You Used to Move Like a Kid. Here’s How to Get It Back

Yesterday I covered the morning block at the studio.

At the end of a couple sessions I ran everyone through some basic mobility tests. Nothing fancy, just some self-identifying stuff you can do at home to get a sense of where your body actually is right now.

The expressions said everything.

I think for a lot of people it was a quiet wake-up call. Mobility issues impact us way more than we realize and the reason we don’t realize it is because the loss is so slow and so quiet that we barely notice it happening.

The Most Important Fitness Question Nobody Asks

We talk about strength. We talk about cardio. We talk about weight loss.

But nobody really asks: can your body still move the way it’s supposed to?

During the cooldown yesterday, one of our members shared something Coach Gabriel had told her when he was describing his upcoming FLOW class. I’m going to butcher his version of it, but the idea was this: it’s about getting back the movement you had as a kid. The movement you lost as you got older without even knowing you were losing it.

I hadn’t heard it framed that way before. And I thought it was kind of genius.

Watch a Toddler Move (Seriously)

Watch a toddler squat down to pick something up off the floor.

Full depth. Hips all the way down. Back straight. Knees tracking out. Zero hesitation. No warmup required. No groaning involved.

Or think about the way kids just navigate the world. Up off the floor, down onto the ground, rolling, squatting, crawling, reaching. Their bodies have no rules. Everything moves the way it’s supposed to.

That was you once.

And somewhere along the way, not because of one bad injury or one bad decision, but because of years of sitting, commuting, working, and living a full and busy life, it quietly faded.

The good news? Your body remembers. It just needs the right invitation.

3 Mobility Tests You Can Do Right Now at Home

These are the same basic assessments we ran in class yesterday. They’re not a diagnosis. They’re a check-in. A moment of honesty with your body.

1. The Deep Squat Test Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and squat as low as you can go, keeping your heels on the floor and your chest up. Can you get your hips below your knees? Can you hold it for 10 seconds without your heels rising or your lower back rounding? If not, your ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility likely need work.

2. The Shoulder Reach Test Reach one arm overhead and bend it behind your head. Reach the other arm up your lower back. Can your hands touch — or even get close? Limited shoulder mobility shows up in workouts, overhead movements, and daily life more than most people expect.

3. The Hip Hinge Test Stand tall, hinge forward at the hips with a flat back, and reach toward the floor without bending your knees excessively. How far can you get? Tight hamstrings and limited hip mobility are behind a huge number of lower back complaints and movement compensations.

None of these need to be perfect. But they tell you something real about where you are (and where you could be).

What You Can Do About It

A few simple habits that move the needle:

• 90/90 hip stretches daily — 2 minutes per side, morning or evening
• Cat-cow in the morning — 10 slow reps before you get off the floor
• Thoracic spine rotation — sit cross-legged, place a hand behind your head, rotate and reach your elbow toward the ceiling
• Ankle circles — 10 each direction before any workout or walk
• Hip flexor stretch after sitting — one knee on the floor, shift your weight forward, hold 30–45 seconds

Consistency matters more than duration. Five minutes every day beats 45 minutes once a week.

Ready to Go Further? Coach Gabriel’s Summer FLOW Is Starting Now

If those tests showed you anything…if there was even one moment of oh wow, I couldn’t do that…this is your sign.

Summer FLOW with Coach Gabriel Tuesdays & Thursdays | 6:00 PM | All June 8 sessions total | Capped at 12 people

The theme is flexibility, longevity, and overall wellness and Gabriel’s promise is to bring you back to childlike movement. This isn’t a stretch class. It’s a deliberate, coached experience designed to unlock the range of motion your body has been quietly asking for.

Current Shred 27 members: FLOW is included in your membership — it draws from your group class credits just like your regular training sessions. Just reserve your spot.

Not a member yet? You don’t need to be. FLOW is open to the community. $149 for all 8 sessions.

Space is limited to 12 people and spots are filling. It starts next week.

Learn more and reserve your spot here

Shred 27 is a boutique fitness studio in Rocklin, CA specializing in HIIT group classes, small group strength training, and 1:1 personal training for women. Our classes stay small so you always get the coaching attention you deserve.