Movement Efficiency

Movement efficiency, or simply put: having sufficient mobility, strength, technique and mechanics in multiple positions and planes of motion you will come across in a general strength and conditioning program, is a somewhat neglected component of fitness. People spend hours hammering themselves into the ground in an attempt to improve their strength and capacity, but completely disregard the importance of movement efficiency when it comes to improving their athletic ability.

This component of fitness is just as, if not more important, than your actual capacity and ability to move weight around. There are a vast number of different movements that come up in a typical strength and conditioning program, and in order to improve, you need to spend time perfecting your movement in order to be as efficient as possible and realise your highest potential.

In the world of distance running, running economy (or running efficiency) is a hugely important aspect of overall performance. If you are more efficient when you run, you use less energy when moving at the same speed or faster than someone else who has an equal level of “fitness” but is a less efficient runner. The same goes for every other movement.

Movement efficiency is low hanging fruit. There’s a saying, “tripping over dollars to pick up pennies”. Which means basically, people are putting in the hard work for those miniscule gains when instead the easier option that is going to make the most difference is actually staring them in the face.

Constantly putting yourself in positions under load that you are not quite comfortable with, can result in small little “niggles” that pop up all the time and even result in bigger injuries. So being efficient with your movement, ie. having good mobility, and being more comfortable in those positions by consistently practicing these movements with little to no external load, will lessen the risk of injury and help you avoid those annoying “niggles”.

It’s much easier to make small improvements in your technique and mobility than it is to do max effort sprints on the assault bike or 5x10 back squats, small improvements in your movement can result in big changes to your strength (this is especially true for the snatch and clean and jerk) and overall fitness. By just spending some time working on your positions, mobility, and technique, you will find yourself moving faster, feeling stronger and also pain free.