The Bluearth Approach is built around six key elements, which are proven to help children move confidently and competently, and improve their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing.
The fourth element is Dynamic Movement Control, which is essentially having control of movements where your joints and muscles experience a large range of motion.
Read on to learn more about this important element of our approach.
What is dynamic movement and how is it different to static exercise?
Dynamic movement involves moving parts of your body in a fluid manner, whether that be in a circular, up and down or side to side motion.
Static exercise, on the other hand, involves holding yourself in a steady position for an extended period of time—while standing, sitting or lying down; essentially it’s a stretch of 15-60 seconds that works on lengthening your muscles; examples include the butterfly stretch and hamstring stretch.
What is the purpose of Dynamic Movement Control activities?
Dynamic movement control activities are designed to awaken the structure and function of the body using rhythm.
They seek to transfer the awareness developed through core movement into a dynamic environment, giving students an opportunity to become aware of ease of movement, elasticity of the body, fluidity, and control of the body in the space.
Benefits of Dynamic Movement
The continuous motion of dynamic movement has a multitude of benefits, including preparing your body for activity, enhancing your performance, decreasing your risk of injury by improving blood flow to the muscles, and increasing your nerve activity.
How dynamic movement is integrated into Bluearth sessions
Dynamic movement is integrated into Bluearth sessions by allocating time for students to participate in activities focused on moving dynamically. These activities can involve sole movements, or a combination of movements, such as:
- Squatting
- Jumping
- Swinging
- Hinging
- Rolling
- Pivoting
- Spinning
Standing Position to Backward Roll is one of Bluearth’s many dynamic movement control activities, which we have outlined below, so you can get an idea of what it means to move multiple parts of the body in multiple directions (and to have a go yourself).
- Stand with your feet hip width apart and arms raised out in front of you. Bend using the body’s hinges of the ankles, knees and hips, drop to the floor.
- Land your bottom as close as possible to your heels and form an even curve of the spine to roll.
- Roll back as far as your shoulder blades, taking your arms above your head (they may or may not touch the ground).
- Rolling forward, place your feet as close as possible to your bottom and reach with your arms to a squat position.