What does it mean to have Reflexive Strength?

Categories: Blog Dec 04, 2016

In last week's blog post I discussed a quick self-test you could perform to determine whether or not you had your reflexive strength, or any reflexive strength. It was a very complicated test, the squat! You can or you cannot squat all the way down as you did when you were three years old. This is a good indicator as to if you do or do not have your reflexive strength.

So maybe you took the test and you discovered you can't really squat down like you did when you were three. Maybe you don't have a great deal of reflexive strength. Maybe you are wondering what the big deal is.

"Why do I need to be able to squat? What does having reflexive strength mean anyway?"

Those are great questions!

Here's the deal. Having your reflexive strength enables you to live your life better. It enables you to live your life the way you want to, AND it may even enable you to live your life better than you even want to.

Ask yourself these questions: Can you move the way you want to move? Can you stand on one leg while you put your sock on the other foot - without falling? Do you need to sit down to put your socks and shoes on? Do you trip and fall often? Are you afraid of falling? Could you catch yourself if you did trip?

Or, does your body ache? Does it hurt when you move? Do you chalk up aches and pains to aging? Do you dread walking up and down stairs? Do you have stairs in your home?

Do you see people riding scooters in the grocery store and think that will be you one day? Do your kids want you to play with them at the playground but you know it is safer if you just sit and watch?

Are you living and moving the way you want to? This is what reflexive strength does. It gives you the little things. And if you didn't notice, it is the little things that make life worth living. It's the little things that matter and make the most impact.

For example, it is Christmas. Are you able to pull a 6 foot tall Christmas tree off the roof of your car, hoist it up on your shoulder, walk with it up your porch, through the front door, maneuver it over the banister of your stairs, dodge your cat, and place the tree in its stand without destroying your house, your body or your relationship with your spouse? That is reflexive strength! And that is how any given day with any given physical task should look like.

Another way to explain reflexive strength is that reflexive strength gives you YOU. The real you. The you you are supposed to be. It does. It allows you to move through this world in mind and body the way you were meant to.

Again, don't fret if you don't have all your reflexive strength. You can get it back. It's really not hard. It just takes remembering how you used to move and deliberately engaging in those simple movements. It's as easy as pressing RESET.

---