Training in Nature with MovNat’s Erwan Le Corre

Getting some expert coaching from Le Corre

Today, Sunday morning, I’m surrounded by luxuries normally taken for granted: a dry roof over my head, a bed, chairs, clean clothes, a computer and phone… and naturally morning coffee.  But for most of this past week, I’ve expanded my comfort zone since I’ve gone without these things (including eschewing shoes and socks at times) since I was camping in the woods of West Virginia’s Mountain Lakes region with MovNat founder and trainer Erwan Le Corre, his assistant Jeff Kuhland, and five other trainees on a MovNat Re-Awakening course.

This was French-born Le Corre’s first North American seminar, and I felt privileged to be one of the first to train here under his tutelage.  So I was anxious and excited when Erwan drove out to meet me and one of the other trainees at the Charleston airport to take us on the 1 1/2 hour trek to our camp headquarters at Summersville Lake.  He made us feel welcome right away, and his passion for coaching and helping others was instantaneously evident.

Campsite at Summersville Lake

After meeting the other trainees we sat down to our first lunch as a group.  Our instructor was also our chef (with some help from Jeff!), as Erwan felt it important to share not only his philosophies and training, but also his diet.  Le Corre follows a paleo diet using the eating principles of our Stone Age ancestors.   He proved quickly that going without dairy, grains, sugar, salt and processed foods was not difficult, since his meals were not only bountiful but bordered on gourmet simplicity (I will admit I missed my espresso).

We ate three times per day: breakfasts of scrambled eggs mixed with vegetables, plenty of berries and fruit washed down with green tea and lemon; on-the-go raw lunches of cut-up vegetables with fruit and nuts; and sit-down dinners based around grilled steak and/or chicken with salads, steamed vegetables and fruit.   If one were inclined to think that eating paleo was boring, our first dessert of sliced bananas, blueberries, slivered almonds and rich coconut milk would have brought about a different realization.  Erwan’s menus were excellent and well appreciated.

Grilled chicken, a green salad with seeds, nuts and raisins, and a side dish of chopped apples, Brazil nuts, walnuts, minced red pepper and coconut milk

I was surprised to find that I could manage the entire day without being overly hungry. While I am accustomed to a “caveman diet” at home (albeit a caveman that has access to roasted coffee beans!), I am also used to eating five small meals per day, not three. But Le Corre kept us active all day and there simply wasn’t any time to think about food.  After breakfast we would make an early start to one of multiple natural locations, train the whole day (a light lunch to prevent sluggishness), and only return when the sun was very low in the sky. Long ain’t the word for our training days!

Trainee Jason plays catch with Erwan

Le Corre spent a great deal of time showing us how to improve skills in a variety of natural and man-made locations — a riverbank, a grassy hill, the middle of the woods, a lake, a cliff or a park playground.  We were taught how to explore, scan our surroundings and find training opportunities anywhere.  A rock became an odd-shaped kettlebell; a fallen log became a balance beam; a tree branch became a pull-up bar. Erwan further explained that while gym equipment provides pure conditioning, natural objects demand adaptability.  ”Specific adaptation to imposed demands” was a phrase the group heard many times during the week.  And take it from me — squat cleaning a heavy rock is much harder than cleaning a barbell … it does take adaptation!  The grip is random and more difficult, the object is not evenly balanced, and on more than one occasion I thought I would get knocked in the chin as I jumped and landed my cleans with the rock flipping over in my hands far too close to my face.

At first glance, these movements seemed quite simple.  However, when performed in an unforgiving natural environment they became more difficult and took on various elements of risk and danger.  Jumping from one rock to another became more challenging as height and distances increased.  Crawling under fallen logs and moving on all fours along the forest floor required a certain amount of willingness to get dirty, scratched and roughed up, especially when wearing a minimal amount of clothing.  Add speed and intensity and, well – you get the picture.  But it was through these activities that Le Corre helped us all to rediscover our natural movement skills.

