Concept FIRST!

: A Better Approach
to Teaching the Fundamental
Human Movements
Daniel John
dan@danjohn.net
The Mission Statement of Get Up
1. The Body is One Piece
2. There are three kinds of strength training:
Putting weight overhead
Picking it off the ground
Carrying it for time or distance
3. All training is complementary
July 2002
The Problem has beenrecently
We were not all born to squat deep!
Two Words to Add to your Coaching:
Integrity and Environment
 Integrity
Being the same person
in every situation.
Basic Moral Theology

The body is one piece

Basic Truth of proper
training
 Environment: Everything Else
It can be nature, the
floor, the wall, the tree,
whatever.

It can also be your

opponent.
 The Fundamental Human Movements
Push, Pull, Sixth Movement, Loaded Supports,
Hinge, Squat, Loaded Carry,
Push: Separation from Environment
Its what you see a baby
do with a floor and a
teen with parents
Most of Jandas Phasics:
Delts, Tricepsabs and
glutes
Push seems to be the
muscles of youth
Pull: Embracing the Environment
Its what you see me do
with my grandchildren
Pulls tend to highlight
Jandas Tonics: Pecs,
biceps, Innie muscles,
hip flexors and
hamstrings
For most of us, we need
to stretch them as we
ageas we tend to want
to hold on to everything!
 The Sixth Movement: Integrity with
Environment
Its the rolling around
on the ground, its
getting up and down off
the ground, its holding
your own in combat or
on the field of play.
There are two basic
kinds.
Crawling: Engaging the Horizontal
Environment
Brachiating: Engaging the Vertical
Environment
Push, Pull and the Sixth Movement
Combine to allow us to
navigate the
environment with our
upper body

Crawling and
Brachiating are
beginning to be
rediscovered.
Its not complicated to add
Loaded Supports
Lockouts and Supports
have been part of our
training for generations.
We just forgot them.

Teaching posture and

support can be done
with a simple concept
and a simple plank
Rib Cage on the Pelvic Bowl:
Box on a Bowl
If you can get the Pelvis
to sit right, the rib cage
(and the whole body)
rests quietly on top.

Hip flexor stretches,

Goblet Squats, Swings
all seem to help.

But, to fix it instantly

The Kneeling Plank
Knees are basically in
the position the feet
would be in a squat.
The top of the head
drives to zenith.
The belt is parallel with
the floor.
Toes dig in.
Relax and let the load
pull you down.
 This is the common wrong position
This is the butt back.

The weight is all in the

quadsthe thighs.

To fix it: let the load sit

thereuntil tired pulls
the athlete in line.
Box on Bowl
In the foreground is an
attempt to show a box
on a bowl. We didnt
have much to work with
save the original Goblet
from the Goblet Squat.

So, it is genius.
The Hip Instruction Trinity can help experienced
and inexperienced trainees relearn the basics.
These can be warm up moves,
corrections or just teaching the
basics of the hinge and
squatand Loaded Carries.
The Pelvic Tilt, the Kneeling Plank and the Six Point Rock
Kneeling Planks solved the Hip
Displacement Continuum
Hinges and Squats BOTH have Max Hip
Movementbut one difference.
Hinge the hips (swings,
jumps) means maximal
hip movement, minimal
knee movement
Squats mean maximal
hip movement, maximal
knee movement

The swing is not a squat.

The squat is not a swing.
 If you can do the Kneeling Plank, you
can venture on to Loaded Carries
Loaded Carries

Integrity Under Load.

These are natural and

easy to learn
People are often disappointed when I
explain so little here
The skill is the drill.
The drill is the skill.

This is me and my
brother, Gary, teaching
the original group of
Crossfitters. They
invented this after we
left
 Loaded Carries and the Sixth
Movement teach Integrity
Clearly, Walking to
Carries to Sprinting
(Unloaded) reflects the
Hunter-Gatherer
historical record
Sometimes you have to
Jump (Hinges with
Acceleration)
Sometimes you throw
thingsIntegrity WITH
Acceleration
 Throws Language
Throws are built from
the ground up.
If your brains were in
your feet, you would
throw farther. (Ralph
Maughan)
The arm comes last and
fast.
It is a full body
movement
 What about Abs?
Dane Millers Formula:

A+B+C=D
Upper Body is A
Lower Body is B
Abs are C
Performance is D

Drop CPerformance Drops.