Lunge: Step out to the side, maintaining one leg straight while hinging and squatting on the other, improving frontal plane mobility and strength.
Split Squat (Static Lunge): A static lunge position, focusing on depth and stability without the dynamic step.

The Push Pattern

Pushing movements involve extending the arms away from the body, either horizontally or vertically.

Push-up: A foundational horizontal push that engages the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. Progress from elevated surfaces to the floor.
Dumbbell Bench Press: Offers a greater range of motion and allows for independent arm work compared to a barbell, highlighting bilateral asymmetries.
Overhead Press (Dumbbell or Kettlebell): A vertical push that demands shoulder mobility, core stability, and upper body strength.

The Pull Pattern

Pulling movements involve drawing an object or your body towards you, either horizontally or vertically.

Bodyweight Row (Inverted Row): Lying under a bar, pull your chest towards it, engaging the back and biceps. Adjust body angle for difficulty.
Dumbbell Row (Single-Arm): Supports core stability while working the lats, traps, and biceps unilaterally.
Pull-up (Assisted or Negative): A challenging vertical pull that builds significant upper body and back strength. Focus on controlled descents (negatives) or use assistance bands.

The Gait/Carry Pattern

These patterns emphasize whole-body stability, grip strength, and the ability to move under load.

Farmer's Walk: Holding heavy dumbbells or kettlebells in each hand and walking a set distance. Excellent for grip, core stability, and posture.
Suitcase Carry: Similar to a Farmer's Walk but with weight in only one hand, challenging anti-lateral flexion of the core.
Waiter's Carry: Holding a weight overhead in one hand while walking, demanding significant shoulder stability and core control.

Rotational & Anti-Rotational Patterns

These exercises train the core's ability to resist or produce rotation, crucial for athletic movements and spinal health.

Pallof Press: Using a cable machine or resistance band, press the handle straight out from your chest while resisting the rotational pull of the weight. Excellent for anti-rotation.
Cable Chops/Lifts: Dynamic exercises that train the core to produce controlled rotation and anti-extension/flexion.

Incorporating Movement Competency Training

Integrating these exercises effectively requires a thoughtful approach:

Warm-ups: Use bodyweight variations of these patterns as part of your dynamic warm-up to prepare the body for more intense work.
Dedicated Sessions: Allocate specific training days or parts of sessions to focus purely on movement quality, using lighter loads and higher attention to form.
Integration into Strength Routines: Prioritize these foundational movements at the beginning of your strength workouts when you are freshest and can maintain the best form.
Progression and Regression: Continuously assess your movement quality. If form breaks down, reduce the load, simplify the exercise, or decrease the range of motion until competency is restored.

Key Considerations for Effective Training

Professional Assessment: Consider getting a Functional Movement Screen (FMS) or similar assessment from a qualified professional to identify specific limitations and asymmetries.
Individualization: Not every exercise is suitable for everyone. Adapt movements to your current physical capabilities and any specific limitations.
Coaching and Feedback: Work with a knowledgeable coach who can provide external cues and feedback to improve your movement patterns.
Consistency: Like any skill, movement competency improves with consistent, deliberate practice.

Conclusion

Mastering movement competency is not merely a precursor to advanced training; it is the bedrock of a healthy, functional, and high-performing body. By diligently practicing and refining exercises within the fundamental human movement patterns – squats, hinges, lunges, pushes, pulls, carries, and rotational control – you build a resilient foundation that prevents injury, enhances athletic potential, and sustains a high quality of life. Prioritize quality over quantity, listen to your body, and commit to the journey of becoming a truly competent mover.

Movement Competency Training: Best Exercises, Principles, and Integration