FIG. 4.1 Poise is innate. All movement is regarded as fun as young children have yet to learn about the concept of ‘effort’. The absence of unnecessary effort promotes free movement. How long before traditional sports conditioning and training take this away?

We may have been encouraged by over enthusiastic parents or sports coach and told, ‘if you want to be good you have to work at it’, or worse still ‘no pain no gain’. How do we as young children interpret this? We assume our previous approach must have been wrong if told so by an adult. It is time to put away childish thoughts and behave like an adult so we can participate in some ‘serious’ sports conditioning. We begin to try and do what we think is necessary to get it right. We push harder. Sporting activities that had once been performed with ease are now done with effort, see fig 3.2. Muscles that were working efficiently are now worked a little harder for good measure. If a little effort is good then more is better.

FIG. 4.2 In the heat of the moment in a competitive game, good movement can be lost if our attempt to try harder results in applying the ‘wrong kind of effort’.

We may have been encouraged by over enthusiastic parents or sports coach and told, ‘if you want to be good you have to work at it’, or worse still ‘no pain no gain’. How do we as young children interpret this? We assume our previous approach must have been wrong if told so by an adult. It is time to put away childish thoughts and behave like an adult so we can participate in ‘serious’ sport. We begin to try and do what we think is necessary to get it right. We push harder. Sporting activities that had once been performed with ease are now done with effort, see fig 3.2. Muscles that were working efficiently are now worked a little harder for good measure. If a little effort is good then more is better.

Children copy the actions of sporting heroes, including their poor habits. You only have to watch children playing football to witness the sort of behaviour exhibited by the top players. The desire to win engages the wrong kind of effort bringing with it tension where once there was free movement. We are conditioned to try too hard.

When we apply effort above what is required we place excessive demands on our young, developing bodies. We do not notice the gradual loss of efficient movement because the focus of attention is on winning and impressing others. At this early age our capacity to compensate for poor movement is great. However the foundations have already been laid for problems in the years to come.

Getting Out Of Shape

When we concentrate purely on getting a result something is lost from how we achieve it. The goal has become more important than how we reach it - Alexander called this end-gaining, the habit of neglecting the manner in which we complete a task in preference to just getting it done. End-gaining is difficult to appreciate because all but the youngest children do it. The next time you find yourself standing in a supermarket queue, note your first reaction to a delay of even just a few minutes. Our pre-occupation with what we want to achieve distracts us from what we are doing at present. We do not give the appropriate attention to the ‘here and now’, preferring instead to be one step ahead of the moment. This attitude has implications on our basic movement patterns which influence the effectiveness of our sports conditioning program, see next chapter.


When distracted from the current task we begin to apply effort in excess of what is required, especially with our sports conditioning training. When about to lift a heavy item, check if you are tensing the arm and shoulder before you have even made contact. If you are, then the thought of the weight of the object is already interfering with the movement of getting into position. The thought of an activity is sufficient to set up the tension in readiness, whether appropriate or not.

The excessive tension we apply in one part of our body leads to changes in muscle tone elsewhere in order to maintain balance. If this state persists, the under-active muscles become weaker whilst the over worked become habitually tight. The effort required for everyday work increases due to the state of unbalance. We start to associate the sense of effort needed for each activity, such as getting up from a chair, and automatically apply that amount whether appropriate or not. Other unnecessary movements become part of the pattern to offset the already poorly co-ordinated action. Muscles generally intended for movement are now called upon to stabilise an unsteady structure. With repeated use these patterns of use become habit. Unaware of the gradual increase in tension we continue as if nothing is wrong and complicate the situation as the body adjusts to compensate. This may delay the inevitable for a while, but eventually as the symptoms, such as aches, loss of form or repetitive injury become worse, we finally notice that something is wrong.

This is the moment we should stop and realise that we must have been doing something wrong to get into this state. We should therefore learn to stop doing what is causing the problem before we make an attempt at corrective action. However, using the concept that to improve we must try harder, we may step up our training schedule or perform exercises to tackle what we perceive to be the problem of not trying hard enough.

When starting a new exercise regime to get into shape we do not start with a blank sheet. We do what we do because we do not know any different, therefore the chosen corrective action will be executed using the existing approach that caused the problem. If the old habits caused injury in the past, they will do the same again if left in place. Unfortunately, a more vigorous training programme succeeds only in consolidating the poor habits. The irony is that to improve our condition we need to learn how to do less. This must be the first step before any other action is undertaken.

As a runner I had started to experience injury problems and noticed my performance had become static. Attempts to improve my condition involved doing the same things, such as training programmes and running technique, but with more effort. If I had stopped and thought about my condition I would have realised I was doing something wrong to get into this state. Things were not going to improve by just doing the same things more often. Alexander once said, “Everyone wants to be right, but no one stops to consider if their idea of right is right”. If I had known this at the time, I would have seen the folly of my approach and avoided years of discomfort, injury and not being able to run.

One of the most obvious outward signs of being out of shape is - being out of shape. Poor posture is a condition that afflicts the majority of the adult population. Over the last decade exercises to improve posture have become increasingly popular, and as a result, big business. Conventional thinking has us believe it makes sense to concentrate on our posture as it can lead to health problems and reduce performance. Wrong! This course of action could have unexpected ‘side affects’. The next section looks at the common misconceptions about posture and how to promote ‘good shape’ without having to try harder.

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Want to ask a question? You have just read the forth chapter, 'Sports Conditioning: Is Your Practice Making You Perfect', of my book The Performance Paradox online. If there is anything on this page that you would like to follow up please feel free to contact me Roy Palmer

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