New Year, New Moves: Embracing Healthy Movement with Built to Move

Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully by Kelly Starrett and Juliet Starrett is a guide to improving mobility, movement, and overall body function, aimed at helping people feel better, move with ease, and prevent injury. Drawing from Starrett’s extensive background as a coach, physical therapist, and expert in human biomechanics, the book offers practical tools, techniques, and habits to enhance how we move throughout our daily lives.

The book emphasizes that our bodies are designed to move—whether it’s walking, lifting, bending, or running—and that modern sedentary lifestyles often hinder our natural movement patterns. The book explores essential movement principles, from proper posture and joint mobility to strengthening exercises and stretching routines, encouraging readers to prioritize their physical health and well-being. The book also addresses common mobility issues, offering exercises for helping to alleviate pain and improving flexibility.

Throughout Built to Move, they stress the importance of consistency and developing sustainable, healthy movement habits. Whether you’re an athlete or someone looking to be more active, the message is clear: regular, mindful movement is key to living a pain-free and vibrant life.

Relating to the New Year:

Therefore, as we jump into the New Year, many people set new goals and resolutions to help them live a healthier and more active lifestyle. As Mike Justman, detailed in last months’ newsletter, it is important to remember what really matters to us. Many people struggle with sustaining long-term habits because they either do not connect their goal or resolution to something that is truly important to them and/or start without really having a plan. I know personally, what really drives me is sustaining my health and mobility to keep up with my children going forward and hopefully, eventually, grandchildren. I hope by doing this I can be a good example to them as well as other family members, friends, and the patients I work with in doing the same for themselves and their families.

This is where the book Built to Move can be a handy tool for many to help them move safely and with a purpose so that people do not try to do too much too early and give up on their goals/resolutions. It helps provide a roadmap to make those resolutions a reality. Instead of focusing solely on intense workouts or dramatic changes, Starrett encourages us to start small, integrating movement into our everyday routines in a way that feels achievable and sustainable.

By adopting simple principles from the book—like prioritizing daily mobility exercises, improving posture, and making time for functional movements—readers can set themselves up for long-term success. The key takeaway? It’s not about extreme fitness goals or rigid routines, but about consistently moving in ways that honor and support our bodies, allowing us to build a foundation of strength and flexibility for the long haul. As you may feel better and become more confident with these movements, it may help lead you to new activities and growth beyond your expectations. 

In 2025, make this your year to focus on moving with a purpose in a healthy way. Built to Move can help provide several tools you need to transform how you feel and function, setting the stage for a year filled with vitality and wellness. We, as physical therapists, can assist in guiding and educating you along the way to achieve those goals and get you started on the right foot so you can feel more independent and confident in your movement to support you in achieving what truly is important to you.