A Motion Health Journey: Ryan Moodie

Lordy lordy, looks who’s… 20?

I have never felt that I wasn’t able to move well. In high school, I played a variety of sports and did very well. I continued recreational sports throughout college and into law school. While I have never been what you would call a gym rat, I have also always been confident that if one were to roll a ball out onto the field, I could move and play at a reasonably high level.

But my perception of how well I move has changed as I have moved into my 40’s and now have two little boys to chase around. As you age, it is no surprise that you might lose a step or two or get a little creaky. Some things that came easy before are just a little harder than they used to be. Despite this, and although I have crossed 40, mentally I still think of myself as moving the way I did when I was 25 and playing softball in law school. At least that is what I want to believe. And I am not too proud to admit, that’s how I want my two little boys to see me as well.

I recently took the Motion Age challenge at DARI. I performed my movement screen as well as I could, and eagerly waited while the numbers crunched and my report generated. And the report loaded and my score popped up on the screen. Subject age 40. Subject motion age 20. Across millions of comparative data points, I still move as well as the average 20 year old! It is not just how I feel, or how I want to see myself. It is how my body truly moves. It was a real affirmation that I am moving well, and I am moving how I want to be able to move so I can continue to have weekend morning wrestling matches and football games in the yard with my boys as they grow up.