Rethinking Movement in an Exercise-Driven
Why more reps, more sweat, and more pain don’t always mean better movement.
Bigger Isn’t Always Better
There’s a common misconception in the fitness world: that harder, heavier, and faster always equals better. But being “fit” doesn’t necessarily mean we’re moving well.
In fact, there’s a crucial difference between exercise — structured, effort-based activity — and movement, which includes the way we walk, sit, breathe, and interact with our environment every day.
We often assume that exercising more will improve our movement. But without awareness of how we move, we may simply get better at reinforcing poor patterns. This increases the risk of injury, slows progress, and ultimately forces many to stop exercising altogether.
Neuroplasticity: Your Brain Learns What You Repeat
Over the past few decades, our understanding of the brain has transformed. Neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to rewire based on experience — means that our movement patterns become ingrained through repetition.
The brain stores movement as patterns to help us act automatically and efficiently. Imagine having to relearn how to sit in a chair or drive a car every time — we’d never get anything done. These patterns allow us to multitask, preserve energy, and survive.
But there’s a catch: the brain doesn’t judge movement as “good” or “bad.” It simply reinforces whatever we do most often. If that’s poor posture, shallow breathing, or joint restriction, those patterns become our default.
“Use It or Lose It” in Action
If you spend most of your day sitting — working, commuting, relaxing — your body adapts to that shape. Postural changes, muscular imbalances, and altered movement mechanics follow. Over time, this can interfere with walking, lifting, or running.
Unless we become aware of these adaptations and consciously address them, they influence overall function and increase injury risk.
To stay resilient, we must deliberately manage:
The behaviours we adopt while sitting, and
The movements we use to offset long hours of stillness.
It’s Not Just About Exercise
Let’s take running as an example.
We might run for 30 minutes a day — and spend the remaining 23.5 hours sitting, commuting, working, or resting. Yet we expect that brief window of effort to offset everything else. But if our daily movement patterns don’t support running, we’re likely to develop compensations that undermine it.
We may unknowingly reinforce imbalances caused by sitting, poor footwear, or stress. Over time, this leads to inefficient mechanics and injury.
“If we don’t first consider movement quality, we fail to recognise the important role that the brain plays in whole integrated functional movement.”
— Gray Cook
The nervous system can only compensate for so long. When physical demands exceed our capacity to move well, dysfunction arises. Pain follows. We rest, feel better, return to exercise — and the cycle repeats. But pain is not the problem. It’s a signal pointing to an underlying issue in how we move.
When Exercise Takes the Blame
Injuries often lead us to blame the activity itself. We stop. We’re prescribed painkillers. Maybe we do some rehab. But if we don’t address the root cause — dysfunctional movement — nothing truly changes.
Eventually, these issues can escalate. Degenerative joints. Chronic pain. Surgical interventions. What’s often accepted as “just ageing” is frequently the result of long-term unaddressed movement dysfunction.
To correct the issue, we must shift focus from fitness outcomes to integrated movement awareness. Strength and flexibility are important — but they are only part of the picture. We need to understand the specificity and context of how we move.
Movement as a Daily Dialogue
Movement is how we express ourselves, stay healthy, and engage with life — not just when we’re working out, but in every moment.
If we view movement only through the lens of physical activity — workouts, reps, or aesthetics — we miss the more subtle and powerful dimension: how we sit, breathe, walk, and hold ourselves when no one’s watching.
Even stillness is a form of movement. If we ignore that reality, we miss the opportunity to become more aware, present, and resilient in our own bodies.
The good news? We can change the way we move. With attention and repetition, we can build better patterns. At first, it takes more mental effort — but eventually, these healthier movements become automatic, integrated, and instinctive.
A Case in Point
A client came to me with chronic knee pain that had persisted despite months of physiotherapy. After a movement assessment, we discovered she was subconsciously avoiding full knee extension while walking — a compensation left over from her initial injury.
Her brain had adopted this as a protective strategy, but it was now placing excess mechanical stress on the joint. Once we identified and addressed this dysfunction, her movement improved. Her pain resolved naturally — and only then did her physio-prescribed strengthening work become effective.
This allowed her body to do what it’s designed to do: heal, adapt, and return to pain-free function.
(You can read her full testimonial here.)
Movement Re-Education: A Smarter Approach
Movement re-education focuses less on physical output and more on:
Mobility and joint freedom
Stability and coordination
Motor control and body awareness
Whole-body pattern integration
Rather than isolating muscles, we teach the body to work as a system — restoring harmony between mobile and stable segments, improving efficiency, reducing injury risk, and building lasting resilience.
This approach supports confidence, recovery, and freedom in movement — the foundation of a healthy life.
Recommended Resources
Books
📘 Movement – Gray Cook
📘 Ready to Run – Dr Kelly Starrett
📘 The Story of the Human Body – Daniel Lieberman
📘 British Journal of Sports Medicine / Ko-Kinetic Journal
Talks & Podcasts
🎧 The Huberman Lab Podcast – Dr Andrew Huberman
Final Reflection
If we truly want to move well for life, we must prioritise quality over quantity — and see movement as a whole-body, whole-life practice.
Ask yourself:
What habits are you reinforcing daily?
Do your movements support your goals — or work against them?
When was the last time you paused to notice how you really move?
It’s not about doing more.
It’s about moving with intention.