Movement Variability

Appropriate variability is presented as a marker of health and performance. The best posture is presented as one that changes across multiple orientations and states. More available joint motion gives the nervous system more ways to solve tasks. Greater movement variability is presented as a way to distribute loading and build more robust movement capacity. The purpose of developing movement variability is to help clients or athletes perform fundamental tasks well when their current strategy is limited, painful, inefficient, or poorly controlled. Movement-based improvements may be more reliable and more likely to persist because the person actively controls the change. Lower-level drills may help recover movement options when a person lacks them in a specific context. Active movement strategies are preferred over passive strategies when restoring range of motion. Standard jogging on pavement or a treadmill is low in variability because it repeats the same movement pattern. Movement restoration is treated as a general principle across musculoskeletal and neurologic cases. Lack of options and lack of movement variety are more important concerns than any single sitting posture. For p…