Why Do We Stand on One Leg to Warm Up?

You don’t fall because you tripped. You fell because you couldn’t recover. Falls aren’t random. They’re the result of lost connections between brain and muscle, between balance and power. Type 2 muscle fibers shrink. Reflexes slow. Recovery becomes harder. But it doesn’t have to.

In ThriveFit personal and small group training sessions, we dedicate a specific time during our warm-up to activating motor control, which is the connection between the brain and muscle. The ladder skills, the one-leg balances, and the shuffle runs are examples of movements that activate the brain’s ability to control and coordinate muscles.

Motor control is your brain and nervous system’s ability to:

• Plan a movement.
• Send the right signals to the right muscles.
• Adjust based on feedback from the joints and muscles.

These movements help with precision, timing, and stability, which in turn aid us during strength training and heavy lifting.

Unstable or asymmetrical movements engage stabilizers. Movements that challenge balance, like single-leg work, activate deep stabilizing muscles that are often underused. Stabilizer engagement is crucial for fine motor control and injury prevention.

Isometric holds build joint control. Holding a position like a plank demands sustained neural input to maintain tension and position. The effect is a strengthening of the muscles' power at specific joint angles, helping to improve precision and stability.

So, why do we start with motor control movements, such as a single-leg balance? These types of movements prime the nervous system for better movement throughout the workout!

Experience the ThriveFit difference today by booking a free consult at our training gym, located in Ponte Vedra Beach next to Nocatee.