Can you walk 2 blocks carrying 2 bags of groceries that weigh at least 10% of your body-weight in each hand? For most people, this is probably adequate for comfortable living, but depending upon what one enjoys doing, one may need to be able to carry heavier amounts.

Children are the perfect graduated weight-training program! They grow and get heavier, and they squirm, which can make carrying difficult.

Carrying heavy things for a few minutes from one place to another (from the store to the car, or from the car to the door) is something we often need to be able to do, so if you are injury-free, practice walking while carrying something heavy frequently enough that you remain strong enough to do it.

How do you get out of bed? Do you sit up in bed then swing your legs over the side and stand up? Can you sit up without using your hands to help?

This is also a basic movement that we should all have the strength to do, but I find many are not able to do this. If one is lying on the floor I think one should be able to sit up, then push oneself onto one's feet into a squat position and stand up.

That said, there are many reasons why this movement might be unsafe for some people. Anyone diagnosed with osteoporosis should avoid flexing the spine, and anyone with a disk problem would do well to avoid it also. Anyone with a back problem should check with their physio or doctor to be certain this movement is safe.

Also we have noticed in our practice that many people's bellies "tent" up along the center line as they attempt an abdominal curl. Any ab curl, crunch, or sit up would be a bad idea if this is happening. There should be no abdominal bulging along the center line of the belly while doing any activity.

This abdominal bulging is an indication of a rectus diastasis, or a splitting of the fascia down the midline of the abdominal wall. Doing anything that creates that bulging is might make the split worse, potentially requiring surgery.

Most people should be able to work on this movement, but use common sense. If you are not sure, consult a doctor.

This is a movement that we used to do daily to poop, from the time we were able at about age 1, until the time we died. The invention of the toilet ended that. Many of us are no longer able squat that low due to a lack of flexibility, or we can’t get up from there keeping the trunk parallel to the lower legs (chest higher than the butt) on the ascent.

The usual cheat is to lift the butt up first so the trunk is parallel to the ground instead of the lower legs, and then straighten up. If lifting the butt first is the strategy being used, that indicates a lack of strength in the front of the thigh muscles (quadriceps).

Being able to do this movement correctly ensures adequate slack in the myofascia which would likely reduce the incidence of low back, hip, knee and ankle pain.

One would have adequate strength and range-of-motion to do most day-to-day activities, like climbing stairs, getting out of chairs and even low car seats.

In our humble opinion, being able to squat all the way to the floor with no added weight is far more useful in terms of improving function than squatting to the point where the thighs are parallel to the floor with added weight. We know many people that can do half squats with lots of weight, but are not capable of squatting to the floor with just their body weight.

We would not advise squatting with added weight lower than one can keep the back neutral. A flexed (rounded) spine under load is more vulnerable to injury.

Being able to twist well is probably most important for safety while driving, but is also critical for most sports like tennis, badminton, golf, and baseball - even running has a twisting component.

Any one-armed pushes or pulls should also involve a twist, as the muscles of the trunk are much larger and stronger than the tiny muscles of the shoulder. Not being able to twist adequately may mean that the shoulder or arm is overworking, potentially creating a shoulder overuse injury.

The best way to treat such a shoulder injury would be to improve the ability to twist. This is an example of why it is useful to not only examine the area that hurts, but also the movements that are painful, as inflexibility in another part of the body may be the root cause of the problem.

Restrictions in one's ability to twist can often come from the organs. For example, the liver is a massive organ that takes up almost half the space in the lower ribcage. If it cannot slide and glide with respect to the ribcage-container or with respect to the other organs that it touches, one's ability to twist will be impacted.

If the contents of the abdominal container are unable to move well, obviously the container won't be able to rotate well either.

Lack of ability to twist the neck is frequently due to nerve adhesions in the soft tissue between the cervical spine and the arms, preventing the nerves from sliding and gliding properly as we move.

