• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Creatine
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Multivitamin for Men
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
      • Athletic Greens AG1 Review
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Build Your Movement Tribe With Partner Practice

A tool to enrich your health and wellbeing is at your fingertips.

Written by Chandler Stevens Last updated on February 29, 2016

For the most part our training is a solitary endeavor. Although we may train with others, we’re separated, with little interpersonal physical contact. It’s far from a stimulating sensory environment.

But a richer, more playful physical practice has tremendous benefit for overall health and wellbeing.

For the most part our training is a solitary endeavor. Although we may train with others, we’re separated, with little interpersonal physical contact. It’s far from a stimulating sensory environment.

But a richer, more playful physical practice has tremendous benefit for overall health and wellbeing.

Movement Builds Tribes

My own physical practice began with Brazilian jiu jitsu. Before then, I was scrawny (my first fight was at super featherweight), depressed, with no sense of self. Soon enough, this vigorous physical practice redefined me.

I quickly put on lean muscle, found a tribe I truly connected with, and gained a booster shot of self-confidence. I honestly think jiu jitsu saved my life.

Ever since then, I’ve been interested in the tribe-building aspects of a movement practice. We’re dynamic, social animals, after all. And yet we tend to approach training in solitude.

Sure, we may play a pick-up game here and there when we get a chance, but rarely do we actually move with other humans.

Restoring partnered movements – both cooperative and combative – to our training repertoire enriches our health and wellbeing, on both physical and psychological levels.

Find a community of movers who make you feel empowered.

The Case for Partnered Movement Practice

We have quite a bit of evidence to back this up. As a tribe-building tool, physical practice can’t be beaten. Touch has often been shown to blur self-other boundaries, leading to greater trust and empathy among participants.1,2

Our nervous systems crave sensory input. Physical contact is our earliest form of social bonding and remains one of the most effective.

The health benefits of partnered movement – dance in particular – range from quality of life and body image to balance, mobility, and coordination.3

Physical contact lights up the brain-body connection. After all, your skin is loaded with sensory receptors. When engaged, these receptors begin a dialogue with the brain and literally reshape our mental maps and sense of self.

If we want a simple tool for broad-spectrum health benefits, it’s literally at our fingertips.

Hands Touching Hands

And yet, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. We have a complicated relationship with touch. Depending on the context, the same touch can be either creepy or comforting.

We have to approach a shared physical practice with mutual respect and open communication to reap the benefits.

So how do we make the most of this? If you’re just starting out, you might explore this introductory contact improv drill:

  1. Start the game standing, touching the backs of your wrists together. This is your contact point.
  2. One of you will “lead,” and the other will “follow,” although this will naturally shift as the dance continues. See if you can maintain contact as you navigate space: moving forward and backward, up, down, and around. You can move slowly or speed things up.
  3. Don’t lose contact.
  4. Can you seamlessly shift your point of contact and continue?

Putting It Together

A shared physical practice can be tremendously rewarding, both for our interpersonal interactions, as well as our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

It can boost trust and self-confidence, and it leads to better balance, more coordination, and improved mobility.

There’s more to human fitness than big guns and chiseled abs. If we approach it the right way, a shared physical practice can reshape and enrich our whole life.

So grab someone and get moving!

You’ll Also Enjoy:

  • Putting the Fun Back in Fitness: The Importance of Play and Community
  • Having a Workout Partner Can Double Performance
  • Your Movement Needs an Upgrade: How to Reboot Your System
  • New on Breaking Muscle Right Now

References:

1. Paladino MP, et al. “Synchronous multisensory stimulation blurs self-other boundaries.” Psychological Sciences, 21(2010): 1202-1207.

2. Hertenstein, M. J. (2011). “The communicative functions of touch in adulthood.” In M. Hertenstein & S. Weiss, (Eds.), The handbook of touch: Neuroscience, behavioral, and applied perspectives. New York: Springer Publications.

3. Kiepe MS, et al. “Effects of dance therapy and ballroom dances on physical and mental illnesses: A systematic review.” The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(2012):404-411.

Photo courtesy of MovNat.

About Chandler Stevens

Chandler Stevens is deeply interested in personal exploration through movement.

With a background in natural movement and somatic education, his work revolves around connection of body and mind, and of people and place.

He offers online coaching and workshops to help people find freedom of movement, more confidence, connection, and full, creative engagement in life.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

theanswerisplay
Whatever Your Goal, the Answer Is Play
playsquare
Use Play to Become Fitter and Stronger for Longer
15532198088694857937861983368500ocopy
How Play Can Make You Fitter and Happier
1008609691542754193127370089663o
My 4-Week Paleo Fitness and Primal Play Program

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Australian Strongman Smashes World Record by Pulling 44,753-Pound Crane

Regan Grimes Kicks Off 2023 Mr. Olympia Prep With Grueling Back and Biceps Workout

Best Massage Guns for Runners, Back Pain, Under $100, and More (2023)

CrossFit Games Athletes, Powerlifting Champion Among Big Names to Join Gladiator TV Series Reboot 

Latest Reviews

Best Functional Trainers of 2023 for Small Spaces, With Smith Machines, and More

Pure Protein, Jacked Factory, and RXBAR protein bars on a red background

Best Protein Bars for Weight Loss, Muscle Gain, and More (2023)

Best Magnesium Supplements of 2023 for Better Sleep, Leg Cramps, and More

Best Budget Barbells of 2023 for CrossFit, Powerlifting, and More

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About