Yoga, capueiro, break dance, acrobatics, gymnastics, exercise therapy … The list is long. All these areas have one thing in common: work alone with your own body.
Calisthenics and its essence
The method of physical activity that uses only the weight of the trainee’s own body is called calisthenics (street-workout). The meaning of calisthenics is full-fledged physical development: an increase in the functional and strength indicators of the body, an increase in the flexibility of the spine, stretching and muscle strength. The main emphasis in the exercises is on doing the exercises without the use of special simulators (only the street, the uneven bars, the crossbar … and your body).
The basis of our body is the musculoskeletal system (ODA), which consists of muscles, ligaments and skeleton. The skeleton, in turn, consists of bones, joints, joint capsules, and vertebrae. The physical development of the body as a whole depends on the state and development of the ODA: flexibility, stretching, posture, the formation of the foot and gait, the health of the regulations. What already entails the quality of well-being.
Evolutionarily, it turned out that a person was in constant motion. The slightest relaxation cost him his life. Therefore, the physical development was appropriate.
Look at small children. Parents are always surprised by their mobility. How many a child falls, runs, jumps. And how fast babies crawl. Moreover, the mental development of babies is directly related to physical development. So such high mobility is characteristic and normal for an adult from the point of view of evolutionary development.
The sport has become popular today. It partially solves the problem of a sedentary lifestyle.
But you should be careful: an unprepared, weakened organism can fail at the slightest, unusual stress. People suffer from intervertebral hernias, joint pain, the development of the feet leaves much to be desired: flat feet and valgus are normal. So what should be done to correct the situation?
Ido Portal and his “Culture of Movements”
Train the musculoskeletal system, develop the flexibility of the spine, train muscles, move! You can familiarize yourself with many techniques and directions in our section Movement – life. And the most effective and safe option is to work without weight.
Today, the most popular representative and creator of his movement “Movement” is rightfully considered the Israeli athlete and coach Ido Portal. He created his own teaching and training system, but he has not yet come up with a name. The main principle that Ido Portal preaches is “We must be constantly in motion”.
For the logo of his movement, Ido chose a monkey for a reason. It is these animals that are closest to humans evolutionarily. They are always in motion and their development is worth envying. Needless to say, many exercises will really teach you to move like a monkey: easily, confidently and varied.
The exercises that Ido offers are closely related to exercise therapy and yoga and follow the principle of individuality. They are based on stretching, twisting, stretching. All exercises should be performed gently, without jerking, gradually. They are great for warm-ups before your main workout and help you master the correct strength training technique.
Ido’s frequent phrase is “You are as old as your spine.”
The most common example is the squat. How few people today know how to squat correctly, without harming the knees and back. And at the beginning of the development of mankind, it was a natural situation. There were no chairs, and you couldn’t sit on the stone and cold ground for a long time. I had to squat. What about children? Their squat is ideal, for them this is a completely normal position. Much that we have been able to do since childhood and that is laid down by nature for us, we master again.
Bodyweight Exercises
There are a lot of bodyweight exercises, these are exercises on the horizontal bar (pulling up with different grips, swinging the press in the form of raising the legs and twisting, pulling out by force and various elements of the workout), and exercises on the uneven bars (classic push-ups on the muscles of the chest and triceps and lifts on press), and squats, and push-ups from the floor. You can do push-ups from the floor in a horizontal position and at different angles. The most challenging options affecting the shoulders, chest, and triceps are upside-down push-ups.
For example, the meaning of the Ido Portal Movement is to develop the capabilities of your body, repeating movements from the animal world. When performing these movements, flexibility, stretching, endurance develops, all muscles, ligaments, and joints of the body are involved. This is what develops the quality of the study, and not the superficial, local pumping of muscles.
Walking on the buttocks, exercise Varan, Bear Walk, Goose Walk, Crab Walk, Scorpion Walk, etc. – not a complete list of exercises. These exercises cannot be described. They should be watched or performed under the guidance of a competent trainer.
We offer for viewing 10 of the most interesting, in our opinion, exercises “walking animals”.
Get interested, try and develop!