Category Archives: Ebooks

Le Code de la Force: The Strength Code

Posted by Philippe Til September 20, 2016 coaching, Ebooks, exercise., Fitness, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Historical Fitness, Méthode Naturelle, muscle building, Natural Method, Parkour, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, Program Design, strength

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Georges Hébert’s “Code de la Force” book was published in France by Vuibert in 1914.

In its foreword, the author wrote:

The purpose of this book is to define the question of physical strength, by precisely defining the elements that comprise it and to give it a practical means of measuring it.

Because of the lack of works where notions relative to strength are codified [at the time of his writing], errors and preconceived notions of all kinds were plentiful on this topic. Thus, many people believe that large biceps constitute a criteria for strength; others solely consider strong individuals that are capable of lifting heavy weights; others finally habitually apply the qualifier of “solid bloke” to anyone tall and big. However, it so happens many times that the individual with large biceps shows inferiority when it comes to running or simply quickly climbing a slightly steep hill, that the weight lifter is unable to jump over any obstacle, that the solid bloke cannot follow an individual of ordinary ability in a long walk, a hike, a hunting game etc.

He later writes:

On the other hand, no method concretely defines the outcome of physical education or training, meaning the goals to achieve. The result is trainees and coaches having no clue what to do. One not only trains without ardor or enjoyment when training without a goal, but one wastes time inevitably by repeating certain exercises without benefit. This is why I believed indispensable the need to establish exactly what the “training load” of the trained or educated individual ought to be.

One of my favorite parts of this foreword is that Hébert recognizes the need for experimentation, course correction and adjustment, his work being far from definitive. Philosophically speaking, isn’t it the first step to acknowledge what one’s limitations are in order to improve upon them?

Expanding The Natural Method to Equipment

Posted by Philippe Til March 17, 2016 bench press, blog, Book, Ebooks, exercise., Fitness, fitness trend, Fitness Trends, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, gym, Health, Historical Fitness, kettlebells, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Philippe Til, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, Program Design, strength, Training, workout

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A conversation, or rather a question I frequently have seen in various groups I belong to, when it comes to natural movement patterns and not limiting the association to Hébert’s Natural Method, is: what makes a movement natural?

How is lifting a rock overhead any more natural than a barbell, for instance? Because a rock can be found out in nature, and a barbell is a man-made object, therefore it’s not natural?

Is squatting with a sandbag better than doing a double-kettlebell front squat?

The Natural Method is not about the tool, nor is it about the execution of a movement with a tool-specific technique or form. Additionally, this statement is also not about form-bashing or questioning one organization’s technique or approach. Quite the contrary, it’s surface level rather than digging deep, if I may say so.

Yes, essentials of good form require solid foundations in technique and form to ensure a safe execution, which leads to long term progress. There comes a point where you individualize, personalize and find your way. You can find your way by finding what you truly want and need, with trial and error, experience, education and observation. The guidelines set for any given tool serve as your launchpad to proper execution.

Martial Arts are a great example of this. At first, you teach a person how to adopt a good fighting stance that allows both offense and defense. You throw that jab or cross without dropping the non-punching hand cover that side’s cheek and ribs as the punch hits its intended target (air, mitt, bag or face). If there is an opponent on the receiving end of that punch that is faster than you and counters quicker than you punch, having that ‘guard’ minimizes damage to your person, depending on how well protected you are.

But, eventually, from that structured minimal effective dose, you develop your own style, stance and you may even drop your hands, keep them free to “operate” and deflect, trap, block more efficiently than she you started. When you start from nothing, with no skills, you need a starting point.

The upcoming Natural Method Training book will be rich in photos and succinct with words by contrast. The reason behind it being I don’t need to reinvent instruction on how to properly clean, rack and press a kettlebell or two. It’s already out there, from a variety of sources and chances are, if you are reading this, you already know at least one way to do it, and may even teach it.

