Over the weekend had an opportunity to speak to an amazing group of women in Huntington Beach, CA. The ladies are in their final weeks of Precision Nutrition's Lean Eating program and many have completely transformed their physiques in the past 11 months.

The gathering was intended to help these committed, dedicated women take their training to the next level and empower them to continue kicking ass after the program officially ends and I have to tell you, it was pretty inspiring to hear their stories.

My goal was to offer a new or different perspective on movement and training. Here are 10 tips I covered in my talk. Enjoy!

1. Focus on the quality of your movement before adding weight or doing more reps.

2. Eliminate your weakest link and unlock your performance potential.

3. If you feel pain, listen to what it might be trying to tell you. Pain is often a symptom. Try to find cause if possible.

4. Just because you've eliminated pain doesn't mean you're recovered. Perhaps you developed a compensation and don't realize it.

5. Get out of the reductionist mentality. Think of your whole body, whole foods, and moving in patterns, not simply calories or parts.

6. Strive to embody the optimal performance pyramid:

A great base of flexibility and control – checked by a movement screen, enhanced by practicing self-limiting activities. Yoga is a great for this!
Average to above average power and efficiency – think about how high can you jump, how much can you lift, how fast you can run.
Adequate skill to do what you want to do – swing a golf club, for example.

7. Think about your day to day postures and how they might influence the way you move. Do you sit most of the day? Is it possible to stand more?

8. If you're a parent, allow for natural development and install fundamental patterns with an acceptable level of quality. Get rid of that baby walker and let your baby figure out how to walk on their own. And whenever practical, use shoes as sparingly as possible to develop strong feet! (Socks are ok)

9. It's best to not limit yourself to one activity, but enjoy a variety of movement experiences (self-limiting exercises, for example) and engage in them frequently.

10. Get movement screened periodically to ensure good movement capability. You go to the dentist for regular check ups, right? Functional Movement Screen Experts are typically Physical Therapists and Fitness Professionals and are listed on the website www.functionalmovement.com