Why Quantity Comes Before Quality in Movement: Guiding Principle for Properly Evaluating & Building Strength for Athletes, Runners, and Fitness Beginners in NYC
Principle Number One: Quantity before Quality
If you had brought up this idea to me just three years ago, I would’ve argued that more movement with poor quality only makes things worse. It makes sense—if you’re not moving properly, wouldn’t more movement just lead to further injury? Maybe. But over time, I’ve learned that focusing solely on perfecting form can actually slow progress.
The key to progress, whether you’re an athlete, runner, or someone just starting their fitness journey, is understanding the quantity of your movement before worrying about quality. How often, how much, and how intensely are you moving? What is your range of motion like, and how much force can you apply in a given position? Once we have that context, we can target the areas where quality of movement needs to improve.
This isn’t about rushing to perfect form. It’s about taking a step back to understand where you are now, and giving your body the right dosage of movement, load, and time to adapt and improve. Whether you’re looking to prevent injuries as a runner, build strength as an athlete, or simply start your health and fitness journey as a beginner, this approach is the foundation for long-term success.
Before we dive in, I want to re-iterate that fact that we are not saying quantity is more important than quality. Both are equally important in the long run. What we are saying is that consideration for the optimal dosage and load management is more applicable when looking for an entry point for someone who is currently dealing with pain or want to start exercising for health and fitness. As you begin to move more and start getting stronger, the better your technique will get. You don’t have to wait for your form to be perfect before you get started.
Quantity on a Macro Level: Proper Dosage + Load Management
The first step in improving movement quality is understanding the larger picture: how much stress your body has been under. Are you doing too much, too often, or not enough? For athletes, runners, and fitness beginners alike, finding the right balance is crucial.
Proper dosage and load management help ensure that your body is exposed to the right amount of stress to promote improvement, without overloading it. Athletes often push their bodies to the limit, while runners might find themselves constantly running high-mileage weeks, or beginners may overdo it when they first start exercising. If you’re doing too much, you risk injury and burnout. Too little, and your body won’t adapt and strengthen as it needs to.
Understanding how much you’re moving and how frequently is the key to setting a realistic training plan, whether you’re trying to recover from an injury, build strength, or just begin your fitness journey. By gradually increasing the quantity of movement in a controlled manner, your body can adapt without being overwhelmed.
Quantity on a Micro Level: Range of Motion, Strength, etc
Once we’ve looked at the bigger picture of how much movement you’re doing, we zoom in on the smaller details: range of motion and strength. For runners, this means assessing flexibility in areas like the hips, knees, and ankles, ensuring that your body is properly aligned and that there’s no undue strain. For beginners, this step is about laying the foundation for more complex movements in the future, gradually increasing your strength and mobility.
It’s important to understand where your body might be lacking in strength or flexibility so we can start improving those areas. Runners often experience injuries due to muscle imbalances, while beginners might struggle with basic movements due to lack of experience. Addressing these issues through gradual, targeted work helps ensure long-term success in your movement goals.
Why Quantity Is The Foundation for Quality
You might be wondering: why focus on quantity first if quality is so important? Here’s why: when people are dealing with pain, performance plateaus, or just starting out, their bodies have likely been under stress in certain ways. To properly address it, we need to understand how much stress the body has been under. By asking questions like:
How often are you running?
How many days a week are you working out?
How intense are your workouts?
For beginners: Are you gradually increasing your movement load?
We start to get a clear picture of your current situation. From there, we can determine whether you're doing too much or not enough and adjust accordingly.
For example, a runner might be running every day at a high intensity, which could lead to overuse injuries. Once we understand how much they’re running, we can adjust their schedule, incorporate rest, and introduce strength training to improve overall resilience. Similarly, a beginner starting their fitness journey may try to jump into intense workouts too quickly, which can lead to burnout or injury. Understanding the quantity of movement gives us the necessary context to set you up for sustainable progress.
This approach is about proper dosing and load management. Just like with medication, there’s a balance in how much you should be doing. Too much, and you risk overloading your body, causing injury. Too little, and your body might not be challenged enough to get stronger or heal properly. It’s about finding the right balance for where you are in your journey—whether you’re an athlete, runner, or beginner.
Understanding Quantity Gives Context to The Quality
Once we understand the quantity of your movement—how much you’ve been doing—we shift our focus to quality. This is when we assess the way you move. Is your movement smooth and controlled, or are there compensations and faulty mechanics that could be contributing to your pain? Is it possible that the quality of your movement is being affected by fatigue, which again points to a quantity problem?
While quality of movement is important, it doesn’t always have to be perfect right away, especially when you’re just starting to get back into movement after an injury. You don’t need to have flawless form to begin reintroducing exercise and loading the body.
That said, it’s essential to coach around movements that are directly triggering pain, and we’ll prioritize addressing those first. But don’t worry if everything isn’t perfect right out of the gate.
Quality becomes especially important when we’re working with repetitive, skill-based movements—like resistance training. For example, weightlifting is a form of "blocked practice" where you're purposefully applying stress to your body to create adaptations. By refining your technique, you optimize energy expenditure, force generation, and control.
Since resistance training is something you’ll likely continue for the rest of your life, it’s a skill worth mastering. With consistent, focused effort in each session, you’ll have many opportunities to refine your technique and gain confidence over time.
The ultimate goal is to master the skill of proper dosing, load management, and executing movements with precision and high quality.
Progressive Overload and Graded Exposure
Here’s where the concept of progressive overload comes into play. It’s about taking small, consistent steps to gradually increase the load on your body. By focusing on how much you're moving and then increasing it at the right pace, you allow your body to adapt and get stronger over time.
For example, a runner recovering from an injury might start with light runs on alternate days, slowly increasing the distance and intensity as their body adjusts. Similarly, a beginner may start with bodyweight exercises and progress to resistance training once their body is ready. The goal is always to build strength and resilience without pushing too hard too fast.
Progressive overload and graded exposure are key to preventing injuries while improving strength. By gradually increasing the load, we help you build muscle, improve endurance, and boost performance in a safe and effective way.
Combining Quantity and Quality for Long-Term Success
When we combine the right quantity of movement with quality—i.e., repetition, consistency, and resistance—it’s how we build a resilient body that can handle life’s physical demands. The goal isn’t just to get out of pain; it’s to come back stronger, more capable, and more confident in your ability to move. That’s where progressive overload shines: by gradually increasing the challenge, we can help you recover and, ultimately, thrive in your active lifestyle.
At Zero Point One Physical Therapy, we believe in this gradual, thoughtful approach to recovery. By understanding your movement’s quantity first and improving the quality of your movement over time, we set you up for long-lasting success—free from pain and stronger than before.
If you’re ready to take control of your recovery, start by thinking about how often, how much, and how intensely you’re moving, and let’s work together to build a path forward that gets you back to feeling your best.