The 7 essential steps for beginners in movement training.

Movement training is an unlimited approach to physical training in which the goal is to develop a generalist body, that is, to be able to do everything .

The idea is literally to be able to use all the tools at your disposal to try to exploit your physical potential to the maximum.

As you can see, it's not about doing just one sport for the rest of your life, or going to the gym three times a week to build muscle.

In movement training, it's quite the opposite.

Aesthetics are only a secondary product.

You have the body of your sports .

That's a bit of philosophy.

In other words, the element we focus on is constantly learning new skills, gaining range of motion, trying to touch on all possible areas such as balance, the inverted world, combat, dance, acrobatics, flexibility...

We really want to have a body that doesn't age and be able to move freely forever.

Now that we know all this, you're probably thinking, "That's all well and good, that sounds exciting, but how do we get started? I'm a beginner at movement, what should I do?"

How to structure your movement training and develop a strong, flexible, agile, functional body like that of Ido Portal , for example?

That's what we're going to see now.

1 – Find your “why”

You intuitively understand that to achieve such results for your body, your health, your longevity, the road is going to be very, very long. For this, we therefore absolutely need to define a precise objective which will be our reason for doing what we do .

The path to freedom of movement and complete physical autonomy is the adventure of a lifetime.

If you don't have a strong enough reason to motivate you to push yourself, to work on your body and your movements every day, week after week, year after year, well, you'll quickly give up at the first difficulty that presents itself and believe me, there will be some.

It could be an injury, a lack of time, a lack of money to train, a lack of equipment, or simply the vagaries of life.

The golden circle, why, how, what.

Even if we work on the physical aspect here, you remain a complex, multi-dimensional being .

To make a real transformation for your body and your health, you're going to need more than a list of exercises and a number of repetitions to motivate you.

So find your why and go for it!

2 – Think long term and regularity, not intensity

You get it, you're probably going to spend your entire life trying to explore your entire physicality. If moving better becomes one of your priorities, you won't have to look back on your progress after a few months or years.

You need to completely reprogram your notion of time here because it's more realistic to look at your progress every 2 or 3 years to really have a sense of accomplishment.

Be careful, I'm not saying that after a few months you won't see big changes in your physique or your movements.

You have plenty of time to acquire new skills in a few months, to have a different feeling and new sensations in your body and even a possible aesthetic transformation.

However, naturally after 2 or 3 years, for example, of trying to master the rings, you will naturally reach a level where progress will be slower and changes more difficult to discern from one month to the next.

It's only natural that you reach certain physical or even psychological plateaus.

I then recommend trying to modify other factors such as nutrition, where you train, rest, hydration... It is in these moments that having a powerful “why” is fundamental .

3 – Don’t be afraid of failure

The eternal battle against the ego.

The adventure of movement and this journey towards greater physical autonomy is a very, very long journey and without wanting to sound like a low-level guru, the reality is that your worst enemy here is you .

You will experience many frustrations. Mastery of the body doesn't come overnight, you know that, but much more than the problem of time passing, it's the return to reality that shocks and hurts the ego the most.

Indeed, in most subjects that you will be passionate about in life, whether it is painting, writing, climbing or something else, it will take you a certain amount of time before you feel comfortable.

It is more than certain that along the way, you will experience frustrations, fears, you will have doubts which can sometimes call into question your entire practice.

With the body, this questioning, this return to reality is very rapid and sometimes even brutal .

This involves potential injuries, doubts because you no longer see results, the eternal comparison with others and especially experts in their fields, your friends who are progressing faster than you...

So, really a piece of advice, no woo woo, put your ego aside .

To do this, implement moments of pause, moments of meditation, trips, moments to recharge your batteries from the start...

everything you can do to enjoy the moments in life that will fuel your physical ambitions.

4 – Start one thing at a time

One thing I didn't have at the beginning of my personal journey in movement was a good training structure .

I wanted to do everything, right away, without thinking about my body or my lifespan...

The result?

I have achieved some of my goals, it is true, but not all of them and especially not as quickly as I could have.

I wasn't living anymore, I spent my time training, sleeping, eating, and starting again. I had almost no social life anymore, I didn't see my friends or my family.

So what's the point of wanting greater physical autonomy if you have to sacrifice your life to achieve it?

It doesn't make sense.

Ido Portal student Dave DiSanto works on the basics of quadrupedalism

Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Don't try to do everything at once .
  It just doesn't work.
  