Throwing and catching odd objects while running barefoot

Throwing and catching while squatting and balancing

He explained that his methods do not have the same end-goals as traditional strength and conditioning programs.  He taught that strength and conditioning results (power, strength, speed, endurance, and so forth) are the outcomes of natural movement, but not the main goals.  The aim of MovNat is to rediscover, practice and master the movement skills that are our evolutionary birthright.  All these activities relate to primal skills: quadrupedal movement and crawling on the ground could be evading techniques; running and rock climbing correlate to escape; deadlifting and carrying heavy objects might relate to rescue; swinging a heavy rock like a kettlebell is associated with throwing skills and thus attack.  By developing these capabilities, one can develop greater strength and conditioning (a primary outcome), and thus look and feel better (a secondary outcome).  It’s a great concept!

Free climbing skills could come in handy if chased by a bear

Boxing as a defense against attack

On a personal note, I initially anticipated a solid conditioning program adapted for the natural environment.  I expected grueling workouts of tree branch pull-ups, trail sprints, plyometric boulder jumps, hit-the-dirt burpees and heavy stone push-presses. While there were many of these elements, I came away with a greater understanding of the real purpose of the MovNat philosophy: to get back to our primitive roots as humans and to explore what Le Corre refers to as our “true nature”.  Personally, I anticipated learning new workouts.  What I got was more like rehabilitation — rehabilitation from adult “nature deficit disorder” to borrow a phrase by Richard Louv.

Throughout the week, I slowly became more comfortable with my “natural movement” abilities.  These would have been second nature to any of our ancestors, but are unpracticed by most who live a softer, civilized life.  Over five days, I developed skills in barefoot walking and running, jumping, balancing, moving on all fours, climbing, lifting, carrying, throwing, catching, swimming and defending.

As expected, I gathered many scrapes, cuts and bruises each day, and had a few sore muscles.  Insect bites, thorns, itchy grass and stinging nettles became insignificant.  I trained barefoot and bare-chested according to Le Corre’s suggestions.  I’ll be the first to admit that the experience was not easy, but it was certainly liberating.  I was glad that I had done some barefoot training prior to arriving, although I still had to deal with popping the odd painful blister.

Further difficulty came in adapting to the weather.  Rain, at times torrential, only served to increase the high humidity.  This meant having a very wet tent, but living is nature is tough.  Even though I enjoyed camping, I found it difficult to imagine doing it for great lengths of time.  No phone, no computer, no easy chairs, no electricity, no control over temperature or the elements, there was only direct contact with the flora and fauna of my surroundings.  Still in all, I found the experience amazingly invigorating and stimulating.

Paddling to camp after an intense workout

While I did well at many exercises, other tasks proved more of a challenge.  I’m not a strong swimmer and this became my personal nemesis, especially on the last day when we practiced swimming underwater, going back and forth underneath our raft. Other skills had a shorter learning curve and I was able to see improvements right away.  I learned a great deal about proper breath control: how to breathe from the abdomen instead of favoring the chest, and how to take a deep breath to its fullest by expanding the ribcage both in the back as well as the front.  When performing movements, I learned to conserve energy and only use muscle tension where it was needed and how to use body-weight transfer to my advantage.

To summarize, what impressed me most about the experience was Erwan Le Corre’s passion and vision.  While he is the first to say that MovNat is not about him, it’s precisely his enthusiasm and spirit that is going to make him successful in spreading his teachings.  He is affable, patient, encouraging and has an engaging personality and wit that will certainly ensure MovNat’s recognition in the future.  I have no doubt that he will achieve his ambitions.  Within a few years people will see somebody in a park shouldering a log, deadlifting a rock and walking on all fours and think, “That person is doing MovNat”, or at least “That person is practicing natural movement”.

Still smiling, with all teeth intact.

Erwan in his element - a natural setting

I came away from this experience with a host of new ideas and principles that I intend incorporating in my daily life.  They will ensure better health and longevity and I have Mr Le Corre to thank.  It isn’t hard to imagine my regret when it was time to leave for the airport on Saturday. However, I had the pleasure of having a highly anticipated cup of black coffee with Erwan while waiting for my flight.  The entire experience, while difficult and challenging, introduced me to an individual who is a gifted athlete with a vision for a better way of living that will hopefully become quite popular.

To learn more about the MovNat philosophy, please visit Erwan’s website at www.movnat.com.

Tags: barefoot, Erwan Le Corre, MovNat, natural movement, training