The 7 Fundamental Human Movement Patterns We Should All Be Able to Do

Being able to use your body freely, without pain and without any restrictions, on a daily basis, is simply a blessing.

Unfortunately, we only realize this too late, after an injury or an accident.

Too often, we wrongly think that the body is something we take for granted, that it will always be there for us, and we associate the fact of moving only when we do physical exercise, train or play sports.

This is a dangerous illusion! We are in our bodies all the time , 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

So moving your body freely is not just a matter of athletic performance or technical skill, it is important to be able to perform all everyday movements:

Getting out of bed in the morning, carrying your child in your arms, grabbing a dish from the top of a shelf, going up and down the stairs, sitting on a chair and getting back up again...

In this article, we will discover the 7 fundamental human movements , the basic movement patterns, that we should all be able to do without any pain to live a healthier life and enjoy our favorite activities for as long as possible.

Let's start with some important definitions.

What are called the fundamental movements of the human body?

When we talk about fundamental human movements, or basic movements, we don't all mean the same thing.

Some people think directly of more primitive movements such as quadrupedalism (walking on all fours), being able to run barefoot in the forest, swimming in lakes and rivers, climbing trees, etc.

They imagine the movements our ancestors were capable of making.

This is an approach to physical training that can be found, for example, at MovNat or Primal Movement.

Some people think more about a direct application to physical training, the development of athletic abilities , performance and speak directly of functional movements.

It's about working the body as a whole and not by separating muscle groups as traditional bodybuilding might do, and developing strength, core strength, resistance, endurance, etc.

We are thinking here of training with TRX or even using Kettlebells like StrongFirst.

Finally, we also have the influence of Instagram and social networks where you can find everything and anything with new forms of training that come out every week and that also claim to help the development of fundamental human movements: Animal Flow , Ido Portal , Yoga, Ginastica Natural , Capoeira, HIIT…

It's easy to get lost in all of this.

But then what are the “fundamental movements”? Why is it important? What are the movement patterns? How can we use them?

To answer this question, we will seek the advice of science, human physiology, the study of biomechanics and anthropology.

The human body and its functions did not develop yesterday. They are the result of millions of years of adaptation, survival, evolution, adjustment, and transformation.

Do you think you can move and perform the same physical tasks as ancient Roman gladiators, Polynesian sailors, hunter-gatherers, or Edo-era samurai?

Despite our objective devolution in recent years, due to the effects of our very comfortable sedentary life ( the loss of the Deep Squat for example), we are still born with the same musculoskeletal system as our ancestors .

I'm not saying we should be able to do everything we knew how to do in those less technologically advanced times, but simply be able to walk long distances, sit down in a full squat and get back up, sprint and run, jump and absorb shocks, step over obstacles, change directions quickly, lift and carry loads, push and pull objects of our own...

In short, having fluidity of movement and action at the level of all joints of the whole body, in all possible movement scenarios.

It is in this sense that we define the fundamental movements, these movements which will be able to express all the other movements which we will have to carry out in our life.

These are the basic movements of the matrix of all movements of a capable and healthy human body.

For me, they compose the alphabet of human movements.

There are 7 of them and we will see them in detail in this article:

1. Push
2. Pull (Draw)
3. Squat
4. Hinge (Hip hinge folding)
5. Lunge
6. Twist (Rotation / Anti-rotation)
7. Gait / Carry (Locomotion / Transport)

Learning and understanding each basic movement pattern is a critical first step in physical training and relating to your body throughout the day.

Once you have mastered these, you can explore more complex movements by modifying or combining the basic ones.

Restoring these natural body functions is also the best way to combat the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle, prevent and reduce the risk of injuries, add awareness and improve posture throughout the day, avoid getting sick (modern diseases such as diabetes or obesity) and ultimately learn to age better, in health and vitality.

The problem with the modern fitness industry: its impact on poor movement

The modern fitness industry, for the most part, has sought to achieve superficial and temporary rewards by improving physical appearance.

While having a beautiful body can be an indication of being physically fit, to some extent, being fit goes far beyond appearance.

We are in the generation of Instagram fit-boys and fit-girls , of unbalanced physiques (protruding pectorals for men and buttocks for women), of the promotion of aesthetics as an objective and means of social success, of the business of derivative products, food supplements...

In short, you just have to log on to Instagram to see it.

Please note, this is not a facile critique of the harmful effects of social media or a simple judgment on people who practice bodybuilding.

