Spend 10 minutes on any social platform looking at fitness trends and you'll see it all: a hack for better glutes using a foam roller, a wall, and a dumbbell. A 70-year-old planking on a physioball while flutter-kicking on a monster band strung across a weight rack. Line jump routines choreographed to K-pop hits. Bodyweight maneuvers that look more like animals prowling to catch prey than humans working to improve mobility.

None of these practices are wrong. If they improve your mood and sense of well-being, they have value.

But as physical therapists and athletic trainers, what we see so often is individuals attempting complex movement patterns before they have basic movement competency.

You Wouldn't Teach Cursive Before Block Letters

We wouldn't expect our children to write in cursive before they know how to draw basic block letters. Movement works the same way.

As research increasingly points to the essential practice of building strength as we age, more and more people are starting to lift weights. What gets missed is that strength training is a skill — just like running or mastering a sport.

The 8 Movement Archetypes

I used to be all about functional strength and compound movements, so I fought this approach of repeatedly working on 8 basic movement archetypes.

At Restore Thrive, we train every client in four lower body and four upper body patterns:

Lower body

• Squat

• Hinge

• Lunge

• Step-up

Upper body

• Vertical push

• Vertical pull

• Horizontal push

• Horizontal pull

Well, that seems boring, Yvonne. That was my argument, too.

But guess what? When your block letters are really solid, your cursive is that much better. Movement fluency in the basics arms you with the tools to attack any of these fitness trends — with the ability to move well, reduce your risk for injury, and build resilience.

Earn the Right to Get Creative

The goal isn't to avoid creativity in fitness. It's to earn it.

Build the basics. Move well. Then expand.