What Is Body Bypassing?
By Hayley Parry, Pilates Teacher and Movement Rehabilitation Specialist, Ealing.
Body Bypassing - When Healing Avoids the Problem
‘Its not the destination but the journey that counts’ - Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are all very familiar with this phrase in regards to being more present as we move through life rather than trying to rush through every moment to get to the next milestone. The phrase encourages presence, patience and appreciation of the process, not just the end result.
This can also be applied to how we move our bodies.
Our bodies are incredibly intelligent. Every day, without us even noticing, they adapt to stress, injury, posture, emotions and habits in order to keep us moving.
Sometimes however, the adaptions come at a cost as we unconsciously skip the importance of the detail of the movement journey in order to get quickly to our desired destination. This happens in the form of over-compensation or bypassing which is one of the most common and least talked about patterns the body uses.
While bypassing can be helpful in the short term, chronic bypassing in physical movement can lead to pain, imbalance and reduced performance over time.
Understanding how and why the body bypasses is the first step toward moving more freely and efficiently.
What is Bypassing?
Bypassing occurs when one part of the body takes on extra work because another part is not functioning optimally. This might happen due to injury, weakness, tightness, poor posture or even unconscious movement habits.
For example:
• If your hip lacks mobility, your lower back may move more to make up for it.
• If one leg is weaker, the other may work harder during walking or exercise.
Over time, these altered movement patterns become ‘normal’ to the body, even though they place uneven stress on muscles and joints.
Why Do We Bypass?
Bypassing is not a flaw – it is a survival strategy.
The body’s primary goal is to keep us moving and functional, even when something isn’t working perfectly. Rather than shutting down movement all together, the nervous system re-routes effort to areas that can handle the load…until it can’t!
Common reasons include:
• Past injuries
• Pain avoidance
• Muscle weakness or fatigue
• Restricted joint mobility
• Stress or emotional tension.
In the short term, bypassing allows us to stay active. The problem arises when these patterns persist long after the original issue has resolved or when we don’t address the root cause.
What Are The Benefits and Consequences of Bypassing?
Benefits:
• Allows movement despite injury or limitation
• Protected sensitive or healing areas
• Helps maintain daily function
• Prevents immediate shutdown or immobility.
Consequences:
• Muscle imbalance
• Chronic pain or stiffness
• Reduced efficiency and performance
• Increased risk of overuse injuries
• Increased risk of underuse injuries
• Fatigue from muscles doing jobs they weren’t designed for.
In short, what once helped the body can eventually become the source of discomfort or dysfunction.
How Can Being Aware of Bypassing Help Me?
When we become aware of bypassing patterns, we gain choice.
We can choose to:
• Address the underlying cause rather than chasing symptoms
• Move with greater efficiency and ease
• Reduce unnecessary strain and pain
• Improve strength, balance and coordination
• Rebuild trust in our body’s natural movement
Awareness transforms movement from something automatic into something intentional. By listening to our bodies and responding with curiosity instead of force or avoidance, we create space for healthier, more sustainable movement patterns to emerge.
What Can I Do To Become More Aware of Bypassing?
Come and see Hayley at Bridge to Health in Ealing.
Hayley has been working with physical bodies for 20 years and specialises in problem solving imbalanced movement patterns, identifying causes behind unresolved pain in the body and developing practices which can reinforce and maintain changes.
The goal isn’t to judge or fix the body immediately but to work alongside each other to identify the body’s bypassing patterns.
Once we fully understand them, how the body has used them and where in the body they have been used the most, everything beyond that point will be a journey of re-patterning and strengthening the new patterns to support functional, pain and restriction free movements.
Get in Touch
Ever get the sense your body has adapted badly to an old injury, have persistent areas of pain or feel that your body is unbalanced? Book in with Hayley for expert advice on the areas you can work on to restore balance.
Get in touch by emailing help@bridgetohealth.co.uk or phone the clinic reception on 01895 200050. Your body and mind will thank you for it!
