This was my last class before traveling to the East Coast for two weeks. So I included some instruction I’ve been meaning to bring up again for some of the new people, and for my assistants. Friday we spent the first 20 minutes of class on movement prep. What is that? Briefly, it is what professionals do instead of warm-ups. RKC chief Pavel Tsatsouline often asks this question: “Does a wolf warm-up before it chases a rabbit?” Not likely. Does the rabbit warm-up before it runs away from the wolf? No, and that is our natural state as well. We should be able to explode instantly, at any time into full speed, full power movement. How many of us are actually able to do that? Sedentary lifestyles have brought us very far from our natural, effortless power. Adrenaline may help us in time of crisis, or not. It’s not the kind of thing you would want to bet your life on.
So what’s wrong with warming up? The “warm-up” as practiced in American, mainstream fitness culture, is a flimsy band-aid on poorly designed exercise. Natural movement is safe. You don’t need to warm up to do something your body was designed to do. However, If your body is dysfunctional from a sedentary lifestyle or bad exercise, you may have some work to do before you reach that perfect, wolf-like state.
We often practice something known in the RKC and FMS world as, movement prep. This is “movement that makes movement better,” as Functional Movement Systems originator Gray Cook says. In other words it stimulates the all important nervous system to power up for whatever comes next. Movement prep tends to look like fairly fast, bouncy movements with the feet expressing power from the ground, just like most of the sports we do. It never looks like static stretching. It is never unnatural movement such as using a treadmill or elliptical machine. The focus is always on firing up reflexive balance, movement timing, stabilization and rhythm, rather than increasing blood flow or heart rate..
Here is the key to success: Your movement prep sessions should be shrinking in complexity and duration. Each time you train you should move closer to that natural, wolf like state. If your exercise consists of complete, fundamental, natural movement, you will steadily approach, and eventually reach that state of ever present, high performance, physical readiness.
Think about the contradiction of say, a fire fighting crew that does long, elaborate warm-ups for their conditioning sessions, and yet goes out to their calls totally cold. Many people find themselves in some version of this situation, where there is a disconnect between their training and their real life. The warm-up is not natural. It is a very recent addition to modern life, and it is bringing us farther from our birthright of natural power. At Form is Function the warm-ups are replaced with short, focused applications of movement prep.
So by the time we had practiced some movement prep, made explanations and answered questions, 20 minutes had flown. Replacing poorly conceived warm-ups with appropriate movement prep is a powerful game changer in athletics, health, and in the business of saving lives, so the time spent was worth it.
Next we jumped right into a long session of progressive deadlifts. I spent most of my time with new students and let my assistants guide the advanced crew. I did notice Alix lifting very heavy in the one handed and one legged DL’s.
Then we worked on clean and press. This is an oldie but a goodie, from the very earliest days of the strongman, and indeed from paleolithic times. The C & P combines a quick hip extension to bring the weight to the shoulder, and then a slow grind, pushing the weight to full lockout overhead. This lift supports complete health and athletics. It does in fact work every muscle in the body, something American fitness trainers parrot, but more importantly, the C & P:
1. Trains fast and slow power production.
2. Trains both force production and impact absorption.
3. Trains the body to switch gears or speeds instantly.
4. Works very well as maximal power training or endurance training.
5. Teaches how timing and rhythm create as well as conserve power.
This last aspect is perhaps the most powerful game changer. Correct timing and rhythm maximize the body’s elastic properties, or stretch reflex. This is essential to all powerful movement in athletics or otherwise. Generally, if a person did correct C & P as their only exercise, he or she would be complete as an athlete.
After a long session of C & P skill work with single and double kettlebells we of course did the 30/30. After a about 15 minutes of that we took a short break and switched to the clean and push-press. This turns the slow pressing phase of the C & P into an explosive, leg driven movement. The rapid switch from explosive hip extension to leg extension supports all athletics, especially where instant changes in direction of travel or force are required. After a short skill check we continued with the 30/30’s.
Finally, we went over our class time and did a long session of restorative work, including Russian style static stretching, to ease the tension out of thoroughly worked bodies. This also tied in to our movement prep session in the beginning.