Our business is based on getting people re-integrated with nature, quality food and a good mindset. Part of this approach includes "working out" outdoors. Simply because we love every aspect of the outdoors, even the cold wet miserable days! Nature has so many lessons to teach us. Every day, every foot step, every movement in nature is different to the last. It is the greatest teacher you will ever have. It’s part of what makes us human and is also part of us.
The world we live in has developed at a frightening pace and whilst we are getting smarter in some aspects, we are actually becoming dumber in others. Even though we are essentially the same human species that walked the earth some 10 000 years ago, most of us have forgotten how to use our body and unfortunately our health is suffering as a result. Our ancestors didn’t work out to stay fit; they just lived. They didn’t do interval sprints, tabata workouts, Pilate’s, yoga or even crunches. Heck I bet they didn’t even worry about safe lifting practices. The reason they didn’t train in these ways is simple... They achieved the same benefits from these exercises through their general lifestyle.
I think if we were to meet our ancestors today you could safely bet they could run faster, climb higher, jump further, carry and lift more than us, and to top it all off, walk and walk and walk.
Now I am not a deluded fool and know things now are very different, but there is nothing to say we can’t spend our time moving, playing and interacting like they did, like the species before - before we became heavily influenced by products and gadgets we've been told we need to own.
For the perfect example of how we should be moving… just look at children playing and take note. Watch how they interact with their surrounds and different environments and watch how they interact with each other. There are no sets or no reps, just exploration and joy.
Many of you may be currently attending gyms or boot camps, and it’s great you’re doing something, but I highly recommend you give nature-based training a go. It can be done by yourself, with a partner or in a group.
Some ideas on how to integrate Natural Movement into your day include:
Practice balancing: Using any objects or structures that are around you. E.g. Balance on logs, rocks, railing or branches of trees.
Balancing is too easy? Try it when it’s raining or windy outside. Try standing on one leg, lunging and squatting. Change the environment and you change the level of difficulty and mindfulness.
Lift Heavy Things: Find objects that you can lift. They can be rocks, logs or even people. You may deadlift 200kgs in the gym but how do you go lifting a 50kg rock from the ground? It’s more challenging because of the size and shape! And each object, even if all similar in weight, will feel different to lift and move.
Then try lifting the objects in awkward postures and positions (some common sense is required here) so every posture and position becomes stronger and therefore more applicable to day-to-day life movements.
Crawling: Crawl on your hands and knees, or hands and toes (with a flat-ish back, not bum in the air). Practice crawling forwards, backwards and reverses crawling. Try crawling on uneven surfaces such as soft sand at the beach or over and around rocks. Try practicing in different environmental conditions like when the grass is wet.
Wrestling: Draw a big circle on the ground (use chalk for pavement, your foot to mark a circle in the sand at the beach, or leaves, sticks etc to mark out a circle on the grass) and then play a game where you have to push, pull or drag the other person out of the circle. The first person who steps out is out! This is a great game that tests your body in all angles and postures and is a great cardio workout. It’s really not as scary as it sounds and it’s a lot of fun!
Forget about sets, reps or time. You don’t need those burdening your thoughts. Just get outside and move your body the way nature intended it to be used.
You’ll find that getting outside and using nature as your gym is a total body workout all of the time because your body parts work together in unison to get the job done; from your little toe to your brain. It may not give you instant abs or an instant beach body to die for, but it will make you a stronger and a more capable person, the type of person that can adapt to ever changing surroundings and circumstances. For a human to thrive not just survive this is a skill that is a must in today’s world.
These are just a few small sample ideas of opportunities to get outside and play. There are so many more! We would love to hear some of your ideas and things you do.
If you want to learn more about what we do just head to www.primalinfluence.com or attend our outdoor classes.
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