Pictures are worth a thousand words. 7000 words worth here in a few seconds.
This is what will be detailed in book 3.
Picture blog of the Natural Method’s Functional Exercises
Category Archives: Jumping
Workshop Syllabus Bulletpoints
THIS IS A “REFRESHED” POST INITIALLY PUBLISHED IN MAY OF 2015:
If you are reading this and want to register, click here and bring a friend and get a special discount of 2 people for $229 (save $129 on the second admission, or almost $65 each).
I realize many these days tries to come up with some new method of training. Marketing gimmicks are running amuck on the ole “Interweb”. There have never been more public “secrets of fitness” than in the last 2 years, if I were to believe the numerous newsletters I get from people telling me they have the secret(s) I am missing in my training.
The best tools for training are your body and things you can get your hands on, to lift, put back down, throw, catch, climb on etc. The best tools for weight loss are your silverware and that hole in the bottom third of your face, or quarter depending on your facial symmetry. (Thank you, James Neidlinger, for “the best tools for weight loss” arsenal tip from your recent Facebook post).
To placate the skeptics or explain to the curious, below is what we’ll cover on October 24 at The Natural Method Workshop, in Los Angeles, CA, at The Gym @ Hayden.
It first starts with the upright posture which aligns and prepares the body for movement. Without a strong upright posture the movements taught will not be as effective. Once we are comfortable with the upright posture then we can start to explore movements in the entire kinetic chain.
- Arm Movements: positions at hips, shoulders, chest, neck and derivatives, as well as why we do them, what they do and how.
- Leg Movements: various “bends”/flexion/slits. Combine with 1.
- Suspension: hang and do leg stuff. Or lie down if you can’t hang to get similar benefits*. Btw, that noise also works your Dear Abbies. And hits the body parts from 2, like, hard, and from 1, but differently. And yes, that’s some aspects of pull-ups, but not limited to. This isn’t a class on pull-up variations.
- Support Movements: stuff that looks like push-ups, but isn’t limited to. This isn’t a class on push-up variations, though you may recognize or learn some.
- Balance Movements: equilibrium. Although symmetry is also balance, this is more literal. Combine with 1 and 2.
- Hopping Movements: not jumping. Hopping. Not like a bunny. More like jump rope (without the rope), or skipping as some call it. Not skipping like a kid, though I recommend you do that. It’s fun and beneficial and my friend Paul Daniels once taught a class where some people forgot how to do that. Combine with 1.
- Trunk Movements: the torso, the thoracic stuff, aspects of the core. Flexion, extension, twisting, rotation. Combine with 1 & 2. Wakes up your vestibular system. You need that.
- Breathing: why cover that last? Because now, we get to redo everything 1-7 but make it even better.
- Add tools and repeat 1-7 with 8 throughout.
And you’ll learn how to weave it all together for durations of 5, 10, 20 minutes or whatever time you need/have/want and whatever goal you aim for.
So, people, get ready to move, well and throughout the day. (quality and quantity guaranteed). And when we’re done, you’ll be tired and happy and free. Like getting some. And the next day, you’ll feel it before you’ll get to talk about it.
This is just a taste of what can be achieved with the method.
Ideally I would love to teach the method over multiple days covering other movement qualities like: walking, running, climbing, throwing, lifting, rescuing, swimming without water, jumping and more. But in 8 short hours, you get plenty of coverage of the fundamentals so you can explore and even program.
*benefits vs goals will be explained. Benefits are things that stay the same, no matter what the goals are. Like opening up the chest vs building a bigger chest.
On Jumping (post 2 of 2)
It is important to consider four principal elements in jumping ‘s biomechanics: preparation, impulse (or take-off), suspension and landing.
Preparation consists of bending the lower limbs and throwing the arms simultaneously as far behind the trunk as possible.
Impulse is about brusquely and quickly extending the lower limbs by energetically raising the arms forward.
Suspension or hang time begins at the moment the body leaves the ground following the impulse created by the lower limbs. During this period, the lower limbs are placed in the most favorable position to clear the obstacle, with the arms lowered along the body.
The Landing’s goal is to effectively cancel out the speed of impulse so that the body recovers its upright position by regaining contact with the ground. It begins at the moment the feet touch the ground after suspension. The body lands inclined to a degree depending on the kind of jump just performed or the body’s position during suspension. The lower limbs bend without exaggeration to absorb shock. The arms, lowered during suspension, are used during landing to ensure balance.
