Do you move naturally?

Do you know what exercises we designed to do?

The Sedentary Problem

Years ago I wanted to offer my osteopathic clients more. I realized I was failing them by just treating them with my hands. Sure, they would feel good, and get results, but I wasn’t helping them get stronger or more flexible.  

More and more studies were being published about the benefits of exercise on health and about the detrimental effects of being sedentary. However I wasn’t addressing this in my clinic. I spoke to local doctors about this and they weren’t addressing it either. 

We were all standing by and watching this slow moving crisis as the population was getting weaker and sicker. However, we were the health influencers, the ones that should know better and yet we did nothing.

I decided to change that.

I invested a lot of time and money in opening a gym.  

However the big question was this; what should the gym offer?

What to choose?

I considered cross fit, but in my years treating people I have seen a lot of injuries with that population. I looked at pilates, but don’t like the way it isn’t functional. I looked at Yoga and, although I like it, I think it attracts people that are naturally flexible and deters the people who actually need it.  

Finally I found MovNat. A system of reintroducing natural movement to our bodies. It made complete sense to me….

…and this is why. 

We all know that a tiger has evolved sharp teeth and claws for hunting, we know that a giraffe has a long neck for eating the leaves in trees. But why do we have long legs, a short torso and long arms? Essentially what movements have we evolved to do?

We have long legs and arms so that we can walk, run, jump, crawl, climb and hang. 

But I didn’t see any of my clients do these things on a regular bases. Some would go Spinning, or to Orange theory, others would go to a boot camp and do a 1000 squats, none of this was natural!

After we opened the gym we asked our members to commit to a minimum of 2 x a week. We knew that if they came just once a week or less we would be failing them and they just wouldn’t change.  

For those who stuck with it the results were amazing. We had people lose weight, gain height, have the confidence to jump over gates and hang from trees. I’m not talking about 20 year olds here either, our average client age was 50!

So what did they do that was so life-changing?  

I’m going to share some videos with you here, but if you do them I want you to make a promise to yourself to commit. The body doesn’t change in a week, it takes months and sometimes years to adapt to the new movements you ask of it.

So here you go…try these natural movements.

Beginner level:

How to get up like a ninja:

This one will help build mobility and strength deep into your hips. Plus, there’s nothing less graceful than not being able to get up off the floor easily

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aEYLdhfq8E

Basic Bodyweight squat

This is a simple move but one that can serve our hips for a lifetime. If you can do this now you should be able to do it when you are 80. If you can’t do it now then get practicing.

https://youtu.be/KoiWxZCEBwE

Intermediate 

Safety Get up

Here we show you how to use your arms and legs to get up while protecting your face. Imagine you’ve been unlucky enough to be pushed over. If you spring up like this, you’ll be fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM2oJ9hFKvo&feature=youtu.be

Crawling

Babies do it, but why do we need to?

Well, it’s a great exercise for wrist mobility and strength (that important as we age), it also adds to core and hip strength. 

https://youtu.be/MlEI6_DC77U

Advanced Crawling

This is going to take your core activation to the next level!

https://youtu.be/FJJ66UzaD2E

If you would like to know how I can help you with back pain, scoliosis or natural fitness then send me a message through the contact page on this site and we’ll discuss your best next step.

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