  If, while reading this, you're thinking, "No, but I'm different, I'll get there"... That's your ego talking, my friend.
  
  Here's my advice that will help you be much more efficient and protect you from the risk of injury and giving up.
  
  Work on one sport at a time and dedicate yourself to that sport for at least 2 or 3 years before changing disciplines. After 10 years, you will be an expert in at least 5 sports.
  
  Indeed, in terms of training volume, you will largely have your 5,000 or 10,000 hours to master this particular discipline or these movements that you want to have.
  
  Then you change.
  
  It's like a book that you're going to write in several chapters over 2 years.
  
  
• Do not neglect rest and sleep.
  
  The eternal fight against the famous phrase “tiredness is in the head, I am a warrior… aaaah”…
  
  Stop this nonsense and rest. Your body won't be able to enter the adaptation phase if you never give it time to rest.
  
  
• Don't sacrifice your social life.
  
  Spend time with your family and friends, don't exclude yourself from society. You don't have to follow the model of the tribe and the very closed and elitist circle that some movement gurus promote.
  
  Live your life.
  
  Share and discover with many different communities. Let people participate and experience the beautiful life, encounter, and soul-expanding experiences you'll have.

5 – Find mentors

The advice that can be applied to all other areas of life and in particular to this one is to find mentors , people who are competent in their fields but also excellent teachers and communicators.

We don't do anything alone in this world .

Don't waste your time trying to reinvent the wheel, find a mentor, a teacher you trust, who understands where you're coming from, who will be able to guide and direct you, who will also be able to inspire you and who you'll like to turn to in case of doubt or simply to discuss and share your feelings.

Don't forget that we learn most by imitation , so take your time, do your research, meet people, talk, ask them questions, live with them...

Beware of Instagram and YouTube scammers.

Movement practice, as you've come to understand, is a holistic, general approach to physical training. This also means that it's something that, for an experienced practitioner, influences other parts of their life.

That's why generally a good movement mentor is on the one hand an extraordinary athlete but also a very good human being who takes care of his nutrition, his sleep, pays attention to his emotional and spiritual state.

Beware of people who don't represent what they say.

If you find someone who inspires you online, try to exchange messages with them and have conversations before giving them your money and especially your time.

6 – Join communities

The great thing is that the culture of the movement transcends cultural barriers and differences.

We are all the same species , we all have the same needs, so it's the perfect opportunity to bring out your adventurous and wandering side, to travel, to discover new cultures and new people.

Nomad Slim and his students from Sao Paulo, Brazil

The practice of movement has personally allowed me to travel to more than ten countries around the world, to form bonds of friendship, fraternity and sometimes even love with incredible people.

It's the excuse that will allow you to get out of your comfort zone in more areas than just the physical.

I highly recommend joining lots of different communities, whether you're learning, for example, Capoeira in Brazil, Muay Thai in Thailand, or circus arts in Poland.

In addition, travel, sharing, nomadism, community life, close to nature are the common points of all these artists of the human movement .

It's very consistent with practice if you think about it.

We want to develop a body that can do everything, so the best way is to put your body in all these different sandboxes.

You will train in the heat of Brazil, the humidity of Thailand, in crowded gyms in Singapore, or outdoors, on sand, barefoot, with body weight, under bars...

7 – Celebrate every victory

Finally, I would say that it is important to celebrate all the small victories you will have during your adventure.

Don't wait until you can hold a handstand for a minute before you can claim victory and feel proud of yourself.

It is in every moment that you must try to find joy.

Nomad Slim supervising a student during a Movement course in London

This does not mean congratulating yourself for nothing, but it is necessary, for morale and to maintain this discipline, to enjoy the process and not focus only on the results .

This will also allow you to take a step back from your sport, your session, to reintroduce a notion of play and pleasure which is fundamental.

Another way to look at this adventure is to tell yourself that you simply want to find the body you had when you were a child .

The way to achieve this is to not take yourself too seriously, to play even more, to not hesitate to laugh and move with joy.

It's a beautiful adventure that you can make wonderful with simple little adjustments like these.

Come on, go have fun!

Advice from your movement coach

Here is a short, non-exhaustive list of the lessons I have learned from my past, the mistakes I have made and the successes I have achieved.

I plan to share with you even more things that will be useful to you to start your movement training well. and also take your physical practice to new heights.

So if you're up for this wonderful adventure towards freedom of movement, don't hesitate to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss the release of my next articles and videos.

See you soon 🙂

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS