ROAM – Movement as Medicine for Fitness and Health
Why ROAM might be the path to fitness and health you are looking for.
✓ Variety and ‘entertrainment’ factor maintains interest and adherence
✓ East-meets-West approach to fitness brings together best of both worlds
✓ Gradual progression of complexity and intensity to satisfy all exercise and wellbeing goals.
Introduction – Variety is the key to fitness success
Numerous studies show that regular and varied exercise is key to achieving lifelong health, fitness and welbeing. Yet despite this knowledge and even the desire to enjoy these benefits, people often fall off the wagon through boredom or, at the other extreme, injure themselves by trying to advance too fast in one particular fitness form.
In contrast, I have seen real results with my clients when the following sequence happens:
- Exercise is varied and fun
- Enjoyment motivates repetition and adherence
- Regularity ensures fitness and skill development.
- Improved performance inspires a desire for challenge, either in another sport or in competition.
This fundamental concept of variety leading to enjoyment forms the foundation of my successful Range of Active Movement (ROAM) programme.
ROAM and Movement as Medicine
Over my xx years as a trainer, I have studied, practised and taught many exercise and wellness forms. This know-how and experience allowed me to draw upon the best from Eastern and Western movement and medicine to provide the variety and completeness that is so key to the East-meets-West ROAM programme. In ROAM you will find elements of yoga, Qi Gong, TRX, powerlifting, bodyweight exercises and more.
ROAM provides variety and a structured progression for my clients to improve their mobility, agility, fitness and their state of wellbeing in a safe, progressive and enjoyable way.
ROAM:
- provides variety and so exercise regularity by offering a wide variety of exercises and equipment options ranging from your own bodyweight, through the portable and versatile TRX and kettlebells to other gym-based equipment.
- incorporates the Western science of movement mechanics and corrective exercise as well as the mind and spirit benefits of yoga and Qigong
- offers a safe, gradual progression of complexity and intensity to satisfy all reasons for exercising
- is flexible enough to allow time for your other commitments
More about ROAM
The problem: The modern sedentary life often results in a downward spiral towards a lack of agility, aerobic fitness, and muscle tone, and this can lead to poor health, depression/stress and usually unwanted weight gain.
Moving on up: ROAM seeks to reverse the spiral, building you up through health to fitness, and maybe even to performance level achievements.
Three fitness and performance levels:
- Health – Intention and breathwork to reduce stress and restore calm. Posture, activation and flexibility to help restore health and reduce the risk of injury as you advance.
- Fitness –strength meets function. Boost metabolism, develop strength and coordination.
- Performance – High intensity scenarios of defence or top sports performance
ROAM helps you develop ever increasing competencies of flexibility, stability, endurance, strength, coordination, power, speed, agility, infant developmental crawling and throwing by moving through life’s movement patterns.
Movement patterns – East meets West
Most movements in life and sport can be distilled into six movements patterns:
squat, twist, bend, push, pull and lunge, plus gait: walking and running.
Borrowing from Tai Chi’s ‘Five Animal Frolics’ and other Eastern practices, I have associated an animal with each of these movements patterns, where the animal’s own movement resembles the Western movement pattern. This has helped many of my clients more easily visualize their exercise movement, and call upon their animal strength.
It’s also fun!
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Squat / Tiger | eg., bodyweight squats progressing to ‘Clean and Jerk’; Yoga’s Warrior II, burpees, kettlebells, Krav Maga |
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Twist / Dragon | eg., Yoga’s Revolved Triangle, cable woodchop, Aikido, swimming, rock climbing |
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Bend / Bear | eg. forward bend, ‘bear walk’, barbell deadlift, Judo, contact sports |
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Push/lunge / Crane | eg., Yoga’s prone cobra, handstands, barbell bench press, racquet sports |
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Pull /lunge / Monkey | eg., Yoga’s warrior II, ‘Monkey Ladder’, pull ups, rope climbing, boxing, gymnastics |
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Gait (walking and running) / The leaping man/ woman | eg., flexibility, crawl coordination, ‘Bodyweight Ninja’, Sport speed and agility |
Challenging the body to see results
To build up fitness and wellbeing, and to lose weight the body needs to be continually challenged and progressively overloaded. This means you need to puff a little, burn your muscles a little and every now and again have muscle soreness the next day.
The ROAM cycle moves through the animal movement patterns, varying the volume, intensity and time, to continuously challenge the body, provide variety for entertainment and avoid burnout and injury.
A basic ROAM cycle – adjusted for your fitness level – is as follows:
- Day 1 –Tiger Squat themed session
- Day 2 ¬ Dragon Twist themed session
- Day 3 – Bear Bend themed session
- Day 4 & 5 – Crane and Monkey Push/Pull/Lunge sessions
- Days 6 & 7 – are for resting or to perform a session where you mix up all themes in a sport of your choosing or an obstacle course event such as Parkour, Spartan or Tough Mudder.
Are you ready to get moving for fitness and health?
Jump down to our ‘Where to Start’ section to learn about the options available. There’s something for everyone!
A calm mind for better health
Movement as Medicine restores calmness to the body, mind and spirit through the
power of intention, specific exercises, and breathwork. Calmness – or the absence of excess* stress – is fundamental to wellbeing as too much stress adversely affects our health, emotions, motivation and sleep.
*We need a little stress to keep us motivated
Movement as Medicine:
- Exercise is coupled with intention
- Prepares you for the progression from health to fitness.
Where to start
For individuals
FREE – Agility Test
Online courses
ROAM online programmes provide you with a daily programme of exercises to follow. Each exercise is demonstrated with videos. On completing your day’s ROAM workout you can track your times, intensity and xxx so that you can easily see your own progress.
• ROAM – Get Moving
• ROAM – Fit, Toned & Functional
One-on-one personal training
information….
For trainers
- ROAM Mobility
- ROAM Foundation
Other resources
Books
