Learning natural movement at any age
NOTE - This post was originally written for our 'weekly warble' segment in a few Facebook groups for the community local to our gym.
Welcome to the weekly warble here at Ideanthro Movement!
In this week's warble I'm going to talk about how natural movement (that's the term for our style of fitness training) can be learnt at any age. I'm also going to talk about how your movement abilities can improve dramatically no matter what your current movement abilities are.
I often like to start these warbles by explaining why I picked this particular topic, and today is no different. Lots of people see my posts in the local FB community groups (like this one!). I know this because quite regularly people that I don't know come and say hi to me in the street. When they do, at least 50% of the time the conversation goes like this...
Them - "You have a gym at Oxley don't you?"
Me - "Yes, Ideanthro Movement."
Them - "I see your posts on FB all the time. I really enjoy them. It looks like great fun, but I COULD NEVER DO THAT MYSELF!"
Me - I understand why you say that but I promise you that you could learn. It might take some time, but you could do it.
The reason this conversation is important is that it suggests that there are a lot of people out there who would very much like to learn the style of movement and fitness that we practice, but who haven't yet given it a go because they're not sure if they can do it.
If that's you, my message is this...
You can do it! It's our job as coaches to show you how!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that the 60 year old who takes up natural movement for the first time is going to be as good at it as the spritely 20 year old athletic thing who is also doing it. That's not the case. But what I am saying is that the 60 year old who takes up natural movement will become dramatically better at it than the 60 year old who doesn't, and they'll learn to do things that they didn't think were possible for them.
I'll give you a few examples:
1) One of our members is a lady in her mid to late 60's. When she joined, she couldn't consistently walk along a 90mm wide flat wooden beam without stepping off. When she did lose her balance even the slightest amount she had to put her foot down straight away. Now she can moderately consistently walk along a 40mm wide round metal beam (compared to the original beam that's half as wide and round instead of flat). When she does lose her balance on the metal beam she's able to put up a good fight to regain her balance. She often succeeds in regaining it, but if she doesn't, she can now jump off (and I do mean jump, not step).
2) Another of our members is a lady in her mid 70's who has had a hip replacement. When she joined she was very hesitant going up and down stairs, particularly if each step was quite tall. She also had a lot of trouble stepping up onto the soft foam safety mat beneath our climbing wall. She had to use the holds on the climbing wall for support. Now this lady can step up onto the safety mat with ease and she's making great progress climbing on the wall itself. She's also learn the basics of vaulting over our wooden boxes. All of this translates as greater confidence and safety in her daily life!
So what's the takeaway message from all of this. I'll sum it up like so...
- Natural movement looks like great fun
- It is great fun.
- You might look at it and want to give it a go.
- You might also wonder if you can really do it.
- The answer is yes! Yes you can learn it, no matter your age.
- It won't happen overnight, but if you start practising you will make great progress!
- And if our current clients are anything to go by, you'll be very happy with that progress too!
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