There are also a lot of good things , such as making sport accessible to a wider audience, the democratization of gym memberships, and the community spirit and support in fitness classes, for example.

However, if we take stock using only the lens of movement, we see a decline in our ability to move: the increase in injuries, stiffness, pain, etc. linked to poor movement are proof of this.

We move in a very limited way, alternating between ten or fifteen exercises, we most often only move on a single plane (frontal), we have no notion of acquiring technical, artistic or creative skills, consequently little, if any, transferability to the movements that you will have to do in your everyday life.

Being fit means being physically and mentally prepared for the demands of the real world , which range from the basic demands of everyday work and family life to exceptional and extremely challenging circumstances.

Today, we think that developing physically means increasing the loads only, without developing a greater awareness of one's body, without evaluating the state of one's mobility, coordination, joint strength, balance, ability to jump...

We train 3 to 4 times a week but we still manage to injure our lower back or ankles when we go for a short run on Sunday in the park...

Where's the logic in that? If you're tired every day at the office or have no energy left in the evening to play with your kids... what's the point of your workout?

Isn't physical training supposed to improve our abilities and make us resistant to injury and pain?

Since we don't work on the foundations, on these fundamental movements, we train without realizing our deficiencies, our asymmetries, our weaknesses...

We spend a lot of time with our bodies, yet we remain blind to all the signals it sends us. We force ourselves, we accentuate our imbalances, and we injure ourselves.

Not knowing how to perform fundamental movements correctly is the main cause of our injuries .

This is where my biggest criticism of the modern fitness approach, in terms of training philosophy, is that it focuses too much on looking strong and useful and not BEING strong and useful.

People have been conditioned to believe that “real” exercise must be compartmentalized, whether it’s strength or cardio, and must target specific muscles regardless of real-life applications. This reductionist thinking leads to mechanistic, segmented muscle isolation exercises that provide very little benefit to our daily lives.

The body is not designed to function in isolation, but rather as a whole.

The psychological reality is that current isolation exercises are boring because they are very different from how nature intended us to behave physically. We need a functioning body to perform practical actions.

I personally believe that this one-dimensional approach to the body, health and physicality based solely on appearance is doomed to disappear as people increasingly understand that being fit and healthy means addressing all dimensions of one's being: reconnecting body, heart and mind.

Physical training should provide the strength, stability, endurance, protection, mobility, confidence, and energy we need to thrive in our lives and our favorite activities.

Every day we use these fundamental movements, these basic functional movement patterns, such as pushing, pulling, squatting, turning, bending, carrying, as well as gait patterns (walking and running).

Why don't we train them?

The benefits of body-based training

Functional training is based on the use of these fundamental, natural, essential movement patterns inherited from millions of years of evolution. We therefore seek to use exercises that improve this movement capacity in a comprehensive manner, safely and while maintaining our good health.

For us, humans of the 21st century, it is also the means of combating the effects of modernity .

Indeed, losing motor skills, hip mobility, having constant back pain, posture problems, limitations in putting arms above the head or turning the hips to sit on the floor are not inevitable consequences of aging.

Training the body's functions is, above all, about staying young longer .

No matter what tools we decide to use, whether it's pure body weight, kettlebells, elastic bands, rings or TRX, the central idea is to have a practice that adapts to our current level, respecting our movement limitations, and with a reasonable margin of progression.

We're not going to go from doing a push-up on our knees to doing Handstand Push-Ups (push-ups while balancing on our hands) in 1 week... Let's be reasonable.

Here are some benefits of more functional training:

1) Low impact / risk of injury

In general, functional training, when done correctly, puts much less stress on your joints and body. Compared to the modern fitness industry, which relies on the gym to the max, there's no excess stress your body isn't yet prepared to handle.

2) A solid foundation of physical conditioning

Functional training exercises help build a solid foundation of strength, core, mobility, coordination, and even breathing skills to prepare you for more intense physical activities, more challenging workouts, and increase your work capacity. You can train longer and more consistently.

They also help strengthen joints and stabilizing muscles, which is ideal for sports with high impacts, sudden, more violent changes of rhythm, and reflex changes of direction such as combat sports, football, tennis, etc.

We are therefore more resistant to shocks and therefore have access to more difficult activities.

3) Better posture

This form of training employs the entire body with exercises that improve not only strength but also balance and core stability. No abs or core workouts here. It's all core training.

