Category Archives: The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises

Addition by subtraction, or how to simplify the workout for better gains of any kind.

Posted by Philippe Til March 21, 2016 exercise., Fitness, Flexibility, Fun, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, gym, Health, jogging, Jumping, Longevity, Mass gain, Méthode Naturelle, Mobility, Motivation, muscle building, Nutrition, Physical Education, Physical fitness, Play-based training, powerlifting, Primitive Movement Patterns, Program Design, Running, sprinting, strength, Stretching, Stretching, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, training program, walking

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Regardless of what your ultimate goal is in fitness, maintaining all-around athleticism remains key for your daily activities. And frankly, there is no ultimate goal, because that means it would be the end, with nothing to look forward to beyond. Goals change. Life, give or take a few variables, on the whole, does not.

You need to eat, sleep, rest. Your health and work will change, and how you eat, sleep and rest will adjust, like your training program. Unless you are competing as an athlete or are playing a superhero on TV, you don’t really need to be this big, or that strong. Really, you don’t, and don’t let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise. You do need to stay mobile, stay strong, maintain your muscles, and you do need to walk up stairs, pick stuff up, hold on to things, carry them, run to or from something, even if just walking quickly or avoiding something. Stay Spry!

There is no hack for any exercise, other than for the sake of breaking form so you can find it again. Like saying “there’s no place like home” after you’ve been around the world.

Pick a few things, do them well, do them often. Like, five. Do them for a while. Don’t count the reps, just do as many as you can in a short, predetermined duration of time (10 minutes?) and stop anytime you know or feel your form looks like crap. Start maybe by doing it as well as possible, then when the clock runs out of time, do something else, and come back to the previous exercise the next day.

Rather than add more stuff to do, to eat, to supplement with, get rid of what’s not super essential. If you did a chest exercise, a quad dominate exercise, a back exercise, a shoulder dominant exercise and a hamstring dominant exercise and have time for something else, go twist, rotate, throw, jump, climb or punch. But don’t add another chest exercise if it doesn’t make you better at something else other than pushing the buttons out on your shirt.

Or, if you ran, climbed, punch & kicked, jumped onto or off of something, and threw something, broke a nice sweat, feel a little tired, with a grin and sense of satisfaction: you’re good! keep at it.

Ignore the magazines, the pressure. Easier said than done, right? Do the stuff mentioned above, I promise you the pressure eases up as the feeling of well-being increases!

Natural Method Beta-Testing Workshop

Posted by Philippe Til October 26, 2015 boxing, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical fitness, Primitive Movement Patterns, RKC, Shotokan Karate, Stretching, Tactical Fitness, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, training program, workout

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Interesting fact about yesterday’s workshop. Wasn’t meant to be a huge event, rather a beta test group put together sort of last minute (logistically only, content was slightly accelerated because of the close attention to 6 participants). An element of mea culpa needs to be considered in the sense that this information is not only intrinsic to my being, it’s engrained incidentally since childhood P.E. and semi consciously letting my kids develop and allow the promotion of all that is taught (and I can expand later how kids are actually at the highest level of performance on some things, as Hébert essentially says “forget technique at some point, just do it, all right, you have been primed!”).
What I’m getting at is there is the performance of the moves, their simplicity and no need for an over explanation or an attempt to make it all “scientific”. Then, there’s the martial aspect (as one of the three objects of training: martial, pedagogical, corrective).
Martial meets pedagogical in the following sense: a punch is a punch is a punch. Be it jab, cross, hook or uppercut. The punch is the martial element. The pedagogical is the teaching of the punch. And amongst the martial artists reading this, can we agree that as simple as a punch is, it can take a long time to get someone to get how to do it right. A black belt is a person whose execution of the basics differs from a white belt (oversimplification maybe, I’m doing away with nuances as it would be a different topic of conversation).

Some attendees, fitness enthusiasts (clients, end users, not necessarily educators) got plenty out of the workshop, truly enjoyed it, made sense of the book better by getting the live instruction in person. But in the educators or “applicators” (physical therapy student), the “frying” of their CNS, their brain was such that it made me understand that the proper teaching of the content, for educators, needs to take the course of a few days. And those may need the prerequisite of frequent practice up until the point of a multiple-day event. One trainer actually felt like throwing up (because he came in with the educator mindset, while the others came with the “just do it and get a good workout while seeing what I should do more of” mindset).

I would except the martial arts crowd, as we are used to a different approach than the standard trainer approach.

But it makes sense to me with my 28-yr martial arts background, and the fact that Hébert was Navy, that the teaching of the Natural Method may be more akin to learning a martial art than teaching a barbell deadlift, kettlebell swing or snatch, or other lift.

It’s hard to just do a little 4-hr, even 8-hr preview. To truly get the most out of Hébert’s work, it does require a solid retreat, immersion process. I am looking to hear what participants feel like a few days after. My own Indian clubs certification was alike, where my brain was fried, but soon after, things “made sense”.

