A new (old) fitness paradigm

So, I've been posting and blogging a bit about movement and I was taking to my brother in law and he said words along the lines of "whats that all about?" A fair question, and one he soon regretting asking because I only went and told him. I'm not inspired to move to just be fit and healthy. I can do that going running, or a circuits class at the gym. As long as I eat fewer pies than I sweat off I'm going to live forever, right?

No. 

For me movement brings having a great time into my favourite place - the outdoors - and adds that special motivation - it makes you awesome. Like a real life action hero. Watch some of the videos of people who really understand how their bodies work, and I bet you'll be watching people who are pretty incredible. There are loads of them, and that's the unspoken secret. It is easy to be awesome, but you do have to pay your dues putting the time in.

I heartily recommend that everyone reads Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall. It's a story about wartime (WWII) high jinx interspersed with science stuff and personal experience. As with his previous book, Born to Run, its a cracking read, and quite inspirational. If you lack time, I have distilled the entire book down to four main lessons, but you don't get the overall narrative in this version, no plot spoilers here;

1.    Your whole body is connected through chains of connective tissue, and in reality you are one integrated unit not a set of components. Motion comes from coordinated movement not just muscle strength.

2.    When endurance running it is quite easy to burn fat rather than rely on carbs that you have to eat on the fly. The body stores thousands of (K)calories so there really is no need to refuel for events up to several hours. I know that this is true as I ran a 3:30 marathon with only a protein bar for breakfast and one sip of water at the mid-point. Nothing else.

3.    You may be effective at doing a thing, but you need skill to achieve movement efficiency and economy. Skill is a neuromuscular thing, not just a muscle thing.

4.    Our senses of hunger and thirst do work as effective warnings of need, the idea that they are too slow and too late is marketing lies.

Do what you do with diligence and don't try to cut corners and you'll suddenly find that you are more awesome than you thought.

Movement, knowledge and culture

May I recommend a crisp little tune to go with your blog reading today?, or maybe a heavier one if that isn't your taste.

I have always been active, it’s just the way I am, and the way that I was encouraged to be. As a child I was able to run around woodland with friends (it’s a generational thing – we may come back to that), and my parents encouraged me to participate in sports. When I was a kid I was in an athletics club (100 – 200m sprints – I considered 400m to be endurance running), a judo club and a fencing club (I wanted to learn kendo, to swipe people with a big stick, but discovered that European blades can be fun too). When I got all academic for exams my Dad advised me to stay active. He may not have realised it, but it’s his fault that I subsequently took up karate, circuit training, cycling, running (further than 400m) and a whole range of other things because I have a short attention span and like playing new games. I’m nearly 50 now (only 651 more sleeps) and I’m still active. In fact, I am more active and more clued up now than I was in my 30’s - stronger, leaner and more healthy, too.

So, with so many sports and activities to pursue, why is there a growing discourse about “movement”, and why aren’t people doing it for themselves already. Frank Forencinch is a progressive force in human health and activity, and he has kind of nailed the issue in a recent blog-post in the Paleo-Magazine. He argues, very compellingly to my mind, that the health and fitness industry is researching and debating the same points, which have already been made, and that the key issues lie within our culture rather than our knowledge of what to do about the rising ill-health and obesity problems. Forencinch is clear that we already know that exercise of various types is important for strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity. We also know that what you eat is crucial for health, energy and fat storage or loss. We know too that despite all this fine knowledge people eat garbage and sit on their backsides so much that for many the idea of being fitter is nothing more than something to think about tomorrow, or never.  

What creates the largest barrier to exercise for most people? Is it lack of knowledge, money or time? It looks suspiciously like it is our cultural norms that are the barrier. “When I feel like exercising I lie down until I feel better” goes the hilarious quotation often misattributed to Mark Twain. It is a real barrier though. In strength and conditioning training there is a principle with the acronym SAID: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. This means that your body adapts, brilliantly as it goes, to the challenges that you put it under. Most of us in the developed West live in a world where very little physical demands are ever imposed upon us. Consequently most of us are really quite weak. Sorry, but its true. You are adapted to the swivel chair, train, sofa, cake shop life that you live.

