That’s a thought that has probably passed through the minds of many of the people that I work with. And to be honest with you dear reader - its a relevant thought indeed. To answer that question and maybe a few more, a little back ground perspective…….
8 years ago when I was introduced to it - I was on a quest to figure things out. I knew how to write effective programs to make my athletes faster, quicker and more agile. Largely that’s pretty easy to do if you arm your self with some rudimentary anatomy, physiology and kinesiolgy skills and train your eye for simple movement. Cross your fingers that I didn’t fall asleep in exercise physiology class then add in a little work ethic and the results are usually predictable in the positive direction. The hard part was getting people to move better. That is sort of a broad topic and on a certain level very individualized and transient.. Good movement to your post op ACL patient, your NFL combine athlete and weekend warrior all mean different things. I knew that stretching wasn’t cutting it. I was using another movement system at the time but it wasn’t always getting the job done. Plus, the set up for the movement correctives as they were/are called was labor intensive. Additionally, this particular system wasn’t always appropriate for every person I worked with. I needed a method that I could use with all the people that I worked with - meaning it had to be scalable. I had to be able to use it with my post rehab people, my tier 1 athletes, my tier 101 athletes and my personal training clients, some of whom are not exactly spring chickens (you know who you are). Not asking a lot really.
Enter my first experience with Original Strength or OS as I’ll call it from here on out. With in the first hour or two of the 2 day intensive work shop I knew that I was on to something that I could use with everyone. If I was a physical therapist I could use this stuff. If I was an NFL strength coach, I could use this stuff. If I was working with special operations soldiers in the military I could use this stuff. If I was working with my mother who was a retired music teacher, I could still use this stuff.
I think you get the point.
I had found what I was looking for. And best of all - the stuff would stick. It improved movement on the spot for a lot of people. For others the movement they did have began to feel smother and easier to them. I saw people whose fingers hadn’t visited their toes in years have a tearful reunion. Butts and calves were friends again after seemingly eons apart (read - they could squat). Things that were lost had been found. Best of all - there were no rules to this stuff. Just principles. So as long as you stuck to the principles, everything was fair game. Now this REALLY appealed to me. Being the creative sort that I am, I soon found my self floating in a sea of MSU (making s#!+ up) and loving it.
“Soooooo good for you Mark”.
True enough, good for me, but more importantly, GOOD FOR YOU.
I now had access to people who were also on a quest to help others move and by extension, perform better. But wait, there’s more. They were willing to share their knowledge with me. If i couldn’t figure it out I had knew a bunch of smart people that could help me help you.
What they taught me was that in it’s infancy - human movement boils down to some basic things that we all did, more or less when we were developing as human beings. If we recreate that scenario as best we can - we can somehow move better. It is a lot like going back to school and retaking a class that you had kinda forgotten about but still use to varying degrees.
What I am referencing is something called the Neurodevelopmental Movement Sequence. Or put more simply - Stuff We Did As Babies Because We Were Curious About the World and We Wanted To Explore It. Neurodevelopmental Movement Sequence sounds cooler though. Breathing with our diaphragms, stimulating our vestibular system and moving in mid-line crossing or contralateral patterns. We all did that stuff so that we could eventually get up and walk on two feet and get into all sorts of cool stuff - - and not put it back where it belongs.
So, there you have it. Simple. Scalable. Effective. Good fundamental movement is the foundation that all training should be based on. And that in a nutshell, is what OS is and why I like it so much.