7 Essential Primal Movement Patterns Every Person Should Master

When your a strength trainer and anyone glides past me carrying twice as much, they get my attention. https://www.rushwalter.com/holistic-strength-training-for-beginners/ Then when I noticed they were moving with this effortless grace that made me question everything I thought I knew about strength and mobility.

That moment sparked my deep dive into primal movement patterns, and what I discovered completely changed how I approach training – both for myself and my clients.

Primal movements are the fundamental patterns that humans have been using for thousands of years to survive and thrive. https://www.rushwalter.com/what-is-holistic-strength-training-guide-to-mind-body-fitness-in-2025/ These aren’t gym exercises invented by fitness marketers; they’re the movement blueprints hardwired into our DNA. Master these seven patterns, and you’ll have the foundation for moving confidently through life, whether you’re 25 or 85.

Pattern 1: The Squat

The squat isn’t just a lower body exercise – it’s how humans are supposed to rest, work, and move through space. Before chairs became standard, our ancestors spent hours in deep squat positions, and many cultures around the world still do today.

I learned this lesson when I traveled to Southeast Asia a few years back. Watching street vendors comfortably hang out in full squats for hours while I could barely hold the position for thirty seconds was embarrassing. https://www.rushwalter.com/natural-movement-strength-patterns-for-real-world-power/ My hip flexors were screaming, my ankles were tight as drums, and my balance was terrible.

The deep squat position should feel like home, not torture. When you can sit comfortably in a full squat with your heels flat and spine straight, you’ve unlocked one of the most important movement patterns for hip health, ankle mobility, and overall lower body strength.

Start with supported squats if you need to – hold onto a door frame or suspension trainer and gradually work toward unsupported holds. The goal is building time in the position, not forcing depth. I’ve seen people make dramatic improvements just by squatting for two minutes daily while watching TV or waiting for coffee to brew.

Pattern 2: The Hip Hinge

This is how you should pick things up, put them down, and generate power from your posterior chain. The hip hinge is basically the opposite of what most people do when they bend over – instead of rounding your back and using your spine like a crane, you push your hips back and let your glutes and hamstrings do the work.

I spent years teaching this pattern wrong, focusing too much on technical details and not enough on the feeling of the movement. The breakthrough came when I started having clients imagine they were trying to close a car door with their butt while keeping their chest proud. Suddenly, people got it.

Mastering the hip hinge protects your lower back and unlocks serious power for activities like lifting, jumping, and explosive movements. https://www.rushwalter.com/primal-movement-reconnecting-with-natural-human-motion/ Every time you bend over to tie your shoes or pick up a dropped pen, you’re either reinforcing good movement patterns or teaching your body to move dysfunctionally.

Practice hip hinges daily with bodyweight until the pattern feels automatic. Then you can add resistance with carries, deadlifts, or kettlebell swings. But nail the pattern first – your spine will thank you for it.

Pattern 3: The Push

Pushing movements are about more than just chest and arm strength – they teach your body how to create stability through your core while generating force with your upper body. This pattern shows up when you’re pushing a heavy door, getting up off the floor, or moving furniture.

The mistake most people make is thinking push-ups are the only way to train this pattern. While push-ups are great, they’re actually pretty advanced for most beginners. I’ve had more success starting people with wall push-ups, incline push-ups, or even just practicing the plank position.

The key insight is that pushing patterns require full-body integration. https://www.rushwalter.com/7-day-holistic-functional-fitness-program-for-beginners/ Your core needs to stay solid while your arms do the work, and your breathing needs to stay controlled throughout the movement. Rush this development, and you’ll end up with compensatory patterns that limit your progress.

One of my favorite progressions is having clients practice getting up from the floor without using their hands. Sounds simple, but it requires incredible coordination between your pushing muscles, core stability, and leg strength. Most people struggle with this initially, but it’s an amazing full-body exercise once you get the hang of it.

Pattern 4: The Pull

Modern life has made most of us chronically weak at pulling movements. We spend hours hunched over screens, pushing buttons and keyboards, but rarely engage the muscles that pull our shoulders back and maintain good posture.

Pulling patterns balance out all that forward head posture and rounded shoulder stuff that comes from desk work. https://www.rushwalter.com/the-complete-guide-to-holistic-mobility-training/ They also build the kind of functional strength you need for climbing, carrying, and maintaining healthy shoulder mechanics throughout life.

I learned the importance of pulling the hard way when I developed serious shoulder impingement from years of bench pressing without balancing it with adequate pulling work. Physical therapy taught me that my rear delts and rhomboids were practically non-existent, while my chest and front delts were overdeveloped.

The fix was simple but humbling – I had to scale back pushing movements and spend months rebuilding my pulling strength from scratch. We started with basic scapular retractions and gradually progressed to rowing patterns and eventually pull-ups.

For most people, pulling patterns need extra attention because they’re so undertrained in daily life. Resistance bands, suspension trainers, or even towel rows using a door can help you build this essential pattern without needing a full gym setup.

Pattern 5: The Carry

Carrying might be the most underrated movement pattern in fitness. It’s also one of the most practical – every time you haul groceries, move boxes, or carry a sleeping kid, you’re using this pattern.

Loaded carries train your entire body to work as an integrated unit while moving through space. They build core stability, improve posture, and develop the kind of strength that actually transfers to real-world activities.

The beauty of carries is their simplicity and scalability. You can start with grocery bags, water jugs, or even books. The key is maintaining good posture while walking with load, not just surviving the movement.

I remember working with a client who complained about constant lower back pain after moving to a new apartment. https://www.rushwalter.com/injury-proof-your-body-with-functional-fitness-principles/ Turns out he’d been carrying boxes with terrible posture, essentially doing hundreds of repetitions of dysfunctional movement patterns. We spent three weeks retraining his carrying mechanics, and his back pain disappeared.

Farmer’s walks are the most basic carry variation – equal weight in both hands, walking with good posture. From there, you can explore single-arm carries, front-loaded carries, or overhead carries. Each variation challenges your stability in different ways.

Pattern 6: The Crawl

This is where things get interesting and where most adults feel completely lost. Crawling patterns were our first form of locomotion, but most of us haven’t crawled since we were toddlers. That’s a shame, because crawling is one of the best full-body exercises you can do.

Crawling patterns build incredible core strength, improve shoulder stability, and enhance cross-lateral coordination between your brain hemispheres. They’re also humbling, which is exactly what most of us need.

I started incorporating crawling into my own training after watching my friend’s two-year-old move effortlessly through bear crawl positions that left me shaking after thirty seconds. That kid had better movement mechanics than most adults I knew, and it wasn’t because he’d been hitting the gym.

The basic bear crawl – hands and feet on the ground with knees hovering an inch off the floor – is deceptively challenging. Most people can’t hold the position for more than ten seconds initially, let alone crawl forward with control.

Start with the static hold, then progress to rocking motions, then forward crawling, then backward and lateral crawling. Each progression adds complexity and coordination demands. Don’t rush this process – crawling patterns expose weaknesses and imbalances that take time to address. Choose to learn to bear crawl and invest perhaps 15-20 minutes into your first bear crawl workout. then increase the time and exercise options as necessary.

Pattern 7: The Rotate

Rotation is how we generate power, change direction, and navigate three-dimensional space. It’s also the pattern that gets neglected most in traditional strength training, which tends to focus on movements in straight lines.

Real life happens in spirals and curves, not just up-and-down or forward-and-back. Every time you swing a golf club, throw a ball, or even just turn to look behind you while driving, you’re using rotational patterns.

The key to healthy rotation is understanding that it should come from your thoracic spine and hips, not your lower back. Most people try to rotate by twisting their lumbar spine, which is a recipe for injury and dysfunction.

I learned this lesson when I threw out my back trying to lift a heavy box while twisted to the side. Physical therapy taught me that my thoracic spine was basically locked up from years of poor posture, so my lower back was compensating by rotating beyond its comfortable range.

Training rotation starts with mobility work to restore movement to your mid-back and hips. Then you can add resistance with medicine ball throws, wood chops, or even simple standing rotation exercises using a resistance band.

Putting It All Together

These seven patterns aren’t meant to be trained in isolation – they’re designed to work together as an integrated system. Real-world activities combine multiple patterns simultaneously, and your training should reflect that reality.

A simple movement flow might include: squat down, transition to bear crawl, crawl forward, stand up with a hip hinge, pick up an object, carry it while rotating to change direction, then push the object onto a shelf. That’s six of the seven patterns in one fluid sequence.

The magic happens when these patterns become automatic and your body can transition between them smoothly. That’s when movement becomes effortless, like when my neighbor could carry her groceries up those stairs.

Start with one pattern at a time, spend a few weeks getting comfortable with it, then gradually add complexity and combinations. Your body will thank you for giving it back the movement vocabulary it was designed to use. Contact me when you need direction and guidance with natural movement exercise.

Remember, these aren’t just exercises – they’re life skills. Master them, and you’ll move with confidence and capability regardless of what challenges come your way. Thank you for reading this fitness blog, I hope you enjoy a healthy day, Walter