Unifying People Around the World Through Movement [Podcast Series]
[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Chris Powell
Chris Powell is the founder of Move One Million.
He is a fitness professional, author and TV host.
[1:07] Inspiration for Move One Million
“So I thought, I'm going to take all of my resources and I'm going to build a free resource for the world, for every child out there, but also to get the support of all the parents as well, and everyone else who's suffering. Let's move together. I think it can help the world.”
[8:26] Creating a total body warm–up
“OK, we just need a modern version of this. And by the way, three and a half minutes nowadays is a little bit too long, because who's got three and a half minutes? And so I shortened it to two and a half minutes, but also to honor the origins of the inspiration behind it, I kept it as 13 movements, and it is a total body, top down warm-up. My degree is in exercise science, but my concentration was biomechanics. And so it is a biomechanically sound, total body warm-up.”
[15:31] Unifying people around the world through movement
“It's people around the world, and there's every race and there's every religion, and there's every political preference, and there's, it is fully inclusive, because in movement and in humanity, that's, we see through all of it. There is no, when you're doing Move One Million, there is no race, there is no religion, there's no politics, there's nothing. That's off the table. It's humans moving together to the same music. And it's, that's the beauty of it is it is fully inclusive, and it's everybody moving together toward a better quality of life.”
[16:02] Moving kids and parents
“We're in 76 countries. We're moving about 150,000 kids a day, which is really cool. It's just, yeah, it's amazing to see happening. And then, of course, you know, we created the apps so that we could have the support from parents as well, so that they could have, the parents could move with their kids, in addition to all the kids that are moving on the screens with their online portals. And so it's just been a lot of fun.”
[20:28] Starting Move One Million as a service project
“It was a massive investment and to be honest with you, I never even started it as a nonprofit. I started it as a service project. And so I was, I was blessed to have done well earlier in life, and I was, I had a great opportunity with my TV show and so and to have a development team that I was working with, a full time development team. And so it was a service project.”
[23:38] Supporting people with journeys of transformation
“The journey of transformation is not about diet and exercise to achieve a weight loss goal. The journey of transformation is about learning how to love yourself and to build confidence and esteem. And most people, when they come to me, they're in a place of darkness and despair and hopelessness, and they think that they got there….everybody, every single person who comes to me looking for help, 99.9% they believe they got there because, well, I tried this and I failed that. I tried that and I failed, and I tried this and I failed. What they don't realize is that if you look through all the noise of all the diets out there, and all the exercise out there, and all the programs, if you look through them, there is a path of transformation that is invisible to the human eye. But if, again, if you look beyond the noise. It's the same path, and that is the path of integrity.”
[29:08] Being a trusted voice on health & fitness
“So I think now is the time, more than ever, to fall back on trusted science. And then on the flip side, to actually remain trusted. I think it's important that we acknowledge when we were wrong.”
[31:53] Building trust by working within scope of practice
“Well, I think honesty and transparency are always going to be the best policies for anybody who's actually in a position to share information and to be a trusted voice. Of course, it's really important that you can lean back on some credentials that you're coming from, whether it's a university or a trusted organization like NASM, which is the National Academy of Sports Medicine, but to be able to fall back on those credentials, it means that you put actually put in the time and the energy to learn and to educate yourself. But then again, also to share openly and honestly that you are there to make suggestions, and you're there to help and you're and the fact that we are committed to serving at the highest level, but sharing what we do know, but then also being open and transparent about what we don't know, and staying within our scope of practice.”
