How we move and what effect that has on our health, our performance, and our environment is what this article aims to show. To make known and analyze new currents of movement study such as goata, what its movement patterns are, what it is based on, and how it acts. Is it really that novel?
Analysis of human movement
Understanding human movement is difficult to understand, define, and organize. From there arises kinesiology, understood according to Luttgens and Wells as: “The study of human movements from the point of view of the physical sciences”
Other authors like Rasch and Burke establish five subdivisions in Kinesiology:
- Morphological and functional kinesiology, related to the interrelationships between the form and function of the body
- Exercise physiology, that is, the correlation between Kinesiology and basic sciences such as Physiology and Biochemistry
- Biomechanics, or the investigation of human movement through the concepts of Physics and Engineering
- Developmental kinesiology, that is, the relationship of Kinesiology with growth, physical development, nutrition, aging, and similar aspects
- Psychological kinesiology, which is the study of the reciprocities of movement and its meaning, for example, in its relationships with body image, aesthetic expression, cultural communication, personality, and motivation.
Ultimately, movement and its study are based on three fundamental sciences: anatomy with the structure of the body, physiology with function, and biomechanics or mechanics with the study of forces. The interrelation between them forms kinesiology.
What are the theories of movement?
Analyzing movement and understanding it is of vital importance to be efficient and effective in the impact we want to have on our body. That is why different currents and theories arise such as (2):
- The continuous movement theory: Cheryl Cott in 1995 developed that body movement is based on three principles. One, movement is essential for life, two, it occurs in a continuum, from the microscopic level to the level of the individual in society, and three, the levels of movement in the continuum are influenced by physical, psychological, social, and environmental aspects. Each level of movement is influenced by the levels of movement that precede and succeed it, being interdependent
- Movement as a complex system: formed by the interaction of two levels, motor control and motor learning. From their relationship arises motor action.
- Kinesiological model and the movement system: In 2006 Shirley Sahrmann points out that movement is a system composed of several elements, each with a basic and unique function for the function and regulation of movement
- Function-dysfunction model: understands the human movement model in relation to the person, it is seen as an element of expression, with an important load of intentionality, requiring organic processes from the most primary levels of the cell and metabolism, increasing in different systems and the environment in which it moves.
What are movement patterns and why work on them?
The literature defines the concept of movement pattern as:
“Fundamental motor skills for the development of complex skills; necessary to participate in a wide variety of activities throughout life, such as games and sports” (Gallahue & Ozmun, 2006; Stodden & Goodway, 2007; Stodden et al., 2008).
Other authors define it as: “The basic movement patterns —also called simple skills— are commonly classified into locomotor activities and manipulative activities.
Locomotor patterns serve to move the body from one place to another, such as walking, running, jumping, hopping, galloping; while manipulative ones are used to project or receive objects, for example, throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing” (Haywood & Getchell, 2009; Logan, Robinson, Wilson, & Lucas, 2011; Ulrich, 2000).
The definition of each pattern to be studied is found in table 1 (Gallahue & Ozmun, 2006; Haywood & Getchell, 2009; Ulrich, 2000). (5)
Reading these definitions makes it clear that they are the basis for performing more complex motor actions. It is our motor support.
In such a way that we will need to work on basic physical capacities such as strength and endurance to have good basic motor patterns and from there develop more complex sports skills.
Considering all the above, it is inevitable not to find special importance in their development and work at early ages without forgetting their maintenance and evolution at more advanced ages.
Every trainer or physical educator must be compelled to understand human movement and its patterns.
How do we train basic motor patterns?
Training by basic motor patterns is nothing more than classifying the main movements performed by the musculoskeletal system. There are different ways to classify them, but they all take into account (3):
- The direction and sense of movement
- The joint involved
- The joint that bears the most force
The main movements of the musculature are:
What is their relationship with basic motor patterns?
According to their own creators, Goata is:
“The study of innate patterns shown in locomotion and rest in humans” (Jose Boech, founder of Goata)
What is goata?
Goata is a training system based on the natural movement patterns of the human being.
Understanding fundamentally movement as a constant transmission of energy from one point to another. Thus leading to the conception that the body is a whole and functions as a unit. It does not work in isolation on muscle groups or body regions.
It is based on a more traditional or ancestral conception of human locomotion, like how indigenous tribes walked. Before all the comforts like shoes, chairs, or sofas invaded our daily lives.
Goata uses slow-motion cameras and the analysis of generated images to study and correct the motor patterns of its users.
When was goata born?
The goata training was born through an American trainer Jose Boech. He suffered a spinal injury at an early age, 27 years old, which after three surgeries and multiple therapies did not find a solution to his joint problems and pains.
With the feeling and intuition that over time his locomotion patterns had changed and not for the better, he embarked on the study of human locomotion in different populations. (1)
Goata starts with high-level athletes but also studies the elderly and children. Armed with a slow-motion camera, he analyzes the videos.
He is struck by the conclusion that we all start with the same movement patterns at early ages, all high-level athletes regardless of gender, age, or sport had the same running pattern, which as we age and with the comforts we encounter, we lose unless we consciously mechanize the correct motor actions.
For this reason, he concludes that having a correct locomotion pattern will allow us to avoid many of the joint and muscle pains that we encounter.
Many well-known athletes carry out this goata system as part of their training, including: Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova.
Conclusion
Knowing how we move both as individuals but mainly as trainers is fundamental for the physical and mental health of our athletes.
Is Goata really as novel as it is shown? We have seen that it is not.
Goata is a look to the past, to the essence of the human being, to the most important root of movement, its patterns. Thanks to the use of new technologies and their development, it gives it a more analytical and novel approach.
Bibliographic references
- Boech, J. Goata Movements. (2022) https://www.goatamovement.com/
- Calvo, A. P., Daza, J.E., Gómez, E. (2020) Scientific editors: Theoretical models for physiotherapy. General theories that explain human body movement. 35-52.
- Felipe, J. (2017) Training by movement patterns. Mundo entrenamiento. Retrieved from: https://mundoentrenamiento.com/entrenar-por-patrones-de-movimiento/
- Hernández, J. C., Valencia, J., Restrepo, A. (2021) Politécnica Journal. Description of human movement based on the Frenet Serret framework and Mocap type data, 17 (34),170-180.
- Jiménez, J., Salazar, W., Morera, M. (2013) Motricidad. European Journal of Human Movement. Design and validation of an instrument for the evaluation of basic movement patterns Motricidad, 31, 87-97.