Hébert session programming at the workshop

Posted by Philippe Til October 20, 2015 Corrective exercise, Fun, functional movement screen, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, gym, Health, Historical Fitness, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, plan, Program Design, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, Training, training program, weekly training, workout, yearly training program

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I posted last week 3 programming concepts: daily, weekly and annually (by ways of 3 quarters, so it’s essentially 4 ways, 2-in-1 on the last).

And while most seasoned qualified trainers have a good idea of what to put into a session, incorporating a new skill daily, how do we keep a sense of balance since not everyone can squeeze a daily session, as the world today is not as ideal as we’d like it to be.

Setting aside any excuses or reasons, it is important to have a good sense of the fundamentals and that’s precisely what will be covered at the workshop on the fundamental positions of arms, legs, trunk etc.

The design is such that some moves are changed every other day. Clever combinations can permit the time-challenged subjects to hit nearly all aspects of preparation of the body. Sounds almost like a tall promise in an infomercial to get all you training done in just minutes a day, but it’s not the case.

There also a lot of talk about needing an hour versus only really needing 10 minutes, and yadda yadda yadda, in today’s marketing confusion (and yes, that’s what it is: confusion so you fall prey to what’s sold).

Truth is: there is no universal truth other than everything works, especially if done well. You can’t really snatch 53kg for an hour at high energy output, and if you can, you can’t do it daily.

What’s better? A little everyday or a lot every few days? It’s all good really, and you’ll still need to change things up, while keeping others the same. And once you are proficient at a movement and have confidence in your skill, who really cares about the ultimate perfect form, as it varies amongst individuals and their own skeletal structure or abilities.

I was recently asked “what’s the Natural Method” vs “Unnatural”. It’s not about that definition of the word, just to discuss semantics, rather using what’s available to use according the the natural inclinations of our bodies and finding those, rather than fitting a square peg in a round hole, and to know that, you must go through a learning process and weed out the bad by focusing on the good and how it feels. Unnatural may also feel foreign to you when it’s a new skill, but if the body’s not fighting it with alarm signals, then you’re just learning 🙂

Complete your session

Posted by Philippe Til October 6, 2015 boxing, Flexibility, Fun, functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Ground grappling, Health, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Mobility, Natural Method, Physical fitness, Play-based training, Primitive Movement Patterns, Running, strength, Stretching, Surfing, Swimming, The Natural Method Book 3, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, Training, workout, wrestling

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This is one of those philosophical statements with layers of meaning.

The obvious one can be “finish your workout”, or finish what you started, even if not in fitness.

The more subtle one has to do with The Natural Method and what Hébert calls a complete session, a session that addresses fundamental movements as well as functional exercises. Mobility, strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, agility, coordination, dexterity, harmonious and balanced muscular development, as well as breath work.

Even if they were included in the Functional Exercises portion of his book, and the reason I chose to release those chapters as standalone books, swimming and combative techniques (self-defense, boxing, wrestling) are complete sessions.

By issuing a call to action to “complete” session, I invite you to explore how you can make a training session include all of the elements to, well, make it “complete” (forgive the redundancy).

A good example because I intend on expanding the work to other disciplines or activities, can be surfing.

It’s not hard to break down the activity and see that it is a complete sport, and see how obvious it is:

Balance stimulation (vestibular and visual systems).
Aquatic training.
Environmental resilience.
Fundamental arm positions.
Fundamental leg positions.
Strength training.
Support work.
Core work.
Agility.
Rescue ability (you are connected to a floatation device that can served to aid you or someone in distress).
Cardiovascular endurance.
Speed.
Power.
Multiplanar movement.
Harmonious development of the muscles.
Corrective exercise elements.
(BONUS): developing the skill of reading elements like water movements (waves, tides, currents), wind patterns and how to adapt to a constantly shifting environment.

One could argue that there is nothing natural about surfing: we do not possess the appendages to glide standing up on the surface of water, and have to resort to man-made devices which also are shaped out of various materials to fulfill the ability to, well, surf the waves, and paddle into them before that. By the way, all those points above can be chapters for The Natural Method: Surfing. And it doesn’t have to stop here, obviously. I’ll go as far as I can with what I know, but I also am recruiting others to complete the collection for the aspects I don’t know.

But so is weight training: we use tools to improve what we have.

So, we use the laws of Nature, physics, our physiology and we don’t even think about how all those systems interconnect: the visual, vestibular, muscular etc. Our reflexes are constantly stimulated and repetition is what makes us better and we get to play and have fun.

Natural, in the end, to me at least, means: what comes naturally over time. Key is in the last 2 words: what may not seem natural at first will with rote. So, cross your right middle finger over your index and slap it on your left palm and go do that. Then, once you’re up on that board and riding that wave, close your fist, extend your thumb and pinky, and do a little propeller move with your wrist.

