Introducing MOVE Legends: Building Strength, Function and Healthspan for Life!
At The Move Clinic, we have always believed that good healthcare should be about more than simply treating pain.
It should be about helping people move better, stay stronger and continue doing the things they love for as long as possible.
That is why we are excited to introduce MOVE Legends, a new six week programme designed to improve strength, balance, mobility and day to day function, with a bigger goal in mind: helping you build a longer, healthier and more active life.
What is MOVE Legends?
MOVE Legends is a structured six week programme combining clinical screening, exercise, strength and conditioning and expert guidance from the MOVE team.
The aim is simple: to help you become stronger, more capable and more confident in your everyday life.
As we get older, maintaining physical capacity becomes increasingly important. It is not simply about being able to lift weights in a gym. It is about being able to:
Get up from the floor
Climb stairs confidently
Carry shopping
Get in and out of a car
Walk further without fatigue
Maintain your balance
Pick things up from the floor
Get down onto the ground and back up again
Travel and explore
Play with your grandchildren
Continue participating in sport and hobbies
Remain independent for as long as possible
These are the things that make up our healthspan: the years of life in which we remain healthy, active, independent and able to enjoy the things that matter to us.
Why healthspan matters
The concept of healthspan has received considerable attention through the work of physicians such as Peter Attia, particularly following his book Outlive.
One of the central ideas in Outlive is that we should not simply focus on living longer. We should focus on living better for longer.
That means thinking about the physical capabilities we want to retain decades from now and then working backwards to understand what we need to do today to preserve them.
Strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance and mobility are not just measures of fitness. They are forms of physical reserve.
The more capacity we have, the more resilient we become when life inevitably throws challenges at us.
An illness, an injury, a period of inactivity or simply the effects of ageing can all reduce our physical capacity. Starting with a higher level of strength, balance and fitness gives us more reserve to draw upon.
Measuring what matters
One of the most important aspects of MOVE Legends is that we don't simply ask you to exercise and hope that you improve.
We want to measure your progress.
Before starting the programme, every participant will undergo a pre-screening assessment to establish whether the programme is appropriate and safe for them.
We will then assess a range of functional measures, which may include:
Strength
How strong are you and how effectively can you generate force?
Balance
How well can you maintain your stability and control your body?
Mobility
How effectively can you move through the ranges required for everyday life?
Functional capacity
How well can you perform movements that have direct relevance to daily activities?
These measures provide a baseline.
At the end of the six weeks, we repeat the assessment to see what has changed.
The aim isn't to compete with anyone else. It is to demonstrate your own progress.
A progressive six week programme
MOVE Legends is designed around progressive exercise rather than simply attending a weekly class.
Over six weeks, our therapy and exercise team will work with you to progressively develop:
Lower limb strength
Upper body strength
Core strength and control
Balance and proprioception
Mobility
Cardiovascular capacity
Coordination
Confidence with movement
Functional movement patterns
The programme will be adapted to the individual.
You don't need to be an experienced gym-goer, and this isn't about lifting the heaviest weights or completing the most repetitions.
The goal is to challenge your current capacity safely and progressively.
Turning exercise into real-life function
One of the most important principles behind MOVE Legends is that exercise should have a purpose.
We aren't simply interested in whether you can perform an exercise in the gym.
We want to know whether that improvement translates into your life.
If your leg strength improves, does getting out of a chair become easier?
If your balance improves, do you feel more confident walking on uneven ground?
If your mobility improves, can you get down onto the floor more easily?
If your cardiovascular fitness improves, can you walk further, travel more comfortably or keep up with your family?
If your overall strength improves, can you continue doing the activities you enjoy?
These are the outcomes that matter.
Based at Harcourt Hill
MOVE Legends will be delivered at Harcourt Hill Gym, alongside The Move Clinic.
This gives us a unique environment where clinical expertise and exercise rehabilitation can work together.
The combination of The Move Clinic and Harcourt Hill Gym allows us to bridge the gap between healthcare and fitness.
If you have an existing musculoskeletal problem, our clinical team can help understand and manage it. The exercise team can then help you progressively build your strength, capacity and confidence.
Our ambition is to create a programme that people can continue to benefit from long after the six weeks have finished.
Why do we need pre-screening?
Before joining MOVE Legends, you will need to complete a screening assessment.
This is important because the programme is designed to be progressive and challenging, and we need to make sure that exercise is appropriate for you.
The screening process allows us to identify any medical, musculoskeletal or functional issues that may need to be considered before you start.
It also gives us an opportunity to understand where you are starting from.
This isn't about excluding people from exercise.
Quite the opposite.
It is about making sure we understand you before we ask you to challenge yourself.
Where appropriate, the screening process may identify areas that require further clinical assessment before you begin the programme.
Our bigger goal
Ultimately, MOVE Legends is about much more than a six week exercise class.
We want to help people build the physical capacity required to keep living the life they want to live.
We want our patients to be able to travel, walk, cycle, garden, play sport, spend time with family, get on and off the floor, climb stairs and remain independent for as long as possible.
We want to see people reaching their later years with strength, confidence and physical resilience.
Because longevity isn't simply about adding years to your life.
It's about adding life to those years.
That is what MOVE Legends is about.
Move better. Get stronger. Stay independent. Live longer.