That niggle you’ve learnt to live with… six months from now, your body will have changed, in which direction? Will you still have that niggle or will it be gone?

A few weeks ago, I asked you to do something very simple.

Stand up from a chair.

No special equipment, no gym kit, no complicated exercise.

Just stand up.

You probably do it dozens of times every day without giving it much thought. But I do. Ask two people to stand up from the same chair and you can see two very different ways of moving. One person might push heavily through their hands. Another might throw their body forwards for momentum. Someone else’s knees might move towards each other as they stand.

None of this is about making movement look “perfect”. I’m interested in what your movement might be telling us about your body.

From standing up… to squatting

A sit-to-stand is essentially something you already use in everyday life. Progress that movement and we arrive at the squat.

Squats are brilliant for building strength, but there’s something I want you to think about:

Adding more load to a movement doesn’t automatically make it a better movement.

Imagine I’m watching a woman squat and her knees move inwards.

A common instruction might be: “Push your knees out.” Sometimes that cue is all someone needs.

But what if she can’t comfortably do it?

I could repeat the instruction louder, or I could put a resistance band around her knees, maybe even keep reminding her every time she squats.

Or I could ask a different question:

Why is her body choosing to move this way? That’s where exercise therapy becomes different.

I want to know what happened before the squat

I don’t only look at her knees, I look at how she moves through her hips, I look at her ankles, I assess the function of the muscles around those joints and compare what’s happening from one side of her body to the other.

And then I talk to her. Has she had children? What exercise does she currently do? How often? Has she ever fallen in the past? Had an injury? Where does she regularly feel stiff or uncomfortable? Has something been niggling away for years that she’s simply learnt to live with?

I’m starting to put together the jigsaw of her body. Sometimes that conversation alone produces one of my favourite reactions:

“I didn’t know that about my body.”

Or:

“I never thought those two things could be connected.”

That’s when things become interesting.

Sometimes changing the technique isn’t enough

Technique matters.

If I can help someone improve their alignment when they stand from a chair, squat, walk or climb stairs, they’re practising that improved movement far beyond the hour they spend with me. But sometimes the body needs more than an instruction.

If movement at a joint is restricted, muscles aren’t functioning effectively or one side is behaving very differently from the other, we may need to understand what is happening first to then be able to work on that. Then we can begin rebuilding the movement.

The goal isn’t to create a textbook-perfect squat. It’s to help your body develop the mobility, control and strength it needs to move well in your life.

Walking. Standing. Climbing stairs. Running. Cycling. Swimming. Getting down onto the floor and back up again. And yes, squatting.

We’re not training your body for exercise. We’re using exercise to train your body for life.

What have you simply learnt to put up with?

This is something I see surprisingly often. People who exercise regularly, people who consider themselves fit, people who are doing Pilates, running, cycling, swimming, strength training or going to the gym several times a week.

Yet they’ll casually tell me:

“Oh, that hip always does that.”

“My back has been like that for years.”

“That knee is just my bad knee.”

“It doesn’t really hurt. It’s just always a bit niggly.”

And because they’ve managed to continue exercising, they assume everything must be functioning reasonably well.

But a recurring niggle is worth paying attention to.

Not because it automatically means something is seriously wrong, but because your body is giving you information.

And the earlier you understand what that information is telling you, the sooner you can decide what to do with it.

Now imagine six months from today

Six months are going to pass whether you do anything or not. So where would you like your body to be?

Stronger? Moving more freely? More balanced? Or perhaps more confident.

Perhaps you’ve had the same niggle for months and you’d simply like to understand why it keeps coming back.

Or perhaps you’ve been meaning to start exercising but haven’t quite taken that first step.

The longer you leave something that needs addressing, the longer the journey back can become.

So rather than reaching February thinking:

“I wish I’d started six months ago…” Perhaps September is the time to find out what’s actually going on.

You don’t necessarily need months of treatment.

Sometimes one assessment and a better understanding of your body may give you useful tools to begin managing the problem yourself. For others, there’s more work to do. That’s why I don’t offer one solution for everybody.

Already exercising but have a persistent niggle?
Start with a single Exercise Therapy session.

Have an old injury or movement problem that has never felt quite right?
My 4-session programme gives us time to assess, work on what we find and progress your movement.

Starting from scratch, living with a health condition or ready to make a bigger change to your health and lifestyle?
The 7-session programme gives us the time to build that journey properly.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “This isn’t me, but I know exactly who needs to read it” — send it to them.

We all know someone who’s been talking about the same knee, hip, shoulder or back for years.

One question to leave you with:

Six months from now, your body will have changed.

Will you be glad you started — or wish you had?

---

Book your Honest Body session(s) here