Dynamic Body Fitness

Some foundational ideas:

Premise #1:  A “Fit” person is…

 

Someone who experiences high levels of health, functionality and wellness over the course of his life as a result of healthy physical work (exercise), good nutrition and solid stress management.   

• Health is all the normal indicators:  Normal blood pressure, high energy levels, good digestion, etc…  

 

• Functionality is having the strength, mobility, endurance and injury resistance to perform what you need and want to do. 

 

• Wellness is freedom from chronic pain and hyper-anxiety.

 

Premise #2:  Our “Fit-ness” is mostly undermined by living in an “un-natural” environment

 

We sit in chairs, watch TV, type on computers and drive the kids everywhere… without counter-balancing with serious physical movement.  We don’t use our joints in full range of motion.  Our blood doesn’t move around smoothly and we don’t stand optimally.  For most people, our bodies are completely out of whack, weak, susceptible to injury and generally not nearly as healthy as we could be.  We don’t work physically hard like our great-grandparents did when they were our age.  For many people, this easy lifestyle has resulted in chronic injuries, weight problems, blood pressure problems, circulation problems, depression… even sickness and disease.   

 

Premise #3:  We are designed to fully interact with our environment. 

When we were kids, we functioned fairly naturally.  Our cores were intact and strong because we climbed things.  We squatted fully.  We rolled around and played, jumped, ran… BUT we stopped being like kids.   Further, our ancestors had no choice but to be very active their entire lives!  They farmed on non-mechanized small farms.  They ran, jumped and climbed through the forest as they hunted.  They pulled nets out of the sea.   They village danced.  They trained for village contests of strength and agility.   This mix of full-range-of-motion activities targeted all of their bodily systems, making them strong, lean, agile, injury resistant and healthy. 

Premise #3:  We NEED to exercise “naturally”

The days of yesteryear are gone so the best we can do is mimic natural motions in the gym with varying intensities and resistances.  Natural exercise is all about revisiting our Central Human Motions (CHM) of squatting, running, jumping, pushing, pulling and twisting on all planes and in all directions.  We approach this by strengthening the body with stability training, strength training and explosive training as the body can tolerate.  All exercises integrate as much of the body as possible.  Joints are strengthened from all directions and used in full range of motion.  Most workouts are as intense as you need, comprehensive and less than an hour.

 

Premise #4: Exercise should stress injury resistance, performance and long-term health.

 

Natural exercise strengthens the entire body by training movements.   Movements working in full range of motion with resistance will increase the pliability of your body and make it much more resistant to injury.  Natural exercise also builds your performance.  You’ll run faster, jump higher, jump farther and play harder with less effort – all in a step-by-step, train-as-you-are-comfortable format.  Finally, natural exercise builds your long-term functional health.  Exercise done properly should keep the body supple and strong to very close to the end.  We train for life-long stability, strength and mobility.

Premise #5:  Equipment should be simple and effective.

We have a minimalist philosophy in line with our naturalistic ideas.  At our gym we use kettle bells, Indian clubs, medicine balls, chin up bars, gymnastic rings, climbing ropes, sand bags, kick box bags and similar equipment.  All of these integrate muscle groups together and build connective strength.  This results in dynamic, explosive, responsive strength.  “Traditional” exercise we learned in school taught us to isolate our muscles for building purposes but that results in stiffness and reduction in range of motion and injury of the joints and muscles is far too common. 

Premise #7:  Exercise should leave you feeling strong, energized and calm.

If you want to lift heavy weights and scream at your friends with aggressive posturing and walking around the gym like you want to fight… you need to grow up.  Natural exercise is about bringing “balance” to the mind and emotions also.

Premise #8:  It’s a good idea to exercise according to the seasons. 

You shouldn’t train the same way all year.  Spring for most people is weight loss with lots of intense movements.  Summer is stability and agility to support outdoor activities.  Late fall is more restorative in nature.  Winter is more strength training.