You're not sure what we're getting at? Let us explain it with some examples. If you can do 10 pull-ups but cannot climb a tree to save your life, you may be fit for a pull-up test, but you are probably not able to climb.

If you can qualify for the marathon but cannot sprint 100 meters without putting on your shoes first, you may be fit for a particular race in ideal conditions, but outside your specialization you are probably not very capable.

If you can lift twice your body weight with a barbell for several repetitions, but find it difficult to lift a stone that is half your body weight, you may be fit for the gym, but outside your specialization you are probably not really capable.

If you can box and box jump in your sleep, but don't dare to jump over river rocks without fear of falling in, you may be fit from a purely physical point of view, but you are probably not able to move in nature.

If you have washboard bellies and a six-pack, but can barely swim to save your life (or someone else's), you may be fit by social standards, but you're not quite "beach ready".

Why is that?

Because a high level of fitness does not necessarily equate to a high level of performance.

This is how we define it at MovNat.

Real World Capability = competence (e.g. movement skills) + capacity (e.g. physical condition)

So fitness is only one aspect of ability, but without the additional competence (i.e. mobility) fitness is practically useless.

"Over the years I have taught many fitness trainers who spend their time indoors, doing muscle isolation exercises and working on fitness equipment, and although their muscles looked good on paper, their ability to run, jump, balance, climb, etc. in natural environments was questionable at best. Mainstream fitness and natural movement are not the same thing at all; they do not have the same purpose or method, and logically they lead to incredibly different results". - Erwan Le Corre

So that raises the question: How useful is your fitness? And what should you do if your fitness is "all show, but no go"?

Well, one thing we would recommend to "speed up" your results is to focus on improving your movement skills. And not just a few that you find easy, but the whole spectrum of natural human movement abilities, each of which offers unique fitness benefits.

Here at MovNat we do this by helping our students to systematically and progressively build a foundation of movement competence from the ground up.

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Because to develop real skills, you need more than just fitness. You need movement skills. Not to mention things like mental resilience and the ability to adapt to a complex, changing environment and circumstances. So the MovNat system develops the ability to adapt to the real world by improving movement and fitness/condition at the same time. It is integrated into the curriculum in all our programs in a step-by-step progressive format.

Why do we emphasize the development of skills over fitness? Because physiological capacity (i.e. fitness) is progressively developed by increasingly demanding competence (i.e. practicing skills at progressively higher levels of volume, intensity or complexity).

In other words: If you focus on training your natural movement skills in a more challenging way, this will trigger skill-specific physiological adjustments (e.g. more strength, endurance, coordination, condition, etc.). And the more advanced the skills are, the greater these adjustments tend to be. For example, the act of hanging (e.g. from a pole or branch) alone will give you a great physiological benefit. However, if you progress to more difficult climbing skills (e.g. swinging, traversing, swing ups, pop ups, roll ups, power ups, etc.), your training will help you to achieve greater and greater fitness. And of course you will also acquire more and more skills.

So it is not only about doing more (volume) or training harder (intensity). It is also about moving better (complexity). Quality before quantity. Because the quality of movement counts.

And what do you think happens to the human body when you start to move in a high quality way and become truly capable and conditioned for a variety of activities such as lifting, carrying, running, climbing and jumping? It becomes slim, strong and powerful. And dare we say, he will even be fit for the beach. So you get the best of both worlds.

If you are ready to put this new paradigm to the test, keep your eyes open for our new MovNat courses, which are all about using the methods found in the practice of natural movement to rapidly improve your fitness and your body.