Everything you need to know about movement training. Is it really the future of fitness?

Ido Portal balancing on his elbow facing the camera

We all have things we wish our bodies could do,
pain and stiffness that we would like to see disappear,
movements in our daily lives or in our sports that we would like to be able to do with more ease and fluidity,
simply being able to get up in the morning feeling free to move.

In recent years, we have seen the emergence of a new trend in the world of fitness,

that of “ Movement Training ” or “ Movement Training ”.

We've heard a lot about it, thanks in particular to athletes like UFC champion Conor McGregor , who we've seen with his movement coach, Ido Portal , walking like a lizard on the beach, doing movements similar to those of Capoeira or even walking while balancing on a bar in a park...

But what does he actually do?
How is this new training method particularly useful for athletes?
What are the limits? Where and how to begin practicing movement?

This is what we are going to see together now.

What is movement training?

Movement training, in its most basic sense, is about becoming a better mover .

Here, specialization is avoided while generalization is maximized.

It's an unlimited approach to exercise: you do whatever you want with whatever's in your arsenal. It's about not limiting yourself and not taking a restrictive approach to body expression.

In other words, in movement training, the golden rule is diversity , as opposed to frequency.

You feed your body with every possible form of exercise and movement: you roll, you jump, you invert, you hang, you do acrobatics, you climb, you walk on your hands...

As you can see, it's literally about being able to move your body in every possible and imaginable direction.

The primary goal is to maximize the individual's adaptability and ensure that your body is able to respond to all possible stimuli with grace and elegance.

Ido Portal in ground movement inspired by Capoeira

Moving the body is human.

We all move, all the time.

If we have one thing in common, it's that.

We all have to, in our daily lives or when we play sports, squat, bend, roll, walk, crawl, push, pull, lift or carry loads, throw or catch objects...

It's inevitable.

Your body is designed to move.

Movement is the only way to communicate our thoughts, share our emotions and interact with and on the outside world.

Whether it's being able to walk as a baby to get to Mom and Dad, hugging your friends to show them affection, or being able to move your jaw muscles and articulate sounds to speak... you move.

In short, movement is an integral part of the human animal .

The less you use your body, the more you lose it.

Once you get to school, they teach you to sit down, stay quiet, and stay still. Then you grow up, and it's the same thing again at work.

We are conditioned not to make waves, to remain discreet, not to make sudden gestures at the risk of disturbing others or being judged by them.

So we spend several decades repeating only a very limited number of movements in our lives.

We spend most of our lives lying in bed, sitting on public transport, at the office, in the car, on the sofa in front of the TV.

And all this, without counting the time spent on the cell phone, PC or social networks during free time which prevents the movement of our bodies.

Quite naturally, we make our joints stiff, our ligaments weaker, we gradually lose awareness of our body and the damage we do to it until we break: injuries, accidents, illnesses...

Ido Portal shows us a form of balance on one hand

The solution: big muscles and a summer body, really?

The fitness industry is completely broken .

We are sold an idea of ​​fitness based on aesthetics and not functionality,
in the short term and not on longevity,
on the result and not the feeling,
on a number of repetitions and kilos to reach

and not on learning new skills and greater body control…

We are trying to combat a natural and inevitable process, the aging of the body, by reverse engineering it .

We build a body in the gym that looks strong, without being strong, aesthetically pleasing but unusable.

It is also the culture of “no pain, no gain”, where to get results, you have to damage the body in this unstoppable race against time.

Why all this?

To feel completely broken at 40, without having learned a single move and without knowing yourself at all... sad!

If you've ever done this, you know full well that it's not going to improve your life experience.

It's not by chasing aesthetics that you're going to develop a body you're confident in, a body you control and that allows you to lead the life you dream of.

A holistic approach to physical training

Traditional training models tend to use fixed movement patterns, and increase frequency and volume in order to improve athletic ability.

This model has advantages, but it has at least one major flaw in its application to the demands of working life.

Indeed, in life, we navigate in a flow of movements and constantly changing circumstances .

You're never in the "perfect" squat position when you have to lift your baby off the floor, you're not on a perfectly flat treadmill with your running-optimized outfit and shoes when you have to catch the bus with your backpack and books in your hands.

In movement training, the goal is the same as the means to achieve it: that is, a creative, responsive, constant flow from one movement to the next .

The power of this type of training is not measured in numbers but in quality .

Intangible qualities such as finesse, grace of movement, ease of movement in all situations and circumstances.

By mastering this, you become a true artist of human movement , unlocking your own movement potential as an individual.

Conor McGregor, Ido Portal, and Gunnar Nelson work on their balance on a bar in a park

Be careful not to get distracted either.

It is true that in order for you to perform at your best and live better, we need to restore the functions in your body that have been lost due to all that inactivity or training habits that have damaged your body over many years.

Today, it is easy to find hundreds of new training methods on the internet: functional training, mobility training, natural movements, primitives, corrective exercises, animal flow...

These all start with a good intention, that of allowing you to reconnect with your body, to be healthier and to challenge your body.

Unfortunately, most of them do not present any concrete structure , any progression methodology to allow you to learn these new movements safely.

After a few YouTube videos you are usually not able to do a Lizard Walk, flips, muscle-ups on rings...

People who are capable of this have already had several years of training under their belts and possess the necessary attributes to carry it out. They are already very mobile, flexible, agile, strong, coordinated...

When you try, you risk getting hurt rather than doing anything else.

Concretely, what does movement training look like?

Movement training involves a combination of exercises in mobility, coordination, balance, footwork, distance management, responsiveness, joint strengthening, precision and timing.

and aims to optimize the athlete's intelligence quotient while maintaining a body free of all injuries and pain .

With your movement coach, you will try to work specifically on the areas of difficulty you have.

It could be a lack of hip mobility that's preventing you from reaching a lower position in your squat, or it could be working on your footwork to improve your boxing movements, it could be joint strengthening to remove your pain, or even working on your technique to finally achieve that good old muscle-up on the rings.

Work is often specific to the individual because everyone has a different body, skills, needs, goals, and capacity to learn.

It is therefore a question of developing greater awareness of the body , gaining range of movement, removing its restrictions to achieve greater physical autonomy.

Ido Portal practicing pull-ups on the rings

As with everything, you have to start at the beginning.

As you can see, movement training is an excellent way to complement traditional training ,

reconnect with your body and your primitive instinct,

rediscover the feeling of freedom that we had as children.

The key is to take a systematic approach .

1. Assess your ability to move with ease during your workout.
   
   
2. Test your range of motion at each joint.
   Are you physically capable of achieving fundamental positions like sitting in a deep squat?
   
   
3. Learn to control your body weight.
   Manipulate your body close to the ground, on bars, rings, balancing, upside down...
   
   
4. Gradually add loads, increase the complexity and difficulty of movements.

It's simple, you're made to move, you have to relearn how.

Movement training is the fundamental element around which all sports practices revolve.

All the movements you will make in any of your physical activities, throughout your life, will require a certain movement capacity from your body to be able to perform them without injury.

So you should try to maintain a midpoint between strength, agility, mobility, coordination, balance, etc. throughout your life, to maximize your physical potential.

and enjoy this experience of life on Earth, for as long as possible.

Ultimately, we all want to age better.

Movement training is the natural evolution (or devolution) of the definition of fitness.

This only responds to a growing need of people who live a life increasingly disconnected from their body, their physical sensations, their physical nature.

Everything is said.

If you want to learn more about movement or start your journey towards greater physical autonomy, don't hesitate to browse movement training courses.

You'll find what you need to start harnessing your full physical potential .

Until next time, move well.

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS