Doing the Side Shuffle (Workout Accents)

Yesterday, I went to a Bat Mitzvah, which was lovely btw. 

I saw an old friend there who told me he reads Prime Cuts and that his favorite piece was one I did a while back called Getting Out of the Car Funny. 

That post was about a neighbor who hurt his back, not because he got out of the car funny, but because he hadn’t been treating his body right leading up to that moment.

My old friend said this post resonated with him and got him to get moving more, which was exactly the point.

As I was thinking about this last night, I figured the summer would be a great time to share more about the different types of movements I add to workouts as accents.

There are core movements I do very regularly like sprints and then there are accents that I add sometimes to mix it up and to use different muscles in novel ways.

I like to surprise my body and give it a good shock.

This morning, I did a bunch of side (or lateral) shuffles. This is an under-appreciated movement, especially for anyone over 40, that I add to my HIIT workouts a couple times per month maybe.

If you ever played organized basketball, you’ll know the side shuffle as a defense practice drill where you shuffle sideways down court and then back again with your knees slightly bent, being sure to lead with the left foot and then the right.

This morning, I did these on the football field where I was doing sprints. I did 20 yards leading with the right leg and then 20 yards back leading with the left leg.

I did five or six of them and it felt great.

The lateral shuffle is great for lower body coordination, flexibility, mobility, and strength. It’s a movement we do not commonly do, so we’re likely improving resilience too.

Here’s the best video I found on Youtube showing how to do the side shuffle and I just watched a bunch of them. (Parisi’s tip about leaning on the inside leg when changing direction is priceless.)

Have a great day everyone.