I got goose bumpswhen Lori screamed in triumphant victory upon making it over the edge of the 20’boulder during our epic final course at the MovNat expansion seminar.  She got up the same way the men did, starting5’ in the air hanging from a rope upside down, climbing backwards up to justbelow the edge of the boulder, using her new skills she had learned during theweek to flip her body on top of the rope, then finally pulling herself up therope and a tree root over the edge and to the top of the boulder. Then herunplanned, emotionally charged, and most of all primal roar erupted and filledthe forest around us.  I got goose bumpsand all of us standing 20’ below cheered and high fived each other, ecstaticfor her and our achievements on that course and that week.

Prior to leavingfor the MovNat course in West Virginia, a fellow personal trainer asked me whyI was paying to travel to have someone tell me how to play.  I defensively spit out “I think it’ll be fun,and it’s my summer vacation.”  I wasdefensive because that was a tough question as I really didn’t know what I wasexpecting out of the MovNat seminar.  Ijust knew that Erwan Le Corre, the founder and coach of MovNat had a few veryimpressive youtube videos, in which  he “trained”in nature, and he did so without shoes or shirts.  Since I train shoeless and shirtlessoutdoors, I thought it’d be a fun week to try some new things, pick up somecoaching tricks, and get some exciting yet grueling workouts.  I got all of that, but more importantlylearned another perspective on training and living life in general.

I’m not going todetail all that happened, much has been written already (links at end), ratherI’d like to share some things that I took away, or ideas/opinions I’ve formedduring and since MovNat.

1.     This is straight from Erwan, focus on movement quality overmovement quantity.  Seems straight  forward enough, but I found myself musclingthrough things (running, climbing).  Erwan was right there to remind me to beefficient.  Being efficient meansfocusing on the movement and techniques, which will save energy thus allowingme to do more work faster, easier, and for longer.  Which is really exactly what all strength andconditioning programs strive to accomplish.

2.     Mindfulness.  At one point,I dropped loudly to the ground from a branch.Erwan seized the coaching opportunity and gave us a prudent message toalways be mindful when we are not just training, but at all points inlife.  His focusing on and reiteratingthis point during the week is why, despite twelve people training in theforest, climbing trees, running on rocks, flipping and carrying logs, throwingstones, all while shoeless and shirtless, nobody has been even moderatelyinjured (not in all four weeks, forty-eight participants). Scratched, bruisedand sore, sure, but his coaching kept us all mindful and I believe injuryfree.  That mindfulness is something thatis sorely missing in most peoples’ training as they aimlessly step machine,incline walk, thigh adduct, bicep curl, and lower ab blast themselves intoboredom at the gym.  That mindfulness is missingin most peoples’ mindlessly mundane routine of a life as well.

3.     I thought that I had found the answer to what is fitness inCrossFit’s definition (move large loads over long distance quickly, and beproficient in the ten domains (strength, cardiovascular/respiratory endurance,stamina, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.)However, in what Erwan calls the re-evolution (returning to our true nature),he has taken the ten areas of fitness and actuallyemployed them all, but not really on purpose.He “simply” comes up with contexts in which you must move. And thosemovements are natural, (the ten natural skills are walking, running, moving onall fours, swimming, climbing, lifting, throwing, defending, balancing,jumping), which he defines as primal, intuitive, universal, adaptive, contextual.  MovNat really is general physicalpreparedness, in its truest form as it prepares you outside in changing contexts(in the woods), with on the fly adaptations (did the bark just come off thislog I was clean and pressing?), and could be useful when 2012 hits.

4.     Erwan’s passion for MovNat as not just a way of training but as alife philosophy is real.  And contagious.I envied him when he stated that his only possessions were his car, and hisclothes. (he wore the same shorts everyday!) Over one of the group meals, Itold him I had recently lectured my little brother’s vegan-expectantmother-girlfriend about why she MUST stop being a vegan, and Erwan becameexcited.  He said I was being anactivist, which I had never thought of myself.His exuberance at the successes of his participants, and in sharing realknowledge on paleo eating, fasting, training methodology, and philosophy wereall inspiring.  It makes me want to bethat activist.

5.     Memories.  I won’t detailall we did, just a couple of favorites: swimming along the lake edge to find acliff wall we could scale to pick berries and jump off from 30’ back into thelake/ clean and pressing all the logs one handed/ Erwan’s assistant, Vic,giving us some of the most practical defensive training you could ever hear (ina French accent) “this guy is trying to kill you. So you don’t want to hurthim. No, you want to f#**ing kill this mother#*#er!!”/ walking on all fours on balancebeams when Erwan states “you are lucky, last week it was raining during thispractice.” Three minutes later and it was pouring hard.  I felt like we were in a training montagefrom a 1980’s martial arts movie/ everyone making a long jump from a fallentree and grabbing another branch across a gap.Those are just a few highlight, the others I sincerely hope you get totry yourself someday.

Finally, the most important and lasting partof my trip.  Erwan kept saying it wasn’ta competition.  Mean while, I hatedanytime someone could do the mobility drills while I tried and failed to movemy toes, ankles, and hips to match Erwan’s gumbi like flexibility.  And they weren’t silly or crazy yoga moves,they were things like go from kneeling to a squat, or my real nemesis, sittingon your heels while kneeling with your toes are pointed out sideways away fromyou.  Erwan and others were comfy there;they looked like they could relax that way.I couldn’t help but think of me when he later stated wholeheartedly thatif he had to pick between strength and mobility, he’d pick mobility.  And seeing him move effortlessly on theground, through the forest, in the water, up cliff walls, and into the trees, Iwill be trading SOME squats and deadlifts for some of those damned heelsits.  But back to competition, which Ibelieve to be as Primal as anything else.Of course there is going to be competition; all animals compete, ramsbut head, birds dance, gorillas fight.You pick up that stone, well, I’m going to pick up that biggerstone.  The revolution for me though,was, by day three I wanted our entire group to pick up that bigger stone. We weredoing everything together: cooking, cleaning, training, competing togetheragainst the obstacles and challenges in front of us, and finally celebratingtogether. We had become a tribe.  Andthat’s why I got goose bumps when Lori let out her roar. 

other reviews more about the food and training

http://gregcarver.com/blog/2010/movnat-expansion-course-physical-culture-reinvented/

http://www.fifth-ape.com/blog/2010/8/2/movnat-expansion-course-an-incredible-week.html