Things I Wish I Learned Sooner: An Interesting Approach To Fitness, Mobility and Muscle-Memory
The Ido Portal method is a physical fitness training that uses your own body weight and movements instead of external weights and machines to develop strength, agility and flexibility.
It was developed by the Israeli trainer Ido Portal and is a mixed technique based mainly on Capoeira.
“Over the years I’ve traveled the world both teaching and studying from a variety of teachers: from Osteopaths, Manual Therapists and MD’s to Professional Dancers, Yogis, Athletes, Circus Performers and Fighters.
I tried not neglecting any angle, from nutritional approaches to movement & health to Functional Anatomy & Physiology to methodology of the training process to mental aspects of movement practice and more.”
After traveling the world, and training athletes like Connor McGregor with his unusual approaches to fitness, Ido not only learned a lot about the body but also how to manifest a certain attitude towards life itself.
There are certain principles Ido tries to implement and teach his followers:
1. We move. A lot. We are meant to.
2. Don’t be so sensitive. Handling criticism well is an essential tool for a mover interested in his own development.
3. Move, research and explore MORE, be curious.
4. we are all first PEOPLE, then MOVERS and only then SPECIALISTS.
Ido’s Movement Culture represents a contemporary paradigm shift in physicality that moves us away from the main culprits in movement and fitness and the division between health, aesthetics, performance and art.
Someone who looks beyond the technical aspects of each movement type or discipline.
Someone who finds interest and wants to understand the body, health, performance, and physical artistic expression.
When monkeys break out of a den at the zoo or toddlers walk upright for the first time, they have to apply their movement knowledge in a completely new context.
This is movement in its raw form — extremely exciting.
Adults, on the other hand, usually want to specialize. They want to improve something they already know how to do.
Another goal is achieving new sensory perceptions: something you could have done at any time, but have never done.
The colleague in the office who clicks his ballpoint pen? That’s his body screaming, “Let’s play! Let’s play!” But most people reply, “No, I’m a serious adult”, according to Ido.
Just like certain genes learn new things, we should try to perceive as much as possible with our senses to reach our maximum potential.
Our eyes focus or dilate, this can also be influenced by head rotations, environment or certain scenarios in which neurotransmitters are released.
Many of the exercises involve body weight and core strength. Ido’s favorite equipment you can train with are gymnastic rings. But it doesn’t stop there. If you look up workouts in this field of fitness, you’ll often encounter people crawling across the ground like lizards or climbing obstacles.
It’s essential for the body to get used to the asymmetry we encounter in our everyday lives. For your next workout go into the woods and do some pull-ups on a tree branch, so your hands are positioned at different heights. It’s beneficial to train the mind-body coordination to see success with this technique.
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