Paperbacks of The Natural Method are here!

Posted by Philippe Til August 18, 2015 functional training, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Historical Fitness, Jumping, Jumping Drills, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, Running, strength, The Natural Method Book 3, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, Training, training log, training program, workout

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Since many have been asking, and the intention was always there, the paperback versions of the various sections that comprise Georges Hébert’s Natural Method, from his Practical Guide To Physical Education, are finally available.

You may click on the titles or the covers to be taken directly to Amazon to make your purchase. If you are an international reader, just look for them in your local Amazon pages, by book title or searching for my name, Philippe Til.

Book 1: The Natural Method.

This is the “exposé” of the method, its origins, layout, how to conduct a model session and what it comprises. Also has scorecards, progress tracking sheets and evaluation processes.

Book 2: Fundamental Exercises.

Arm, leg, trunk, supported, suspended, hopping, balance, breathing and equipment assisted exercises to prime the body for function.

Book 3: Functional Exercises.

While the term “functional” is rapidly losing popularity, primarily out of misuse and/or overuse, exercises that involve walking, running, climbing, swimming, throwing, lifting, fighting, jumping are exactly what “functional” should be, or as Hébert would classify them: indispensable utilitarian, meaning you have to be able to do them in order to be strong to be useful, whether it is for yourself, your community or your country.

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.

Weaving the layers

Posted by Philippe Til July 21, 2015 boxing, Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Ground grappling, Historical Fitness, Jujitsu, Martial arts, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Ninjutsu, Philippe Til, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Shotokan Karate, The Natural Method Book 3, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises, wrestling

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From the Fundamental Exercises to the Functional Exercises, and in this case, the Self-Defense Techniques, borrowing Pavel Tsatsouline’s concept of “linkage vs leakage”, it is easy to see how and why arm, leg and trunk movements serve more than a warm-up for the muscles or exercises for joint mobility.

All the stances covered in chapters 4, 5, 7 and 10 of the second Natural Method book are revisited in Chapter 8 in the standalone book on self-defense techniques.

As the saying goes, pictures being worth a thousand words, let’s explore how these arm, leg and trunk movements are applied for both functional and fundamental exercises.

In the picture below, we see the Forward Slit™ with various arm positions. That stance is akin to what I call “power stance” in my Ninjutsu training, and Zen-kutsu from my Shotokan Karate days.

To illustrate that last point, here’s what it looks like for throwing a punch: below, person on the right in the picture.

Now, let’s look at the following carryover of the Backwards Slit™ operating as a weaving maneuver to avoid a punch (of which the person on the left in the picture does a variation of).

The Balancing exercises covered in Chapter of the second book also can double up for kicking exercises (front kicks, hook kicks), as illustrated in the pictures below.

Even the ground fighting work has its roots in the bridging exercises or trunk movement fundamentals.

Photo from The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises (Book 2) translate by Philippe Til

Once again, nothing is new, everything has been pretty much covered and it is indeed in the quality of the teaching, the execution of the basics, the development of the skills where the strength of an individual’s results lie. While many things have evolved since the creation of systems, at this point centuries old, if not millennia, History is there for a reason. I believe in adaptations rather than updates, as well as modern context and cultural preferences. The framework doesn’t change all that much.

Natural Method & The Lean Berets Videos part 4

Posted by Philippe Til June 22, 2015 Fundamental Exercises, Georges Hébert, Historical Fitness, Méthode Naturelle, Natural Method, Physical Education, Physical Education and History, Physical fitness, The Natural Method: Fundamental Exercises

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This time, Ron and I are exploring the same 3 arm positions, but we are moving backwards, into an extension, using the “backwards slit” movement.

Watch how positioning the arms affects balance and tension. You may actually also have to do it yourself to get a full grasp of what is not visually translated.

A brief intro into how to use equipment, fixed or modular/”free”, is showcased here as well.

The entirety of the moves can be studied in the Fundamental Exercises.

Natural Method & The Lean Berets Videos part 3

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Building on the previous block of 3 arm positions/movements, Ron and I are adding the forward slit.

This is an asymmetrical position of the legs which helps stretch the calves, maintain alignment in the spine relative to the back leg, while applying those 3 arm movements to demonstrate how you can weave the fundamentals into a nice progression of upper and lower body movements. Explained in the book, this also goes on to become a balance exercise, by elevating the back leg, as we briefly discuss in this video.

The entirety of the moves can be studied in the Fundamental Exercises.

Natural Method & The Lean Berets Videos part 2

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In this second video installment, Ron Jones and I go over 3 arm positions from Georges Hébert’s 2nd part of his Practical Guide to Physical Education.

I selected the “hands behind the back”, “hands at neck/behind the head” and “one arm up, one arm down” unilateral stance because they are simple, effective and help quickly address known issues of “sit-down” posture and quickly engage the shoulders.

The entirety of the moves can be studied in the Fundamental Exercises.

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