Albeit fun.
If I could ask Georges [Hébert] to lighten up, I would, and he would probably tell me “I am! That’s the whole play finality of The Natural Method, mon frère!”
The reason I’d ask him to lighten up is because it’s totally cool to have fun and specialize in one aspect of strength if that’s your bag. I ain’t knocking your strength with his/mine or someone else’s.
Much like Power is Mass X Acceleration, an 8-plates back squat below parallel or a 48″ box jump require a different level of power. Some say “you need to squat heavy to get more power for your jumps”. I can’t squat 8 plates right now, but I can jump that “cold” and I know a few friends who can squat 8 plates easy, but can’t jump that. We’re different and that’s OK!
“A remarkable specialist in only one category, but poor in others, like a weight lifter or wrestler who cannot run or climb, or a runner or boxer who cannot swim or climb, isn’t strong from a “complete” standpoint.
On another hand, one who excels at entertaining or hobby sports (as in games of all kinds: football (soccer), tennis…; or gymnastics on man-made apparatus: high bar, trapeze…), but who ignores swimming, self-defense or has fear of heights, isn’t strong from a “useful” standpoint.
In short, to be strong consists of possessing a sufficient aptitude in utilitarian indispensable (a.k.a functional) exercises for everyone at any age and not to solely excel at entertaining fun exercises or of secondary utility”
So,a little redundancy, or rather, “rote” and let’s have Georgey break down the categories:
Functional Exercises of everyone at any age:
- Walk
- Run
- Jump
- Climb
- Lift
- Throw
- Fight (boxing or wrestling, natural means)
- Swim
These 8 categories suffice to achieve the highest level of physical development and to handle any difficult situation life throws at us. Walking, Running and Climbing constitute the prime natural exercises; they are the most indispensable of all.
That’s all going to be in the long awaited and delayed book (not my fault, serious!)
Sports or exercises of secondary utility (for select individuals and not necessary for everyone or all ages):
- Fencing
- Horseback riding
- Rowing
- Shooting
- Weapons self-defense (stick, knife…)
- Any artificial means of transportation requiring the use of the legs: cycling, skating, skiing, stilts…
Sports or exercises having no functionality for everyone or all ages:
- Anything requiring man-made apparatus: high bar, rings, trapeze, pommel horse, parallel bars…
- Any acrobatics, with or without the use of equipment.
- All games: soccer, hockey, tennis, cricket…
Remember, we are dealing with functionality for ALL POPULATIONS at ANY AGE, not fun, entertainment value or carry-over. We could probably argue, and successfully at that, the benefits of surfing, of playing rugby which develops both speed, agility, endurance, strength, power etc. That’s not the point.
The point is to raise the average, which is dismal in most countries I have to say. We as fitness enthusiasts live in a bubble we our social media feeds tend to show us our own interests, and few of us walk around national supermarket chains observing the decline of the population. Get them walking, running first, add some minor jumping, throwing and grow from there.