My Ninjutsu teacher, the late Shihan Steven Petrus always told us “don’t focus on the exact technique, focus on the motion“. A punch or a kick comes, you can avoid it by triangulating out of the way, deflect it, block it, take it or trap it, and counter with a kick,a punch, a throw. Yes, we’d start by working off of a choreographed sequence, and over time would build variations, only to eventually reflexively respond to the strike and adopt whatever motion is necessary. Haven’t most of us heard or read Bruce Lee’s quote about having no way as a way? When it comes to equipment and The Natural Method, all movement is natural. We follow the pathways our body allow us to operate in. The knee only bends one way, or the elbow, and if you go against it, bending it “unnaturally”, your experience will not be a fond one.

Don’t look for barbell squats, bench presses or deadlifts in the book, and please do not complain that they are lacking because they are important for X, Y and Z. The Natural Method is about all-around development in many elements of fitness and not all of us have hours to devote daily to only one facet of fitness. And not all of us have hours daily to devote to several aspects of fitness to become supremely well-rounded.

Do not misinterpret this also as an under-achieving stance. Not everyone is going to become as well-rounded as Captain America. Let’s start where you are, and go from there. Learn the lifts, the jumps, the throws, the basic educational exercises that will keep your body efficiently balanced, muscularly, esthetically and functionally, and then as time allows and conditioning improves, move on to the cooler, flashier skills.

Until then, use the equipment to fulfill that purpose, and equipment evolved as much as we did, only faster. Just because you are not in the woods jumping over boulders, throwing stones or climbing rocks, trees or vines doesn’t make your session any less natural. Going out is awesome, yes! But doing stuff in a gym two blocks away from you because you live in a city and have no car is more important. Don’t delay your fitness.

The Shape Of Breasts

Posted by Philippe Til January 14, 2016 beauty, Ebooks, Environment, Fitness for women, Fitness Trends, Georges Hébert, Health, Historical Fitness, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical Education for women, Physical fitness, Training, Training for women

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Here is an excerpt (unedited or proofed yet) about the shape of breasts and how society viewed them a century ago, according to Georges Hébert, when it relates to judging or appreciating beauty in women.

“The shape of the breasts is considered wrongly by many as a criterium of beauty in a woman. “The breasts, that the whole woman”, we have heard in stupid refrains. In reality, the shape of the breasts only makes up one element of general beauty, and its importance is only secondary when compared to essential body parts: the abdomen, the chest, the limbs, etc.

It is, if we may, one of the first attributes of beauty among young women, but not in the adult woman, as of all her attributes, it’s the least durable.

This process, a little too simplistic, which consists of judging the beauty of a woman according to the shape of her breasts comes without a doubt from the following fact: on an under-developed trunk, skinny or fat, the breasts first catch the eye, because, as a rule, these organs present defects of which the most common ones are exaggerated volume and sagging. They thus appear to have a capital importance, because their misshaping alone breaks the general harmony of the body.

On a well developed trunk, on the contrary, with well-defined muscles, normal breasts barely get any attention.

They are well molded onto the chest and solidly anchored to the pectorals that they look as if being entirely part of these muscles. In the preceding case, they seem added to the chest, which seemed inconvenienced to carry them.

The same observation could be applied to the basin and buttocks, which always appear too big when the trunk is muscularly atrophied.”

Have we learned anything? I do believe Georges is right: a fit, muscular, lean woman’s body will draw more attention as a whole, without specific focus on any area, as she will project an attitude of health, strength and beauty at once, not limiting her to esthetics, but to the Holy Trinity of fitness and attractiveness, intellect notwithstanding of course.

The Return of a Bad Health & Fitness Trend

Posted by Philippe Til December 3, 2015 bad health, blog, Book, Ebooks, exercise., Fitness, fitness during winter, Fitness for women, fitness trend, Georges Hébert, Health, Historical Fitness, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, news, Philippe Til, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical Education for women, Physical fitness, Training, weekly training, Weight Loss, workout

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I know it feels I am very Hébert-centric these days, and that’s probably because I am engrossed in the translation of one of his book as well as the adaptation of the program design and training of another. What is actually happening is that things fall into my lap, verifying the importance of my work, confirming that everything good and bad has been done before, and sooner or later resurfaces.

