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Summary
On episode 584 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Juliet and Kelly Starrett, co-founders of The Ready State: Kelly is a physical therapist and New York Times bestselling co-author of Becoming a Supple Leopard and Deskbound, and Juliet is an entrepreneur, attorney, and former professional whitewater paddler.
They talk about their book, Built to Move: The 10 Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully, and the 10 vital signs they built it around: objective, everyday checks (like getting up off the floor without your hands, or holding a balance test) that show you where your body is falling behind and give you a simple practice to fix it.
Their core argument: range of motion is one of the few things about your body that does not have to decline with age, pain does not always mean injury, and small daily habits beat occasional heroic workouts.
Links
- https://builttomove.com
Key Takeaways
- Your range of motion is age independent. Muscle mass and healing speed slow down as you age, but native range of motion is a stable system you can maintain at any age, which means better balance and fewer aches in the hips and ankles.
- Pain does not always mean you are injured. Before chasing MRIs and specialists, the Starretts recommend spending about 10 minutes a day for a week on soft tissue work around the painful joint, since the knee (for example) is a system connected to the muscles above and below it.
- The 10 vital signs give you objective benchmarks, not vague advice. Just like knowing 120 over 80 is a healthy blood pressure range, each vital sign (getting off the floor, breathing, hip extension, balance, and more) gives you a number or test to check yourself against.
- Getting up off the floor without your hands is the first vital sign. It is a simple hip flexion test tied to lower rates of low back pain, hip and knee replacements, and fall risk in cultures that sit and sleep on the floor.
- Breathing is a mechanical practice, not just a meditation habit. Building tolerance to carbon dioxide through nasal breathing improves how efficiently your body uses oxygen, which makes stairs, hiking, and hard workouts easier.
- Peppering your environment builds consistency without adding new tasks. The Starretts keep foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and balance tools around the TV room so mobility work happens during time they are already spending relaxing.
- Balance is one of the first things to go, often starting around age 50. Small daily tests, like standing on one leg while putting on socks and shoes, build dynamic balance without requiring a separate class.
- Exercise itself is not one of the 10 vital signs. The Starretts are intentionally exercise agnostic: their only rule is that you should breathe hard and lift something under load regularly, in whatever form you actually enjoy enough to keep doing.
- Juliet and Kelly’s three strategies to get and stay well: sleep, plenty of non-exercise movement throughout the day (walking, standing, moving while working), and eating a vegetable.
“Athletes that feel better, perform better. Human beings that feel better, have better lives.”
Kelly Starrett
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 592 – How to reshape your body for better movement and less pain with Katy Bowman
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 584
Published: 2023-04-04
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Juliet and Kelly Starrett, our co-host, Coach Rachel, Built to Move
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)