The Science Behind Habit Formation and Movement Training

In this episode of 'What I'm Reading, What I'm Thinking,' we explore the critical role of consistency in habit formation and movement training. Discover insights from key research papers on habits, motor skills, and the nervous system. Learn why repetition is essential in transforming fragile skills into fluid ones and how deliberate practice reshapes automatic patterns. We also delve into the importance of environment in supporting consistent behavior and the stages of motor skill learning. Finally, understand how foundational motor skill training in early development impacts our adaptability as adults. Subscribe for more on fascia structure, movement reeducation, and how these ideas merge in my upcoming book.

00:00 Habits in Motion: The Science Behind Consistency and Skill

00:20 The Relationship between habits and motor skills in humans

00:57 The Striatum: Where skills and habits meet

01:26 Stages of motor skill learning

01:48 Neurobilology of skill and habit learning

02:06 The force of habit creating ans sustaining a wellness lifestyle

02:29 The importance of motor skills for development

02:48 Whats the through line?

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b1AlSsDZ7xM?si=nhNG_D5O1jJFQini

Ever wish editing didn’t take up your entire week? Descript has drastically reduced my editing time and made it possible to keep creating content, even on a packed schedule. Here’s my affiliate link if you want to check it out: https://get.descript.com/f7tn5mo5dzn7

Clickable links to the papers referenced:

1. The Relationship Between Habits and Motor Skills in Humans. Explores how habit and automaticity relate to motor skills. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35307293/

2. The Striatum: Where Skills and Habits Meet. Reviews the role of the striatum in action selection, skills, and habit formation. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4526748/?utm_

3. Stages of Motor Skill Learning. Describes the stages of skill learning: acquisition, consolidation, and retention. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16385137/

4. Neurobiology of Skill and Habit Learning. Discusses the role of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in motor learning. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7620306/

5. The Force of Habit: Creating and Sustaining a Wellness Lifestyle. Examines behavioral strategies for fostering long-term habits in wellness. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26325170/

6. The Importance of Motor Skills for Development. Highlights how consistent motor skill development supports overall growth. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33166961/

Episode Transcript

Habits in Motion: The Science Behind Consistency and Skill
===

[00:00:00] Welcome to what I'm reading, what I'm thinking, where I share the research behind my upcoming book, and how it's shaping the way I think about fascia structure and movement. Let's dive in. The big question today is what role does consistency play in habit formation and movement training? Let's start with the foundational concept from the paper,

The Relationship between habits and motor skills in humans
---

the relationship between habits and motor skills in humans.

This study makes a bold claim. Habits are essentially motor automaticity. That means the things we repeat consistently become faster and more efficient, but also potentially less flexible.

That duality matters a lot in structural work. You want stability but not rigidity. Deliberate practice is how we continually reshape these automatic patterns. This feels directly aligned with fascia and movement reeducation. It's all about breaking and rebuilding the next paper.

The Striatum: Where skills and habits meet
---

The striatum where skills and habits [00:01:00] meet zooms in on the brain's role, specifically the striatum.

It helps optimize behavior by refining action, selection, and shaping habitual motor responses. This is strong evidence that the nervous system requires consistency to wire efficient movement strategies that ties back to how we coach new joint alignments or movement patterns. They've got to be repeated to stick.

Another important one,

Stages of motor skill learning
---

stages of motor skill learning. This study gives us the classic three part model, acquisition, consolidation, and retention. You can't skip the reps. Repetition is what carries a skill from fragile to fluid, and you can't get to fluidity without consistency. We also get confirmation from the paper

Neurobilology of skill and habit learning
---

neurobiology of skill and habit learning, which highlights the basal ganglia and cerebellum.

These structures aren't just passively involved. They actively encode and refine motor [00:02:00] habits. Again, no consistency, no structure on the lifestyle side.

The force of habit creating ans sustaining a wellness lifestyle
---

The force of habit, creating and sustaining a wellness lifestyle brings in a behaviorist approach.

Structure your environment, set clear goals and track small wins. While the evidence in the paper is weaker. The principle stance, if your environment doesn't support consistency, your nervous system can't either. . One final reinforcement comes from

The importance of motor skills for development
---

the importance of motor skills for development.

This one's big picture. Consistent motor skill training in early development literally sets the stage for how we function and adapt as adults from crawling to walking to lifting your arm overhead. That foundation was laid by repetition.

Whats the through line?
---

So what's the through line here?

Consistency builds. Automaticity. Automaticity builds skill and skill gives us options. But here's the catch. If you want to change a [00:03:00] habit, postural behavior or motor, you have to go back into the cycle, disrupt it, and lay down a new pattern.

That's where body work, breath work, and intelligent movement queuing come in. That's it for today's dive into the research. If you're enjoying this process and want to see how all these ideas come together, make sure to subscribe and stay tuned for the next one. There's a lot more coming.

The Science Behind Habit Formation and Movement Training

Sign Up For Our Newsletter