Case in point: in my junk email today, an ad for a waist slimming device was delivered. A century ago, this was the corset, which Hébert described as a torture device deforming women and causing all kinds of health issues.Now, a revamped version of it has appeared, and as any good marketing piece, it checks off what’s emotionally connected to the target demographics socially programmed “wants”, with benefits that can be attained without doing any work for it, and carefully worded claims which in fact, as only potential and not guaranteed.

Now, let’s take a look at the benefits and break those down:

1) Reshaping of waistline: this is an external process, fake, like a push-up bra, encouraging lack of activity and fitting into a standard that may not be the physiology of every individual woman.

2) Helping define curves: does it rearrange, tucking here, pumping there, shuffling skin and fat around (because muscles, even at rest, aren’t going to move a whole lot if they are developed properly)?

3) Helping you feel toned: so you *may* “feel” something that isn’t there (muscle tone), tricking your brain momentarily (until it shuts the sensation down, like wearing silk or not noticing perfume you put on). The problem remains: if you have no muscle tone, this doesn’t provide muscle tone.

4) Smoothing of rolls and bulges: Hébert wrote “For centuries, many poor creatures, to satisfy this criminal concept, have condemned themselves to deformity with the force compression of their flanks.” Hiding under a cloak is only deception, not health, of self and to self and others.

5) Helping to feel fuller: yes, the best weight loss tools are the knife and fork. Caloric restriction alone isn’t enough. Nutritional balance is needed.

Now, let’s take a quick look at what happens internally. I will not comment, the pictures are worth, as the saying goes, a thousand words. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Great playgrounds for adults

Posted by Philippe Til August 11, 2015 blog, Ebooks, Fitness, Flexibility, Fun, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Health, Jumping, Leg Workout, Méthode Naturelle, Mobility, Natural Method, Philippe Til, Physical Education, Physical fitness, strength, Stretching, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, Training, workout

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And of course, younger people who will turn into adults.

We all need a starting point for our skills. Seeing David Belle or vintage footage of Georges Hébert, or contestants on American Ninja Warrior sure is cool, and we tend to forget that it’s a long way from the day they began training, however early in life.

I have been posting some pictures on Instagram (follow me @philippetil) of various spots where I train myself or my clients, as well as photos or clips of drills anyone can try. The prerequisites are to have fun and keep practicing till getting better, until eventually, the movement, wherever it sits on the difficulty scale, becomes “natural”. A simple vault over a bench can be super easy for the advanced, difficult for the novice. But when the novice “owns it”, it’s one step closer to the next level of difficulty.

The clip below shows a fun range of things one can do, which look simple, but require a minimal level of agility and stick-to-itiveness to not bail out of some moves, but when you do, it’s safe to do so.

And, since it’s difficult, although I suspect American Ninja Warrior type facilities will start popping up soon, with either fixed or modular obstacles, many parks are actually offering what I recently thought was on the endangered parks list: Parkour-like stations, obstacles, the very kind we were complaining about were needed and non-present. 3 such parks in the Santa Monica, CA, area offer fantastic options.

One is Yahoo! Park, off of Broadway and 26th St. There is a set of parallel bars, monkey bars, 2 pull-up bars of different levels, and a free-standing ladder. The park also sports a nice little grassy area and a small makeshift track. Check it out!

Another is Clover Park, off of Ocean Park Blvd, right behind the Santa Monica Airport. This is where I’ve been playfully training recently (I mean playfully because I had fun doing it, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t exert or push myself). There is a mile-long track with “obstacles” or stations along the way: a progressive vault (low to medium high), balance beams (squared off or rounded), pull-up bars, standing ladders, monkey bars, incline posts, rope-climb, posts to climb, dip-station/low vaulting station, push-up bars, step-up or jump-up & balance station, parallel bars to swing, dip or hand walk etc. Explore its photos here.

