You Need to Move EVERY DAY
Harry Yuan age 25
In 2012 I hosted a travel show for National Geographic called Kung Fu Motion. On the show, I was honored to meet many masters in acrobatics, opera, and kung fu. One acrobat I particularly remember, a 69-year-old doing a handstand walk across a basketball court, Master Shung. He was in better shape than I was at 26.
Master Sung age 69
I only met Master Shung for one day, but he encouraged me to be my own version of healthy and fit when I was his age.
Sometimes all you need from someone you meet is to see an example of what you want to become. His daily ritual and practice encouraged me to create my own practice.
My Ritual
I’m now 38 and I can say I am stronger, more flexible, and climb stronger than I was 26. How is this possible? It comes with a daily practice.
Back when I was interviewing Master Shung he told me to move every day. He did his handstands every day at 69 he looked like he was in his 40’s.
I didn’t know it at that time, but Master Shung influenced me to continue my own mobility and daily routine. For the past 15 years my daily ritual was a mobility routine combined with 3 minutes of daily handstand practice.
I chose handstands not just because they were a cool thing to learn, but also because they were the antagonist to rock climbing. I knew that if I was to create balance I needed to work this overhead push, and the most convenient way for me to do that was with a handstand.
Mobility
The technical defenition of mobility is:
“The ability of a joint to move actively through a range of motion”
What are we doing when we are climbng? We are moving our joints activly in many ranges of motion while dangling on rocks. It seemed a no brainer to me that I needed to work on my mobility.
My original mobility coach, Scott Sonnon, taught me my first mobility routine called, Intuflow. He learned from his master, another older man this time in his 90’s who still looked like he was in his 40s.
It was becoming more and more clear that, moving is the fountain of youth. If I was to create a daily routine I would need to move every day.
My my routine evolved over the course of 15 years. I still moved every joint in my body every day, but I also gave a little extra to the joints that needed more attention. For me it was my hips, ankles, and shoulders.
Depending on what your past movement history is like you’ll want to adapt your own program. One thing is for sure, there is somethign to moving each joint in your body every day.
You’ve probably heard. If you don’t move it, you lose it.
I have created a movement routine that uses many of the same principles of intuflow but also adds more movements that will help climbers mobilize. I believe it’s a good base for anyone wanting to improve their mobility and activate the fountain of youth.
Why you should move your body every day…
I personally feel that my daily mobility ritual has attributed to my 20 year climbing carrier with few injuries.
I’ve watched so many of my friends leave this sport. Many of them left because of injury, and I always wished I could have influenced them to continue their mobility so they could have kept climbing.
That’s the thing. It’s up to you to create your own ritual.
I truly believe that people can obtain optimal health through climbing, but there are complementary lifestyle changes we need to be complete.
This is where things like mobility, stretching, core work, recovery, and supplemental workouts come in.
If you like the videos and lessons I have to offer please subscribe and even consider sharing this with a friend. My goal in this journey is to create a community of fellow climbers who realize“Just climb more” is not a proper training regime.
Becoming a well-balanced climber is highly indicative of the health of your whole body. We cannot separate our body, mind, and spirit, we have to integrate them. The lessons that I want to teach you from here on are how you can take better care of yourself, and your body, so you can continue become stronger. No matter what your activity is.
