The One Natural Movement You Should Master First

In the last post I talked about the importance of needing a bridge. Something to help you go from gym "captivity" and sedentary living to your natural, robust, body that's lying dormant in your DNA.But how do you get there?There are so many movements you could focus on after all...

• Walking
• Tumbling
• Crawling
• Trail running
• Climbing
• Dancing
• Combatives
• Parkour
• The list goes on and on...

But what if there was ONE movement, that if you mastered would help you with literally everything else? What if there was a movement that gave you the most bang-for-your-buck to help give you a starting place and cut through the overwhelm?That my friends, in my humble opinion, is the deep, flat-footed squat.Here's why this movement is so powerful:

Why the Squat is the Natural Movement "Gateway Drug"

The best way to get started with natural movement in my opinion, is with working on and mastering the squat. Now I'm not talking about busting out reps of "air squats" or "box squats" or whatever other versions you might have learned from the traditional fitness context.I'm talking about the flat-footed, ass-to-grass, deep squat. Both resting and moving in this position.Why is this such an important movement and why do I recommend it if you're wanting to get back into natural movement?

Why squatting is so damn powerful...

• It kills many birds with one stone. You will strengthen your knees, hips and ankles. You'll decompress your spine, increase blood flow to internal organs, strengthen your pelvic floor, and much more.
• The mobility you'll gain will carry over into many other movements, like climbing rocks, trees, gardening, grappling, wrestling, foraging, and just plain picking things up off the floor.
• You'll feel like a total boss when you can hold the bottom of the deep squat with comfort and ease.

Perhaps most important though, out of all the natural movement practices you could be doing like climbing, throwing, running, parkouring, grappling, dancing, etc. it gives you a simple, easy place to start.

So... what do you do if you totally suck at the deep squat? Just squat more?

But if you're anything like I was, this position feels anything but comfortable. Maybe you fall over, your shins burn, your ankles, calves, or back is screaming.Whatever your particular challenge is, I get it. I get it because I was there too.I struggled and beat my head against the wall with the squat. People told me to just "do it more" but that didn't help very much.If you're looking for a routine you can do anywhere, anytime to help with your mobility, check out my free routine.