Finally, the most famous one is the original Muscle Beach (not the one in Venice for bodybuilders, I am referring to the one South of the Santa Monica Pier) with the traveling rings, regular rings, rope climb, parallel bars, parallettes, pull-up bars, balance beams, gymnastics “mushrooms”, twisted poles, boulders, for kids and adults alike! Plus it’s on the beach! Take a look!

Don’t know what to do? Get the Fundamental Exercises, as well as the Functional Exercises and pick a few moves in various categories. Don’t dismiss the easy moves, as they can build your confidence and are great on a low-energy day, and don’t ignore the hard ones, as even attempting them is work in itself. My friend Adam T. Glass once posted online that “your body tracks that”, meaning all reps count, good or bad ones.

The Natural Method in Boxing terms

Posted by Philippe Til June 16, 2015 boxing, Ebooks, Fitness, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Historical Fitness, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical fitness, The Natural Method Book 3, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises

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This isn’t a post on how defensive tactics are interwoven into Georges Hébert’s The Natural Method, which they are in the part on functional training, or indispensable utilitarian exercises. Rather it’s to explain the entire method through a boxing analogy that everybody can understand, whether they practice boxing or not.

The first translated book tells you how to conduct a boxing training session. It tells you that what you will do it, lays out the plan, and tells you how boxing came about and what it can do for you.

The second book on Fundamental Exercises is about teaching you how to punch, block, counter etc.

The third book on Functional Exercises is about the various aspects of boxing practice: heavy bag work, shadow boxing, focus mitts.

The fourth part, bundled in the 3rd book in my translation, but separate in Hébert’s Practical Guide to Physical Education, would be akin to actual sparring, whether for practice or actual fighting.

Now, take those analogies and apply them to everything else, and you’ve got the gist of the books.

You Have To Ship!

Posted by Philippe Til May 26, 2015 Book, Business Development, Ebooks, Fitness, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Historical Fitness, Life Coaching and Skills, Marketing, Méthode Naturelle, Motivation, Natural Method, news, Nutrition, Philippe Til, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, plan, Sales, The Natural Method Book 3, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, theory, Training

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Seth Godin, in his book Linchpin, mentions that no matter your craft, you have to ship, to publish, deliver. Artists ship, not just factories from their warehouses. You ship your art by bringing the paintings to the gallery, even if they’re not done in your mind.

Studios release movies, and sometimes may change stuff, add footage, delete some, provide a Director’s Cut on the DVD. But they back something into the theatrical release.

When I took on the task of translating Georges Hébert’s Practical Guide to Physical Education, I wanted to share the content as quickly as possible, within reason of course. The labor of love associated with it, the journey and discoveries along the way, took a tremendous amount of time that a married, working father of two, with a start-up company to boot, had to squeeze at the expense of other things.

I certainly could have taken my time and released it all at once upon completion of the entire translation. Instead, because of trending interest and alignment from friends with their historical research, as well as using the successful model of movie Studios releasing trilogies over time, the process of breaking things down allowed me to get better reacquainted with the material I was exposed to in my youth, and I was able to build, organically with my limited resources, interest in The Natural Method. People who never heard about it discovered something of value and interest, while people who already knew about it, and practiced as well as formed groups, on social media or in their cities, contacted me with appreciation for making Hébert’s work more accessible with the English language.

My self-imposed deadlines are very much that: self-imposed. No one really cares about them, but it keeps me accountable, and on schedule. Keeping things open-ended, as any time management expert will tell you, can result in things never getting done. Additionally, through a tried and true process I experienced myself in everything I’ve done, people are better off with getting pieces of information at a time. Otherwise they tend to skip over what interests them less.

You could argue that I am removing a person’s choice to work at their own speed, and who am I to have such power? It truly only matters during the timeline of the translation of the books. When trilogies like Star Wars, The Lord Of The Rings, The Matrix came out in trickle fashion, audiences were forced to wait. Now, it’s all available at once.

