MovNat | Make the Most Out of Your Short Hikes

This week we have a great guest post from Eric, a MovNat Certified Trainer,  over at getoutsidefitness.ca who describes a few awesome tips for your next short hike outdoors.  He will describe what MovNat is and why it should be a part of your next hike.  I can speak from experience, as a stream field biologist for years, that crawling on the forest floor, going over and under logs is an amazing workout.

Make the Most Out of Your Short Hikes

Short hikes are often what we, outdoors enthusiasts, do to keep in shape in between our “real”, longer hikes or backpacking trips. I think of short hikes as being local and under two hours in duration. Because of most people’s busy schedules, short hikes tend to be more frequent than further away and longer hikes.

This post is about how we can change our perspective and boost these short hikes, in order for us to become stronger and better for our longer trips. And in order to keep avoiding the gym, this dreaded place. Adding natural movements to your hikes will do just that.

MovNat

MovNat is a fitness concept based on natural movement.   When you crawl on the forest ground, under low coniferous branches or other obstacles, not only do you get great all-around (especially core muscles) strength and mobility exercise, but you see the world around you from the same height as a raccoon or a coyote would.

When you start seeing fallen trees as a chance to balance-walk on them or to practice a few jumps over or on top of them, not only do you improve your proprioception (the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement) and power, but a whole different world of possibilities opens up.

The possibilities are endless. Climbing trees, lifting and carrying logs and rocks, throwing them, and so on.

Boost Your Performance

So instead of your next short hike being a 2-hour 10k (6.35 mi) walk, why not plan a 2-hour 5k (3 mi) hike, during which you stop a few times to play with some natural features around you?

I can guarantee that regular practice of these boosted hikes will make you perform better in any physical endeavor that you decide to tackle, including this next backpacking trip that you’re planning.

Conclusion

A word of caution before I conclude. Good technique while doing these natural movements  is fundamental in order to be safe and efficient. What I teach to my clients, I learned from MovNat. I encourage you to find a MovNat Certified Trainer in your city, so that you can learn the proper techniques and progress much faster and in a safe manner.