Probably one of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve ever received in sport and exercise is to consider the body as one unit. We often tend to break it up into constituent parts, focusing on specific muscles or segments when carrying out movements or even writing programmes. There are a number of practical benefits to be had though, from remembering the whole as more than a sum of its parts, whatever type of physical activity we perform.

Whether you’re recreational or competitive, swinging golf clubs or tennis rackets, or maybe kicking a ball, you might have struggled with particular techniques or movements over the years. Sometimes certain movements just feel wrong, we know we’re not getting them right but we cannot quite figure out the problem. It’s frustrating and indeed all part of the experience of playing sport or participating in recreational physical activity.

Using the body as one unit can certainly help, but how do we do it? I first heard the phrase used to describe a particular exercise that actually forces you to use the body as one unit whether you like it or not. The overhead squat is a great exercise for virtually every muscle of the body, as well as honing overall balance, stability and flexibility. It is performed by descending into a full squat while holding a barbell fixed overhead at arms length. Few muscles are spared in the monumental effort required to stand back up, so it’s easy to immediately grasp how all of the muscles of the body must work together efficiently and concertedly.

So while the exercise might help us grasp the concept of the body as one system that can be targeted with just one exercise, it isn’t actually necessary to perform an exercise as dramatic as this to start using the body in a concerted, effective and efficient manner. You can engage more of the musculature of the body, in practically any activity performed with the feet in contact with the ground. After getting to grips with the overhead squat, things can really fall into place further by considering one very important law of physics.

Personally it all made sense to me when Newton’s third law of motion was explained to me by a biomechanics buff. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, as the famous law proclaims. If this were not true, then a fish would not be able to swim forward as the tail fin and water engage in equal and opposite force-pair interactions. Neither could a bird fly without the downward force projected by flapping wings interacting with the equal and opposite forces of the air pressing up against them.

The overhead squat is a great exercise for virtually every muscle of the body, as well as honing overall balance, stability and flexibility

This concept is equally valid when considering the dynamic actions performed by any person in a standing position. When we run, jump or perform most sporting techniques, our feet press down against the floor – which presses up against our feet with equal and opposite forces. If this were not the case, the floor would crumble beneath our feet, as you might expect an old wooden stage that might have rotted over the years to do. Luckily, sturdy ground doesn’t crumble, and will feed back to us whatever we put down into it. The ground for sports practitioners can actually be visualised as some sort of massive force field, feeding us with the power we need to execute effective and forceful actions.

The force field only works, however, if we don’t squander forces we receive before they reach our hands or the implements we hold. Often these forces are squandered by legs that do not remain planted firmly for long enough, or core muscles that are not engaged, thereby dissipating forces before they can be effectively utilised. It’s easy to forget about these areas when the technique being practised is thought of as distinctly an upper body technique, like swinging a club, or throwing a ball, or even a punch.

Many coaches will agree that real balance and power in their particular sporting disciplines come from the legs and core, and indeed these are the solid links that must be maintained with the ground to fully maximise Newton’s third law, and really engage the body as one unit in a practical sense.

Next time you attempt a technique you find confusing or challenging, try this simple ‘trick’ and see how it works for you. Focus less on the implement you are carrying or even on the upper body muscles themselves, which can easily become tense and throw us off balance. Relax, take a deep breath, and focus instead on your feet and legs. Push your feet into the ground as the first stage of one concerted effort to execute your move.

In sports requiring swift mobility, like tennis or even boxing, move around by pushing the balls of your feet down, thus interacting with the force field, and see how much more agile and powerful your movement will feel.

For activities requiring a stable stance, feel your balance point towards the back of your feet, between the mid-foot and the heel and drive this part down as you swing or even lift in the case of gym training.

If you’re lifting free weights or even sitting on a resistance machine seat, press your heels down as you lift and feel the difference, and perhaps using the body as one unit could become a truly game-changing piece of advice for you too.

matthewmuscatinglott@gmail.com