Sunday, September 12, 2010

My movnat experience

Wow.
That's all I can say. No, actually I have a lot more to say, but Wow kinda sums it up.

So yesterday in Toronto I attended a Movnat workshop at StrengthboxGreg Carver  and Liz's place up in Toronto. (Sorry Liz I did not get your last name. And also not to forget beautiful Etta, who joined in during the morning session!)

This was an entire day about primal movement, and it was tough, exciting, and fascinating all at once. Erwan Le Corre, the instructor of Movnat, is a very intense fellow who also has a charming French accent and a sense of humor about learning the basics which really helped the learning process. He stressed that a primal man would use his intelligence to survive, not just his strength. He often would humorously show how conventional training or logic did not apply in the real world application if you were outdoors. One of the most fun parts was when he showed us how easily it would be to get up on a tree branch (pre-installed indoors at the gym). Some incredibly fit men tried and couldn't even come close. It was amusing to see that strength training will not necessarily guarantee survival, if it came down to it.

There were a group of the women practicing the move over on the pullup bars, and we had greater success. I think it was because we grasped that upper body strength could not be relied on for this move, and used momentum and gravity to assist our efforts. Either that or the pullup bar was way easier than a tree branch!

So what we essentially learned were the basic movements of natural movement: Walking, running, moving on all 4's, climbing, balancing, jumping, lifting heavy things (also carrying them) and throwing/catching.
In each of these categories, we were shown multiple variations of how these movements could be carried out, and also how they may be practiced indoors, in a gym, for instance.  Also how to scan the environment for opportunities to practice these movements, using what is available to you, wherever you are.

The numerous ways these movements were practical in real life were apparent to anyone who spends time outdoors, even in the city! He even gave examples as how these movements could help if you were attacked, or if you needed to get/run away. Overall it was a great introduction to natural movement. I was very impressed with the fitness of Erwan Le Corre. I have never seen such a perfect example of a man who was completely a "human animal". Every move he did was with incredible grace and gentleness, even as feats of great strength were done easily and softly. I do not spend a lot of time in a gym, mainly working out at home, so I really can't compare this to much but it was really something to see. Everything he did was such an example of how one could be completely at home in one's body, in control of it at all times and making it all appear very easy. He really appeared animal-like. The way a cat moves. That's him.

2 comments:

  1. Glad you had such a good experience! I agree, Erwan is pretty motivating.

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  2. i'm considering attending a one day movnat workshop this spring but have some concerns about it.
    i'm about 35 lbs overweight (working towards doing the paleo diet), have assorted bodily pain issues-low back, knees, hips. these don't keep from being able to do some exercise regularly but i'm not sure i could do some of things like jumping.
    just trying to decide if it would be worth spending the money (which for me is a lot).
    i'm really interested in this way of training.

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