Indeed, being able to perform kettlebell swings, squats, pull-ups... whatever it may be, spinal stability and neutrality are essential for safe and efficient movement. When functional training is taught correctly, the spine is not at risk.

We then use the power of the hips and shoulders and therefore, we solidify the trunk, we are more aware when we come out of an unstable position (bending or arching too much) and ultimately, this has an impact on improved body posture on a daily basis.

4) More mobility (flexibility + strength)

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of physical training: joint mobility work. When you train function, it's necessary to restore the power of your joints. A greater range of motion is what will allow you to put your body in the different positions required for your training and, by extension, all everyday positions.

5) Develop balance and coordination

Much of functional training involves unilateral training (one limb at a time) and plyometrics (jumping).

Working one limb at a time is not to be confused with working the muscles on only one side. Here, even if you are performing a single-leg squat (Pistol Squat), you are using all the muscles around your spine to maintain your core, the muscles of the leg in the air to stabilize and balance the body...

Then, this emphasis on more explosive work allows you to translate this strength stored in your body and express it in a very short time . This explosiveness of the lower and upper body is incredibly important for most sports and it is what is most useful for being able to respond to the most surprising situations of everyday life.

Finally, good balance and coordination are all intangible qualities that are part of body awareness and will also help prevent injuries (see the section on better posture).

6) Personalized training

Functional training is essentially “practical” training that is tailored to your body, your needs, your restrictions and your goals (if it is programmed correctly of course).

If you lack pulling strength because you do a sport that mainly involves pushing, or if you want to relieve back pain after giving birth for example, or if you want to develop your ability to twist your body without injuring yourself because you are a firefighter and you have to carry people from strange positions...

Functional training will be much more relevant to meeting your rebalancing needs and increasing your longevity. Let's train to move like humans!

Here, finally, is the detail of each of these fundamental human movements.

The 7 Fundamental Human Movements in Detail and How to Use Them

The human body can perform 7 basic movements and all other exercises are just variations of these seven movements:

1. Push
2. Pull (Draw)
3. Squat
4. Hinge (Hip hinge folding)
5. Lunge
6. Twist (Rotation / Anti-rotation)
7. Gait / Carry (Locomotion / Transport)

Let's dive deeper into each move.

Push

Pushing movements can be divided into two groups: horizontal pushing (push-ups) and vertical pushing (military presses). The horizontal pushing primarily works the chest and shoulders. While the vertical pushing primarily works the shoulders and triceps (with a lot of crossover between the two, depending on the exercise).

Both types of push require a flexible, strong, and stable shoulder.

The shoulders are particularly susceptible to injury due to their high mobility. This is why it is extremely important for weightlifters, especially beginners, to go slow and steady with the weight they are lifting, to nail themselves properly, and to consistently work on shoulder mobility exercises between lifts.

Examples of exercises:

• Pump (Push-up)
• Military press
• Handstand Push-up.

Examples of movements:

• Throw a punch
• Throw a baseball
• Push a door

Sweater

The opposite of pushing movements: pulling.

In the gym and in everyday life, it's about pulling something towards you or pulling yourself towards something else. Pulling is one of the most classic signs of total body strength as we know from pull-up competitions on the beach ^^.

Much like pushing, pulling can be divided into two main movements: vertical pulling and horizontal pulling. Both types of pulling work the back muscles as well as the biceps and forearms.

Doing this type of movement regularly will strengthen your back and will greatly help correct posture and prevent back injuries over time.

Examples of exercises:

• Pull-up
• Rowing
• Deadlift

Examples of movements:

• Rope climb
• Row
• Climb

Squat

The squat is considered one of the most effective fundamental movements in resistance training , and even the least athletic among us have all heard about the benefits of incorporating squats into our workout routine, including building overall strength, improving metabolism, and enhancing athletic performance.

I guess I have modern fitness to thank a little for making squats more mainstream haha

A squat is a movement pattern in which you place both feet on the floor, then bend your legs to lower your body while keeping your chest up and your lower back straight. In this movement, it's important to bend at the hips first and tilt your pelvis back, as if you were going to sit on a chair behind you.

This is the movement we use to sit. Well, normally. If you sit by bending your knees first and placing them far in front of your toes before bending your hips, you don't know how to sit like a human yet.

Examples of exercises:

• Squat Jump
• Pistol Squat (one leg)
• Goblet Squat

Examples of movements:

• Cat Jump (Parkour)
• Backflip
• Dunk

Hinge

Bending at the hip hinge is an essential movement that must be worked on at all costs!

It involves folding from the hips while keeping the spine neutral . When performed correctly, these movements functionally employ the entire posterior chain. Almost every sport you play requires these muscles to be strong and powerful .

This is a very common movement, used in our daily lives, such as lifting a baby off the floor or lifting a heavy suitcase. Of all the movements listed, hip flexion may be the most important, given that over 80% of people suffer from severe back pain at some point in their lives.

Learning how to properly strengthen your hip hinge can save your back while keeping you healthy.

The best exercises to help you master this movement:

• Snatch
• Deadlift

They can effectively help you learn bending movements. It takes patience and practice to master this type of complex movement.

Lunge

A lunge is a single-leg movement that requires one leg to move forward and bend while the other remains stationary. Carrying water while walking up a tree trunk or, in modern sports, bending forward to catch a ball, requires balance, strength, and mobility.

Like the squat, the lunge works the main muscles of the lower limbs: quadriceps, glutes, hips, calves, and develops core stability. The lunge requires a greater range of motion , which promotes the development of the glutes and hamstrings.

To add resistance, you can hold a medicine ball, dumbbells, or even a sandbag on one shoulder. Lunges can help you work your muscles so that everyday movements (climbing stairs, running, getting in and out of vehicles, cycling, etc.) are easier.

Lunges can also help prepare your muscles and joints for sports with a lot of change of direction and chest movements like tennis, basketball, and soccer.

Examples of exercises:

• Side lunge
• Front slit
• Crossed back lunges

Example of movements:

• Teep in Muay Thai
• Skier Jump
• Sprint

Twist

Of all the exercises listed so far, all are performed in 2 planes of motion, either forward or sideways. But there is a third plane of motion that makes the exercise much more functional: the transverse plane , or twisting movement.

If you think about lying down, throwing a ball, running, or even walking, most human movements have a rotational element . The BIG problem, however, is that most exercises we do in the gym don't have a rotational component.

There are two main types of twisting, or rotating, movements:

• The rotation,
• Anti-rotation.

Rotational movements are the basic twisting exercises, such as rotating to throw a ball.
Imagine someone pushes you aggressively on one shoulder, and you resist the push; this is anti-rotation.

Rotation and anti-rotation exercises are both excellent to incorporate into your workouts. Want to build stability and strength in your body? Rotation (or anti-rotation…) is the best way to do it.

Examples of exercises:

• Russian Twists
• Pallof-press with elastic band
• Med Ball Throws: Medicine ball throws (while standing sideways against a wall).

Examples of movements:

• Forehand in tennis
• Golf
• Hook in boxing

Gait

Lifting weights is one of the most underrated workouts in most gyms today.

However, it's one of the most practical basic movements in existence. Jogging, walking, and sprinting with an external load are the most common examples of load-bearing in our daily lives. Excellent examples can be seen with the StrongFirst method and all the Farmer's Strength and Carry movements.

In other words, it involves moving from one point to another while holding a load.

This movement pattern is a catch-all for dynamic human movements and movement combinations. But to get the most benefit while minimizing the risk of injury, proper progression is required.

Please don't start with sprints with a load haha

Let's learn to walk before we run.

Examples of movements:

• To walk
• Jogging
• Jump

Start your functional training simply

I hope this brief overview of fundamental human movements has been helpful and enlightening. The goal is simple: to move better, without injury, and for as long as possible.

To begin integrating these different concepts, and even before choosing a functional training program or buying Kettlebells or TRX, come back to you and your body.

Simply start by trying bodyweight movements that could help you rehabilitate these different movement patterns by taking into account your level of strength, mobility, injury history, movement restrictions, physical activity history...

Try dedicating a portion of your training to all of these movements or create a simple workout that you can repeat every week, 2 to 3 times , that doesn't take up much time, simply to start applying your new knowledge. For example, with one exercise for each movement and gradually increasing in complexity.

Of course, the best thing is to ask your coach for advice and have a program specific to your needs.

The important point to remember is that to move better and without injury, it is imperative to move while respecting the biomechanics of the human body . This list of movements is not a list of exercises that you can choose to use or not, it is not negotiable.

It's the science of the human body and how it's supposed to move.

So, let's educate ourselves and apply this knowledge to avoid getting hurt and enjoy a better life experience on Earth.

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS