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20.9.2014 A tale of two fitness methods, Movnat and Ido Portal - Motus FitnessMotus Fitness

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tale of two fitness methods, Movnat and Ido Portal

he most promising trend I see in the fitness industry today is a focus on absolute, pure human

movement.

nd it makes perfect sense because movement is what we train for. Ido Portal reminded me of this

recently in his interview withJeff Kuhland from Athletic Human. That we spend so much time training in

he gym for a bigger bench or bigger squat that we forget the whole point of fitness in the first place.

For the weight loss crowd, you might spend hours out of your week doing HIIT training, bootcamp in the

park, Zumba, whatever it may be. Its easy to think that one day youll be fit. Just have to keep training.

hen one day you can finally do what you want to do. But what is that exactly?

Ill tell you what I think it is its to maintain a high quality of life by moving your body. Thats it.

But we have become so distant from this disposition that we think we have to allow time to move. We say,

OK, from 5 pm 6 pm Monday night I have my fitness class. On either side of that its back to the daily

rind. And so that during the rest of our day we spend time sitting in a car for a 5 minute drive or waiting

or an elevator for only 2 or 3 floors.

here are two fitness philosophies Id like to highlight in this post. Both of which have had profound effects

on my own training and methodologies.

Proceed at your own risk, these methods may change the way you view fitness for the better!

MOVNAT

I first learned of Movnat during its early years in an article in Mens Healthmagazine. If the article was the

bait, then the video below got me hooked. Immediately, I was drunk on the Kool-aid. I had never been a

runner, but after watching the movement of Erwan LeCorre I felt inspired like never before.

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See, that was easy, wasnt it? And I bet you didnt even miss that pharmaceutical commercial, did you?

. Squat!

Relax, Im not talking a back squat here, Im talking about the simple movement pattern we were all so

ound of as children and the one that many in the world depend on because there simply isnt a chair

nearby. Im referring to the squat that we can call our portable chair.

full range of motion squat is a wonderful thing. Olympic weightlifters pop in and out of this position with

ease, but for many this can be a painful position. Many folks may have difficulty getting into a squat

because of their knees. If you have underlying issues, then this isnt for you.But if youre healthy, hereshat I want you to do: get up from the computer and try squatting down.

Heres a good cue if you need it squat through your knees.

hat that means is that if you put your palms together with your elbows out to either side, then when you

squat your elbows should pass right on the inside of your knees. In other words, your feet are not going to

be hip width apart, this isnt how people squat. We dont fold up like an accordion.

If youre trying this in your living room because your knees are A-OK and you still cant make it down to a

nice comfortable position with your feet flat, then Id hazard a guess that the bottleneck is your ankle

dorsiflexion.

his is another area where many of us in our 30s will discover mobility issues. Sometimes the root cause islexibility in your calves and sometimes it may be a structural issue. In my personal experience, my talus

bone wasnt moving freely. If its the former you better start working on your flexibility and if its the latter

ou may want to consider a physical therapist/chiropractor/doctor/rolfer, etc.

But my knees are out over my toes, Ryan! I cant do that!

Everyone from my yoga instructor to my favorite fitness magazines are constantly reminding me to keep

my knees behind my toes. And theyre right to an extent.

e often hear this advice because for a greatly deconditioned society (read: the USA) putting the knees

out over the toes may be a recipe for disaster. The anterior chain is lengthened and the patella often gets

strained just trying to keep up. In fact, I recommend that only dedicated Olympic weightlifters or those

ith excellent mobility attempt full ROM squat with weight.

But body weight is a different story. If youre a healthyindividual then the human body has no problem

squatting down.

hen I lived on the cubicle farm I would take a 30 second break several times a day and pop-a-squat right

here in my cube. It was an amazingly refreshing movement when I had been standing at a desk, or seated

or that matter.

HE CHANGING FACE OF FITNESS

o really appreciate the prevalence of fitness concepts like Ido and Movnat, you need to understand how

hings have changed over the past 60 years.

In the 50s, people started to lift weights and exercise for the purpose of excelling at sports. In a nutshell,

men would lift often and lift heavy. They used barbells and dumbbells in big compound movements and

often lifted the weight over their head.

hen in the 70s, bodybuilding emerged in the USA as the driving force behind weightlifting. It was all about

size. People trained to become statues. Flexibility and athleticism were secondary goals to quad

development and a huge back. Consequently, isolation theory emerged the idea that we had to train our

body parts one at a time. Single plane machines of all shapes and sizes came onto the scene.

In the 90s, it was Curves, pilates, yoga, marathons, the list goes on and on. On the one hand, this was

reat. Many different types of people were becoming interested in many different types of fitness. But on

he other hand, many were easily duped into fitness programs that promised unrealistic results.

Product placement was also ubiquitous. Remember all those ab machines? In short, it was easy to equate

itness with some sort of product.

t the turn of the 21st century there was one constant theme that came up so often it was often misused.

ou guessed it: functional fitness.


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, . ,

he 1950s were doing. They ate reasonably well because all the fast food chains and preservatives of today

hadnt been created at that time and they didnt have all the fancy weightlifting machines that forced their

bodies to move in unnatural patterns.

But you know what people forgot? That all they really had to do to lose weight or increase their strength

as two things:

1) Make good decisions about what goes into your body

2) Move a lot

hats really all it boils down to.

RAP UP

So where does all this leave us?

hen I look at the history of fitness outlined above, I feel as though we have been dabbling in different

ypes of fitness and learning what works and what doesnt. And today, its as though weve come full circle.

Methods like Movnat and Ido Portal are emerging as a means of returning to our roots. Collectively as

humans, we are applying our knowledge of physiology and muscle building science and layering this over

programs of pure movement.

e are learning that we can get strong, build mobility and protect ourselves from injury. But above all else,

e can play in our bodies. We can do handstands. Crawl. Bench press. Be a triathlete.

So long as we remember that its all about movement.

e have an interesting future ahead of us everyone.

By Ryan Wagner

Further reading:

thletic Human, Ankle Mobility Exercises

Movement X with Ido Portal

References:

http://athletichuman.com/fitness-is-a-small-world-within-the-universe-of-movement/

tale of two fitness methods, Movnat and Ido Portal by Ryan Wagner

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