7 lessons I learned to become better at moving.

The idea of ​​movement training is to maximize the adaptability of the individual .

Becoming a better “mover” therefore means developing a body capable of doing everything, all the time.

To do this, we want to move away as much as possible from specialization and favor generalization .

Ido Portal demonstrates the Rotational Back Bridge

The key to reading here is diversity .

We don't want to be a prisoner of our bodies and only have access to a limited number of movements.

On the contrary, we want to accumulate as many new movements, motor controls, sequences, flows and possibilities as possible to respond to the physical stimuli to which we will be subjected.

It can be just as much everyday gestures like carrying your child in your arms, bending down to pick up objects with ease,

to the areas of athletic performance and sport, such as being able to manipulate one's body close to the ground, walking on one's hands, climbing rings, jumping between two building roofs...

We will see together how to improve our current physical practice to get closer and closer to complete freedom of movement .

The basis of all movement: joint mobility

Before we start doing ring muscle-ups and dragon squats, we'll need to develop a foundation of fundamental movements for our body.

There's no real level in terms of your ability to move your body.

We cannot, for example, say that one person is a beginner in movement and another is a professional because everything is relative and it is difficult, in my opinion, to classify intangible qualities such as ease of movement or the quality of a movement.

However, all movements, to be performed with ease, require a body capable of moving with its full range of motion.

It is therefore natural to start by bringing your body up to speed in terms of joint mobility.

We want to be able to do the following movements with ease:

• Deep Squat or deep squat.
  
  Be able to sit with your buttocks pressed against your heels, your back straight, your knees pointing outwards, your feet flat on the floor and hold this position for at least 5 minutes without any pain.
  
  
• Hang by the arms.
  
  Being able to have your arms straight above your head without pain in your shoulders or chest.
  
  
• Rolling on the floor.
  
  Be able to perform segmented spinal flexions.
  
  
• Walk on all fours.
  
  Quadrupedalism is a fundamental motor control directly linked to the development of the brain in children and later, to our ability to solve problems, articulate our arguments, calculate...
  
  
• Jump and land on the ground.
  
  Being able to lift ourselves off the ground, absorb shocks with our ankles, run barefoot... being able to make all bipedal movements easily.
  
  
• Sit, lie down and stand up.
  
  The easiest movements that we repeat the most times throughout our lives and yet those also responsible for most injuries in older people.
  
  
• Rotations, rotations, rotations.
  
  Being able to freely rotate your hips and shoulders back and forth, have sufficient adduction and abduction to sit cross-legged with a straight back, achieve a bear stance and a horse stance without pain...
  

In my opinion, these make up the set of basic vectors from which all other movements can be expressed .

If you work on these first, you can later combine them and increase your movement complexity.

Addressing the different areas of movement

Once you have a good foundation, a feeling of comfort in all these movements, it's time to explore all areas of your physicality.

Indeed, man is the most complex animal on the planet.

You can roll, climb, jump, fight, hang, swim... you can imitate absolutely the entire animal kingdom.

So you have access to an infinite number of possibilities .

Here the goal is to test all options:

the world upside down with gymnastics for example,
manipulate your body close to the ground with jiu-jitsu,
breakdancing for upside-down figures,
the aerial world with work on rings or bars like in Calisthenics
and finally bipedal movements with martial arts or dance...

You will have to try to cover as much ground as possible to allow you to exploit your physical potential to the best of your ability.

The idea again is to become a generalist .

In other words, we want to be at a neutral point from which we have easy access to flexibility, agility, strength, coordination, balance, explosiveness, etc.

We don't focus on just one or two characteristics, but we are curious and want to explore all areas.

Improvisation, art of movement and personal expression

Once you have integrated these more complex movements, you can take it to the next level by starting to inject your personality and emotions into your movements .

We are thinking here of all the creative and expressive arts such as dance, martial arts or the arts of the crib for example.

As The Dragon, Bruce Lee said:

Why is this important?

I think that having this expressive and creative component in one's physical practice is what allows one to raise one's awareness of one's body and one's being in general.

It strengthens the feeling of self-knowledge, self-control, self-esteem, self-love and therefore self-confidence.

Remember that 80% of communication between individuals is non-verbal .

The more you are able to express yourself freely through your movements, the more you are able to communicate your emotions and share with others on much deeper and more intense levels.

You also realize the importance of emotional balance in your quality as a “mover” and allows you to highlight the fact that to improve the body, you also need to master your thoughts and emotions.

You then become a true artist of human movement, unleashing your own potential as a human being.

