He may look relaxed but could spring at any moment!
“Functional Fitness” is a term that gets thrown around a lot.Athletes need it, Crossfit is great for it, we all tout the benefits of it. But what really is “Functional Fitness” though?
I can answer that in one word… it is “Awesome”
Functional fitness is being able to walk around feeling like you are filled with coiled little springs that are ready to unleash and do anything at any time. Someone could say “Hey… go hop that wall”… and you know what? You know that you COULD in fact go hop that wall.
The best way to achieve functional fitness is through natural movement.Everything on the body was designed with a purpose. You have legs and feet for walking and running. You have arms for throwing, pushing, pulling and carrying. Eyes so you can see… etc. Your body really wasn’t designed to rep out bicep curls in the gym. There are not to many functional, practical applications for that.
Which would you rather be able to do? Bicep curl 140 pounds or climb a rope or a boulder? Which one might safe you life?
What got me started in this line of thought is all of the recent information out there on Erwan Le Corre.This guy is awesome. He trains outdoors in the Brazilian jungle. His workouts consist of sprinting up beaches, climbing trees and rocks, carrying and throwing logs… etc. This guy never goes to a “gym” but he is considered one of the best all around athletes in the world (if not THE). I highly recommend reading up on him and “MovNat“, his fitness method.
In honor of all this great info, I have been trying to workout less with “weights” and more with “bodyweights” via natural movements. This is not an easy task in the middle of the desert but I have been doing things like sprinting at walls and climbing them, lifting boulders, going rock climbing etc. The results have been awesome. My level of confidence in myself and my athletic ability and coordination has sky rocketed. As I said, i feel like I am packed with little springs ready to explode if i need them. Yes… I can climb that wall.
Oh, and another note – this type of training… is just more fun. It is a lot more like “play” than “work”.
Still, I think that weights have their place too.The best weight lifting exercises to incorporate in my mind are those that best mimic natural movements. These are the compound movement exercises that simulate lifting things, carrying things etc. Squats, Deadlifts, Clean and Presses. Incorporate these with a lot of natural body movements and you have yourself a recipe for success.
Try to incorporate some explosive natural movements in your exercises this week… jumps, pullups, sprints, climbing, throwing.As I said… this has been awesome for me. I am so jealous of Erwan running around in his Brazilian jungle. More proof that you can get in better shape than 90% of the people at the gym without even setting foot in one.
How do you feel after doing this?Have you been training this way? Have you ever been in a situation where you had to 150# curl your way to safety lol? What are your thoughts?
*Edit* I dont know how I missed this but check out Conditioning Researches interview with Erwan Le Corre here!
March 24th, 2009 - 9:06 am
I have a very small living space (and cluttered, though I’ve been working on that too!) so when I started working out, I wanted stuff that didn’t require a lot of room, or any equipment. There are so many excellent bodyweight exercises! I started with just these three and slowly added more. I’ve stuck to a basic tabata-style (high intensity intermittent), and added some more “explosive” movement like box jumps as my strength, flexibility and endurance increased.
I still do almost everything with no equipment, but I’ve found for instance that a jar full of pennies makes a great heavy object to slowly ‘pass around’ my body while I do lunges — it makes you work a lot harder to maintain balance and proper form. I haven’t done this yet, but I had the idea of taking a big rock or concrete block to the beach, throwing it as far as I can, sprinting to it and doing jumps up on it, repeat. I balance on one leg when I’m brushing my teeth, putting on my shoes and such. And like you, I now look at everything around me and constantly think, Could I climb that?…and usually, I can and do!
(Oh, just remembered — a while back, I helped someone trim some skinny trees by shimmying up them until my weight bent them down to the ground, where he would then clip the top off and I’d let them spring back up. I had *great* shoulders that summer, for the first time ever. Will definitely do more of this.)
I agree that even if we’re not specifically preparing for emergencies, our strength and endurance should serve us as well as possible in all aspects of real life, not just inside a gym. A wide variety of natural movements not only makes a healthy body, it keeps your mind from getting bored or treating it like a job. When exercise is normal routine at worst, and “play” at best, we don’t dread it — we look forward to it, and incorporate it into our lives instead of treating it like something separate and isolated.