The role played by the arms during jumps is very important.
During preparation, the back-swing of the arms, much like the flexion of the lower limbs, is a relatively slow and supple move.
During impulse, the movement of the arms is brusque and rapid and the forward elevation must coincide exactly with the extension of the lower limbs. This condition is essential for the impulse to produce its maximal effect, meaning to relay the greatest possible extension to the body. Arms are raised semi-flexed in front of the body, almost horizontally.
There can be no pause separating those two phases of preparation and impulse. In other words, the flexion of the lower limbs with the throwing of the arms backwards on one hand, and the extension of the lower limbs with the elevations of the arms on the other hand, must constitute a constant back-and-forth movement, this in order to use one of the main qualities of the muscles: elasticity.
During suspension, the arms lower or are even sometimes vigorously thrown backwards to communicate to the body a new impulse effort.
Finally, during the landing, the role of the arms consists of helping reestablish final balance. They serve as balancing aides to prevent the body from falling forward, backwards or sideways. Their position cannot be decided in advance, as it depends on the body’s incline or its degree of equilibrium upon contact with the ground.
On Jumping (post 1 of 2)
Jumping consists of giving the body a sufficient impulse in order to cover a distance or any obstacle in one leap.
It is important to distinguish:
1) The educative jump on a prepared surface with a predetermined obstacle.
2) The applied jump with real obstacles.
These two types of jumps are useful, both from a practical standpoint as well as physical development.
The effects of jumps on the body are the following:
1) They engage the most important parts of the body, particularly the cardiorespiratory functions;
2) They have a powerful action on the muscular development of the lower limbs and the abdomen, especially jumps without momentum;
3) They develop agility and hand-eye coordination;
4) They strengthen the feet and ankles and train the body to sustain various kinds of impact;
5) They promote flexibility and a sense of equilibrium/balance to avoid bad falls.
Applied jumps or over real obstacles do not differ from educative jumps in their mechanism of execution. In addition to the benefits described above, they provide a mental benefit, because they help overcome the apprehension brought upon the obstacle and to dominate, in certain situations, the instinctive feeling of fear. They thus promote becoming calm, cold-blooded and with a spirit of quick-thinking.
Jumping is not just a form of exercise of unquestionable functionality. Its regular practice helps avoid many injuries such as: sprains, contusions, fractures etc, which often are due to a lack of balance in the falls or lack of specific training of the feet and ankles.
Five reasons you need to jump
Why jump?
The question rather should be: why not jump, if you are capable?
Lately, I’ve been just bored of squats and deadlifts, or any leg training exercise. Just a matter of staleness. My musculature is lean and proportional, and I’ve been always conscious to maintain balance. But there are times when I need to make training fun and set discipline to the side for a little bit. Actually, strike that: I still am disciplined, I just need a bit of variety. And I remember how powerful and sculpted my legs were when I was doing more martial arts. For my general activities, I don’t need to power lift and while I have enjoyed it for years (the process, the lifts, but not for the goal of competition as I am not that athlete). And power generation is just a measure of application of power and methodology.
I am leaning more and more to a natural approach, in the sense of chasing my kids and running around. But, if you’re experiencing some staleness as well with your lifts and need something to give you a nice (neural) break from the traditional, here’s what Georges Hébert has to say about jumps (and I should post what he says about running too, something that is making a comeback with new -old- findings). And, since I live in Southern California and as a personal trainer, having the year-round ability to train outdoors with the available training equipment the various parks offer, like pull-up bars, monkey bars, parallel bars, why not take advantage? Anyway, read up on the 5 reasons why jumping’s good for you!
Jumping consists of giving the body a sufficient impulse in order to cover a distance or any obstacle in one leap.
It is important to distinguish:
1) The educative jump on a prepared surface with a predetermined obstacle.
2) The applied jump with real obstacles.
These two types of jumps are also useful, both from a practical standpoint as well as physical development.
The effects of jumps on the body are the following:
1) They engage the most important parts of the body, particularly the cardiorespiratory functions;
2) They have a powerful action on the muscular development of the lower limbs and the abdomen, especially jumps without momentum;
3) They develop agility and hand-eye coordination;
4) They strengthen the feet and ankles and train the body to sustain various kinds of impact;
5) They promote flexibility and a sense of equilibrium/balance to avoid bad falls.