We have reduced physical activity to the realms of modern day "heroes" - the emergency services, military services and athletes. These people are 'other' than us and venerated through the media (until it comes to public spending, but that is a different story). Then there are the subcultures, the bodybuilders and gym rats who are pigeon-holed as being obsessives, not like us normal lazy folk. So, this is where the movement culture or movement is trying to come in.To show people that ordinary movement is important for all round body and mind health. Everyone can move, and it can be used to address problems and remove pain as well as developing skill and conditioning. The Silverproject has blogged on the growth of movement, and I think he's right - there is definitely a growth in awareness of movement. Lets hope it becomes a sustainable approach for the wider good that it is meant to be, and not this seasons fad to be abandoned with last year's minimalist shoes.

Why Move? Why Movement?

You could be forgiven if you thought that natural movement is just today's buzz words, like jazz-boxercise-kick-kettle-functional-boot camp. There's a dazzling array of gym and non-gym based exercises classes and styles, so just what the hell is so important and different about movement? Well, the simple answer is that it is generally aimed at all round fitness through - can you guess?

Through moving! 

Its that simple, and yet it isn't simple either. It hasn't really gone mainstream yet, but it is picking up followers. The appeal of movement is that it is so often about expression and attention, discipline and self-control (some say mindfulness but that term itself is become overworked). It's not competitive, its general rather than specialised, and while there are some amazing athletes out there pulling shapes to admire with awe, its really very accessible, and deliberately so. Because movement is a thing that everyone can do, it is part of our natural heritage, we just live in a culture that doesn't encourage being active for the sheer embodied enjoyment of it. Sports are acceptable, they are about competition, dominance and supremacy, we have the cultural patterns to support that. But, you want to climb a tree or jump a railing and vault a wall? And it's not a competition? What is the point of that?

Ido Portal is a leading exponent of movement, being strongly influenced by capoeira. I wasn't that fussed until I tried some of the things he does and now I'm a little more respectful. Have a look here. Closer to home, Dan Edwardes of Parkour Generations has got to be one of the most thoughtful voices and exponents of movement. His blog posts are always great, and the most recent about the importance of mind to good movement is spot on. I've mentioned Ben Medder before, he is based in London and is influenced and taught by pretty much anyone of significance in the movement movement. He'll teach you some stuff, I know that because he taught me a great deal at the recent MovNat certification courses he ran. He runs regular classes and has a great all round philosophy and calm manner. Check out his website here.

One of the approaches that inspires a lot of people who like crashing around in the great wide outdoors is MovNat, started up by Erwan Le Corre, a French man living in paradise. I'm sure to go on about about MovNat, because I think that it has a great deal going for it, and it captures a romantic idea of getting strong and fit in the natural environment, using real tasks and actions, ideally in group, for the purpose of being generally useful.

So, if the gym and organised sport is your idea of no fun, look out for a movement class; natural or parkour. They sound intimidating but from my experience you will be welcomed warmly and many of the people who do them will be pleased to share what they know to help you.

Natural Movement

As I age I am increasingly concerned that I don't move enough, that most of us don't move enough. There is a great story on the Onion, The Onion - Majority of Americans never use physical education satirising many people's attitude to their own physical condition. It is meant to be tongue in cheek, but reads to me as a sad indictment of our modern culture. The "convenience" of modern technology has freed us from all sorts of physical labour, but it hasn't actually freed us, and has meant that many of us have been freed from sufficient activity to maintain our own strength and conditioning. We don't notice because we have adapted to an environment that does not require us to move as much as we used to.

More seriously, research has recently shown how little modern children actually get out to play in nature: The Guardian - Concerns raised over amount of children not engaging with nature?. The article indicates that children of parents who value nature get out more. The downside is that urbanisation and cultural change means that ever fewer parents have the time and inclination to get out and show their children the way.

None of this will really be news to many people, but there is a growing range of options to address the potential crisis of engagement and health that activity in natural environments can bring. Ben Medder is a leading proponent of fitness through natural movement in London, with strong links to key groups and leaders in the field Rafe Kelly and MovNat.
I'll talk more about what you can do, and who else is important at the moment, but for now let me encourage you to get out and play. Through your play you will gain confidence and strength, and you will not even have to call it fitness or exercise if you don't want to.

I highly recommend that you watch this: Tree Runner
While listening to this: Tribal Tech House