March 24th, 2009 - 9:08 am
My husband has been doing it this way since he was a kid. I remember when we first started dating (about 11 years ago); it was such a rush to watch him scale something that seemed impossibly hard, to watch him climb to the tops of trees, to watch him balance on something impossibly high and narrow, to watch him pick up giant rocks and toss them into streams and rivers, or to watch him hop from boulder to boulder in a giant rock field. Now that we have kids, he’s not quite so daring. But he’s still just as able.
Men Take Note! Women find this VERY attractive.
As for me, I had never really thought of cultivating these abilities until recently. I’d always been a distance runner, if anything at all. But it’s exciting to see even the smallest hint of changes in myself and my ability.
March 24th, 2009 - 9:14 am
Great post. I have been inspired by Le Corre since I stumbled upon it. I have switched most of my workouts to these fun style natural movements and am shifting more every day.
March 24th, 2009 - 10:00 am
Good one SOG!
You might want to point people to the recent article in Men’s health magazine as well as the interview Le Corre did for chris H. at conditioningresearch.blogspot.com. AWESOME stuff!
Art Devany also recently mentioned Le Corre, as he is one of the few with Art’s “X-look” that he talks about.
The older I get, the more I exercise using this type of play.
Gym muscles look silly on guys over 50 imho. Natural muscles and being cut, looks amazing for guys over fifty.
Like I said, good stuff!!!
Marc
March 24th, 2009 - 10:36 am
Damaged Justice,
What an awesome comment! I really want to work with climbing and shimmying trees. Unfortunatly… there are no real trees around here.
Food Renegade,
You hear that everyone? Grok out to impress the opposite sex! lol.
Jeff,
I find myself in the same pattern of shifting more and more.
Marc,
I am becoming more and more convinced that “gym muscles” look silly on most people. Just take a look at pictures of all the roid freaks packing Jersey beaches and tell me you don’t chuckle.
March 24th, 2009 - 11:15 am
Don’t forget about David Belle and the sport of Parkour too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98jCBnWO8w
I’m working up to one-arm push-ups. I started with my off-hand fully extended on my side and now I’ve worked up to elevating it on a box as well to reduce the amount of leverage it has.
Hindu or “Dive-bomber” push-ups that DJ cites are a good lead into handstand pushups, especially when done on an incline. I can crank out 3 reps of handstand push-ups pretty consistently now.
For leg work flying lunges, side lunges, pistols, box jumps are all great. Plus sprinting of course and its derivatives such as skipping, hopping, etc. Try doing two legged hops for 100 m, it will get your heart going.
I do wish I had some way of doing muscle-ups in my apartment but I don’t have enough ceiling height.
March 24th, 2009 - 11:36 am
I’m glad that more natural methods of exercise are coming out of the woodwork.
Fitness used to encompass many different subcultures, yet fitness has become THE subculture for most people. The burning muscles, the sweaty tank tops, the ipods, the spandex, the “pump,” the bench press club, the “guns” club, etc. etc. In today’s world, either you’re a fitness freak or you’re not. Being in good shape is not the norm, and being in great shape is very rare indeed.
I think most people neglect to ask themselves what they want to be fit FOR. The way I see it, most fitness trainees are exercising to look good and to appear healthy. This does serve a purpose, but I think that it’s a backwards approach. A beautiful physique comes as a byproduct of abundant health – not the other way around. Le Corre is a perfect example of this. If we focused on health, mobility, and functionality in a training program, a beautiful physique would naturally result and we would be all the better for it.
To your health and success,
John Sifferman
March 24th, 2009 - 2:14 pm
I definitely agree. I heard about Erwan Le Corre through Barefoot Ted (http://barefootted.com/). I’m a runner, and recently purchased the Vibram 5 fingers Sprint. I went for a 6 mile run in the yesterday, and I love them. I feel much more free and natural – and you’re right, it’s like playing! I feel like I’ve found my inexhaustible inner child. The natural movement also has helped my hip problems, and I find that I don’t get as tired on my runs. Here’s to natural movement!