We also have very important blood vessels that feed the head that travel up from the ribcage, and if those blood vessels are not able to slide and glide within their soft tissue adequately, neck range-of-motion will be definitely be compromised.

Visceral Manipulation can address these issues, which would make stretching exercises more successful.

Then depending upon your movement goals, we would choose the kind of twist exercises that would help you the most.

Stretching exercises need to be done frequently but gently, as it is important to understand that when we stretch, we are not only stretching muscles, but also blood vessels, nerves and organs.

A "my way or the highway" attitude does not work with stretching. The brain needs to believe the body will not be harmed before it will allow the area that is stretching to let go.

Reaching overhead so that the upper arms are against the ears and the elbows are straight is a movement that is commonly lost, yet this is a movement that we need to comfortably get things off of high shelves in our daily lives.

It is not surprising that this movement is one that is commonly lost, as we don't usually need to reach overhead on a daily basis. Maybe you only need that big casserole dish off that high shelf when you are having a big family gathering, so you don't notice the gradual loss of function until you really find yourself struggling.

Sometimes this movement-loss can come from a car accident seat-belt injury, where the skin of the lung (pleura) gets adhered to the ribcage.

Imagine you are wearing a shirt that is a little bit too tight, and you have tucked it into your pants. You are sitting in a chair on your shirt-tails, and you try to raise your arm but you can't because the shirt is restricting your arm movement.

Much in the same way, the pleura of the lung, the liver or spleen may be pulling down on your arm, restricting your ability to raise it.

Stretching the side-body can help with this, as can visceral massage treatments to find and treat any adhesions involving the organs.

Nerve restrictions in the neck and arms can also impact reaching overhead, which can also be resolved with treatment.

After your orthopaedic assessment you would be given specific exercises targeted to your personal areas of tightness in order to improve this movement ability again.

As your movement ability improves, we would help you strengthen up to lift, hold and lower the amount of weight you need to be able to manage in your life.

Twenty percent of your bodyweight is an approximation – the amount of weight that you need to be able to lift depends on your needs.

What do you need to be strong enough to lift, to make your life easy? Do you lift big bags of dog food, kitty litter, cases of wine, or a cooler of food out of the trunk of your car? How much do these items weigh? Is it a struggle, or can you manage these lifts easily?

If you travel frequently, consider how much your suitcase weighs, as you need to be able to lift it off the conveyor belt without injuring yourself. The conveyor belt adds a rotational force to the lift as well, making this activity risky if you are not strong enough.

Lifting technique is important to preventing injury, and taking advantage of your body weight to help with the lift can make the lift far easier. Practicing deadlifts in the gym can help teach you the technique.

First bring the object as close to you as possible. The key to this movement is keeping the spine neutral, arms sucked into their sockets. Reach the buttocks back to the point one feels a slight stretch in the back of the legs, then grasp the object, keeping it close to the body.

Anchor the heels to the floor, feeling the connection up the back-leg line to the sit-bones of the pelvis, and use that line-of-pull like a guy-line on the top of a tent pole, to pull the wheel of the pelvis around until you are upright.

There is no efforting by the low back to lift the object. Although the spinal muscles will be active, the effort comes from the back of the legs. By reaching back into the back-leg line in order to counteract the weight of the object being lifted, the body almost acts like a teeter-totter. Get enough body-weight behind, and the object is lifted quite easily.

Knees are slightly bent, shins remain vertical, and the butt reaches back to the point of slight stretch. Spine remains neutral, arms stay sucked into the arm sockets, and as the pelvis-wheel rolls around to upright, it also moves forward to take its place under the ribs again.

It feels like a strange contradiction. Even though the weight is heavy and effort is required to lift it, when the mechanics are right there is an ease about the movement. There is effort, but the movement flows and just feels right.

Remember that training movements is far more important and useful for good function than training muscles. Getting stronger by getting good at these different movement patterns will translate into more ability to do what you want day-to-day.