I used to believe that the foundational human movements were squat, push, pull, hinge, and carry.
Much of my training over the last 10 years was built around these movement patterns. Maybe yours are too.
And if you study most “functional” programs today, they are all still built on these movements.
The problem for me was, after 10 years of training this way, I was riddled with pain and feeling much older than a “healthy” 30-something should.
My body ached constantly, I was throwing out my back every few weeks, and I was tricking myself into believing “this is just what happens when you get older.”
The truth is, I was misinformed.
Primary Human Movements
Fortunately, the “functional training” trend got us moving away from machines and isolation movements. It moved many of us toward compound movements that humans were “designed” to do.
We started squatting, pressing, pulling and hinging, and with free-weights, like barbells and kettlebells.
It was a move in the right direction.
But, from what I’ve come to learn, those are not the primary movements humans were actually designed for.
The primary movements are walking, running, throwing, and getting up (the get up is a theory I’ll get into in a later article).
To me, the squat, push, pull, and hinge are secondary movements.
They are useful and necessary, but not the specific movements we evolved for, nor should they be our training focus.
We evolved to be on two feet moving forward in space.
Now, if you look at locomotion as the primary movement, its actions are far different than what you get with the secondary movements.
Walking and running is rotational by nature. Your arms and limbs move contralaterally around an axis. That axis is a spine connected to a ribcage and pelvis that is turning to produce forward movement.
Throwing is essentially an exaggeration of the same rotational movement.
So, if our design is to rotate, why is the foundation of most training programs square, linear, sagittal plane movements on two feet?
Once you realize that life is rotation, meaning, nearly everything you do it rotational, you’ll start to question conventional “functional” training.
Everything Is Rotation
Opening a door, walking to the mailbox, climbing stairs, getting out of bed…most of what you do every day is rotational.
In fact, every joint action in the body is rotational. There is no such thing as straight, linear, up and down movement. When you bend your arm in a biceps curl, it may seem straight and linear, but muscles are spiraling to rotate bones around joints.
Life is rotation.
Now consider athletics. Hitting, kicking, punching, throwing, swinging, juking, cutting…all rotation. You are rarely square in sport.
Sport is rotation.
In jiu-jitsu you are almost never square, but rotated to some degree, or using a rotational movement to perform technique.
Takedowns, sweeps, passes, counters, all require some form of rotation.
You could argue that closed guard is a square position, but even most techniques from the closed guard require a degree of rotation.
Jiu-jitsu is rotation.
In fact, the only sport that is not rotational is powerlifting. So if that’s your goal, then by all means stay square.
But if your goal is powerful, athletic movement and ability, rotation is where you should focus.
Neurological Effects of Sagittal Plane Exercise
Very few people consider the effects on the nervous system when training. Most thought is on the muscles – how to make them strengthen, grow and create force.
But, every time you repeat a movement for reps, you are grooving neurological pathways for that movement. For example, when you are squatting you are telling the system I want to get good at this movement.
Now, when you perform square movements, which again, are necessary and important (remember, they are secondary movements), you are bracing your core to resist rotation of the spine and pelvis.
The same thing happens on all sagittal plane movements…deadlift, bench, overhead press, etc. We have been taught to brace the core to resist movement.
I argue that you when you train only in this way, or predominantly this way, you are telling your nervous system to prioritize anti-rotation.
“Do not rotate.”
You are telling your body to stop doing the fundamental thing it was designed to do.
So, a question to ask yourself is, “Do I want to become good at squats, deadlifts, pushes, and pulls, or, do I want to become good at movement for sport, grappling, and life?”
Again, bilateral resistance training is necessary. It truly is the best way to build strength. And, anti-rotation is also necessary.
But should they be your primary focus?
How To Train Rotation
If you’re now seeing that rotation should be your primary movement pattern, or realize that you’re not training it enough and need to add more, where do you start?
No, it’s not Russian Twists. (Those are the worst rotational exercise!)
First, start by going back to my previous articles and undoing some of the negative effects that prolonged sagittal plane compression work has had on your body.
Then, start waking up your lateral and rotational chains explained here.
If you start adding too much rotation, too fast, too soon, you’re going to get hurt.
But, when your body is ready, rotational movement will become your secret weapon for producing devastating power. It will also build true resilience and durability, and not only at the joints, but at an integrated, totally body level.
Your core will have a newfound level of strength and stability, and your mobility and freedom of movement will improve dramatically.
Club swinging is the best tool to develop rotational skill and ability and the best place to start, but Landmine Training with the barbell will unleash new abilities of strength, power, and athleticism.
Once you learn to rotate properly, almost any exercise can become rotational, even those presses, pulls, lunges and hinges.
For now, observe how frequent rotation is in your day-to-day life, and how lacking it is in your current training routine.
For ideas on rotational exercises for BJJ, click here.