For those familiar with Hébert’s method, maybe getting it all at once would have been the way to go (which right now doesn’t matter, because nearly all the books are out, from this first guide). But for those un-familiar with it, the timely release of each section of the Practical Guide To Physical Education offers gradual discovery, application and everything positive related to the step-by-step learning process.

Fitness for the busy dad

Posted by Philippe Til February 10, 2015 Book, Ebooks, Uncategorized

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There area lot of resources our there for new moms, but not a whole lot is geared at new dads.

Not wanting to steal our beloved spouses, partners or lady friends thunder, I only want to point out the ratio of resources, based off my limited research on the subject.

“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

No one is ever prepared enough for parenthood. I have a lady client who is due in June, and a colleague who just became a proud daddy of a little baby girl himself.

I have some tips I would suggest for dads, as I did when the whirlwind of fatherhood, its intrinsic sleepless nights, constant exhaustion and resulting hormonal setbacks, not to neglect how eating habits are affected (if new parents are lucky, kind souls will bring the poor but happy saps some comfort foods, which also in some cases may cause setbacks as the kind of foods Mommy ingests get passed on to Baby and may cause gas, discomfort or other).

1) Focus on strength, and Easy Strength at that. Forget hypertrophy goals. Conditions are NOT prime for that.

2) Rule of 10’s: no more than 10 working reps per exercise.

3) Keep workouts short: 20-30 min.

4) Keep frequency realistic until you set a groove (you won’t, by the way, so aim at 2-3 sessions per week in the beginning, remember you have to be there for your beloved wife and baby, and even more so if you have more than one child).

5) Circle your drills: go from one exercise to the next with a little bit of rest in between (not a circuit, which is back to back). That way you can push hard on each set of each drill, but get adequate rest in between sets of the same exercise.

6) Pick compound moves rather than isolated exercises, meaning using more than one joint and several muscles. Big reliable moves like squats, deadlifts, presses (bench or military). Focus on form and intensity, like 80% effort for a few reps, whether it’s dumbbells, barbells or kettlebells.

These are a few tips you can use for one type of program. Not the only one, just a suggestion that is manageable and beneficial.

Feedback welcome!

More ebooks on the way

Posted by Philippe Til February 3, 2015 Ebooks

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Not to jump on the gravy train of self-publishing or authorship, rather continuing the development of something I truly enjoy, which is content writing and authoring.

I resisted the urge of writing “original’ content since nothing in personal training, or fitness, is truly novel. Perceptions and points of view on how to train, where to train, the various modalities one can train in (strength development, muscle gain, flexibility training etc.) seem to constantly be rediscovered by new waves of fitness trainers who seem to have discovered the Holy Grail of concepts.

We often forget, especially those of us trainers/coaches/fit pros who have been around for over a decade, that the average career-span of a personal trainer is 18-36 months, with a fluctuating income that ends up being the deciding factor for seeking a different line of work.

But those of us who stay true to our calling seek not just more knowledge, but more ways to expand our profession into a career vs a job. Some open facilities, boutique studios. Others grow within the ranks of education and management with recognized and relevant fitness organizations. In the end, it’s not that we are dissatisfied with our clients, quite the contrary. I believe that just one-on-one or group training becomes the limiting factor in our professional growth and we eventually seek a path that goes beyond and allows us to reach more people.

I am not the savviest or most disciplined when it comes to social media outlets like Instagram or Twitter, where people built empires of followers. I do enjoy writing, and what I write is genuine. I still continue my work in the trenches, with clients, because it authenticates and validates my writing (as opposed to some who write things never having trained a person, or not having trained someone for years, with obsolete information, or a faded point of view/concept of what works).

With that in mind, I have a few books in mind, one of which I will release before the 3rd installment in Hébert’s Natural Method trilogy. I ran it by a few other fit pros, but will invite you, dear Actionauts, to chime in on the topics to see if you are interested, fit pro or fitness enthusiasts.

Yours in health,

Philippe

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