March 24th, 2009 - 3:22 pm
You know that I agree with you. I remember the first time a saw the video of Erwan. I’ve seen a lot of people do some amazing things, but he really made my mouth drop. I’m in good shape, but that guy is AMAZING!
- Dave
March 24th, 2009 - 4:56 pm
Sog,
Speaking about running Erwan and running barefoot…I found another site dedicated to nothing but barefoot running.
http://runningbarefoot.org/
I may try the “Vibram 5 Fingers Sprint”, slip-ons first. I saw a video of Mark Sisson sprinting in these and it looked cool.
Rusty
March 24th, 2009 - 5:44 pm
SOG did you see my interview with Erwan?
http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/2009/01/erwan-le-corre.html
March 24th, 2009 - 6:20 pm
Robert M,
Parkour is very cool too. Natural movement in an “Urban Jungle” lol. Belle is a phenominal athlete in his own right. Thanks!
John,
It funny that you mention that beauty is a bi-product of health. I recently watched a documentary on the face where they covered beauty. Apparently people that develop health also develop more symmetrically which is considered more attractive. Totally supports what you are saying!
Joselyne,
I love my 5 fingers. I use a pair for sprinting and another pair for rock climbing. I have been banned from wearing them to work unfortunately
David,
Your Animal workout philosophy matches this swimingly!
Rusty,
Once you go 5 fingers you will be hooked! I recomend the KSO’s though. More of a shoe than the slip ons and harder to get stuff in lol.
Chris,
What a great interview! I don’t know how I missed it. I added the link to the post. thanks!
March 25th, 2009 - 4:58 pm
I’ve got a horrible crush on Erwin ever since Chris had the link to his MovNat site. I keep pouring over the Men’s Health article pictures obsessively. He is like a modern-day Tarzan, which I believe I’ve mentioned is the perfect man IMO.
The point that most of us couldn’t dive deep or save a friend in the water is so true. I was lap swimming for triathlons and absolutely hated it. What happed to the girl who could dive in the deep end of the pool and hold her breath all the way to the other end? So now I do it like I did as a kid… remember swimming all day in the summer and hating to get out of the water? I use the leisure pool instead of the lap pool. And to think we used to climb a tree to a treehouse we built and swing on a vine out over the creek. As an adult I think I turned chicken about some things and now have to rediscover that sense of my body moving in space.
I have been doing more play workouts especially now that it is getting warmer out. Five Fingers are great… mud on the trail feels downright decadent. I ask myself if I could rescue someone or respond to an emergency if I had to, or just plain keep going during an emergency. Most gyms and just running a lot won’t get you there.
TrailGrrl
March 26th, 2009 - 7:14 am
Erik,
here is a rea l cool vid of guys doing strength and conditioning for parkour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X15VRzQHq2U
awesome stuff!
March 26th, 2009 - 8:33 am
Trailgrrl,
I do remember you mentioning Tarzan being your perfect man! Fear of heights, falling, stumbling, tripping. These are things kids don’t have yet we as adults experience. I love Erwans quote “You are afraid of falling because you can’t climb”. It seems so counterintuitive… yet it is so true!
Yavor,
Very cool video brutha! Thank you.
May 5th, 2009 - 12:34 pm
I don’t have a website at the moment, am thinking about starting another one.
But! This is about natural movement. I came to think of natural movement as a way the body was designed to move. I begin studing martial arts when I was in high school. I alway thought that the principal behind self defense was made-up of the most advanced movements in the world. After twenty years of hard karate techniques, I still wasn’t the picture of health.
I realized that when a movement ends, that the momentum of that movement ends up being absorbed by the body in many different ways. Many of them not benifical to good health. So I reinvented my movements. By this I mean, I took all ending motion out of my workouts. To my surprise my tenis elbow and all my joint pains went away, for good. Now twenty five years later I am healthier and happier than I’ve have ever been in my life.