Get out of your comfort zone

As you can see, you'll have to look for knowledge everywhere, find teachers and experts in many fields, and engage in multiple conversations.

and constantly question their learning , their paradigms and their ways of seeing the world.

You will experience these fears of stepping out of your comfort zone again and again.

Indeed, the freedom to move requires developing humility and a beginner's mind that will prevent your ego from getting in your way.

It's simple, the moment you think you know everything or that you have understood everything, that's the moment your progress will stop.

Coach Slim helping a bodybuilder unlock his hips

Becoming a better mover is, above all, becoming a better human .

Be curious, dare to open dialogue with everyone, regardless of their discipline or background, and don't close yourself off to different ways of thinking or ways that contradict what you've always thought.

As is often seen in martial arts gyms, you must take off your shoes and leave your ego at the door before entering the room.

You are constantly learning , it is an endless adventure.

Quality is superior to quantity

Another important mindset shift to make is to free yourself from what you might call vanity metrics .

These are data such as the number of repetitions and sets, the number of kilos you can lift, the number of hours of training you have done...

All these variables do not at all reflect the reality of the world of movement in which you evolve.

Here is the realm of intangible qualities such as finesse of movement, grace of movement, quality of movement, elegance of movement.

These are not quantifiable or measurable but only observable .

When you aspire to become a better mover, your only concern should be quality, not quantity.

You can't approach this job with a "no pain, no gain" mentality or you'll injure yourself and break your body.

You would be in total contradiction with this idea of ​​reconnecting with the body, of exploiting potential and of physical development.

Here, there is no quantity, only the quality of your movements, the quality of your thoughts, the quality of your days.

No racing to reach your peak performance every day like you see in some CrossFit boxes.

No competition with others either, but rather an honest assessment of who you are and an aspiration to the beautiful gesture, to the pleasure of a job well done, like that of a craftsman who adds the final touches to his latest creation.

The attributes necessary for the athlete

Becoming a better mover therefore means expressing your personality through your body.

So there really isn't a perfect or ideal form to replicate.

However, it is important to work on body awareness when training to achieve better gains and more consistent progress.

The 3 elements that will absolutely help you in your adventure are breathing, coordination and core strength .

Moving better means having a better connection between your body and your brain through a more complex neural network.

A neural network capable of connecting the different elements necessary for your movement (muscles, tendons, ligaments) more efficiently.

This is where coordination comes in. Being coordinated is the basis of the “mover” .

It's not just about being able to juggle, or write with both hands, it's about developing the ability to learn.

We learn by copying.

If you are coordinated, you will learn faster; it will take you less time to understand and replicate a movement.

Breathing , on the other hand, is your fuel .

If you want to be able to perform at your best, for a long time, and train regularly, you need to learn to breathe better, control your diaphragm, and calm down when training gets harder and more intense.

It also allows you to recover faster, avoid injuries, and train in peace.

We have to bring back the POWER of the MIND, the way NATURE intended it – Wim Hof

Ultimately, core training is the absolutely necessary element to keep your body healthy for as long as possible.

Why? Because it's what protects your spine .

Please note, there is an important distinction between core strengthening and abdominals.

When we talk about core strengthening, it's not about the chocolate bar for the summer, it's about all the muscles that surround your spine, from your abdominals, to your scapular area, the intercostal muscles, the muscles of your back...

Proper posture keeps your spine stable and distributes the workload across your hips and shoulders as you move.

So, stop those “ab workouts” for the summer and start core training for life!

Some tools of the move

Finally, don't hesitate to explore different tools: bars, kettlebells, rings, TRX.

This ties in with the previous points about open-mindedness, beginner's mentality and daring to try new things.

These will allow you to put your body in more complex positions , learn new motor controls , add workload and at the same time once again extinguish your technical, creative and expressive capacity.

My favorites are rings because they are easy to carry on the go and very quick to set up around a pole in a park or even a tree branch.

The range of possibilities is quite substantial with magnificent work on core strength, work on tractions and monstrous scapular strengthening and also, it's super cool to watch and show to your friends.

Be careful with the ego of course :).

Advice from your movement coach

These are, for me, the 7 lessons I learned by exploring my physicality and working for several years with methods like Ido Portal, Calisthenics, Animal Flow, different martial arts, years of dance, combat, gym...

In short, an incredible adventure that I recommend to everyone.

As one of my mentors says:

I hope to inspire you to move more, move better, live in a pain-free body, and enjoy this life experience on Earth to the fullest.

See you soon,

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS