By Danny Clark, MovNat Performance Director & Master Instructor
It’s a common question for men new to MovNat: “Can I gain or at least maintain my muscle mass?” The answer: Yes, and you can become twice as powerful.
Acquiring strength and muscle mass is really simple. If you’re looking for pure strength, focus on lifting heavy things often. There are plenty of heavy things in nature, and all around us, in fact. Given the right mix of load and time under tension, plus the requisite nutrition (e.g. calories), you will gain or maintain muscle mass. However, only by moving in nature will you gain the connective tissue quality to support that muscle via the environmental complexity (or, to some degree, by replicating complexity in a gym).
Power development is much more optimal in nature as well. I’m way more powerful than I’ve ever been, because the main power movements – especially jumping – are demanded with high frequency in nature. Throwing is also a common demand, especially if you build things. The practice of Natural Movement offers endless dynamic ways to develop incredible whole body power. And a lot of this happens simply by moving in nature.
Here are five of my favorite natural movements for strength and power development.
You could do all these movements in a gym and get almost the same effect. Please do, if that suits you! I do, sometimes.* But the overall physiological adaptations that happen while training in nature cannot be replicated in a gym environment. That said, the main reason I train mostly in nature is spiritual. Moving anywhere is a mood elevator, but connecting to nature is the exploration of your deeper self – the ultimate mood enhancer. That’s a topic for another post.
Still not convinced that you can get strong and powerful with Natural Movement? Check out my guide, How to Get Ridiculously Strong with Natural Movement, which will walk you step by step through the process. There’s even a sample program so you can get started today.
*You can check out my Urban Training Journal (Part 1 & Part 2)