The Only 3 Primal Movements you need to be a Functional Human

We are humans with a lot of animal instincts inside us. But what does it mean to move Primal? These are three types of movement that make us functional movers, can enhance athletic ability, and ensure that we stay healthy for a lifetime.

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These 3 Functional Movements will improve your ability to be an athletic human being. These movements will honor your animal nature and are probably the most real "primal movements". Evolutionary wise these movements have been important to our survival and make us animalistic in nature.

[Strengthside]

Edit: Some great comments are leading to an expanding list. The added movements that seem to be necessary to our humanness are
Falling or Interaction with ground &
Carrying: ability to move objects.

I also like the rotation and twisting idea, though I think it gets mostly covered in movements like crawling and climbing, though some added intention is probably necessary.

Thanks to everyone for the great conversations :)

Is there anything more functional than these 3 Primal style movements? It really does make up the basic movement patterns from our evolutionary past. I wish I would have put a little more time into running, sprinting, and hopping, crawling, and climbing early on when I was doing more "fitness-ie" stuff 😀 What would you guys add to the list?

[pepi]

I would pick throwing as the fourth movement. Compared to other animals, humans have special talent for aimed throwing and long distance running.

[thevision]

Sometimes on hard days, I watch the kindergarten students during their recess. They move in these ways but teachers tell them not to climb, crawl, and not to put their hands on the "dirty" ground. Kids at this age naturally seem to stop/start and change direction on a dime something that in American football, soccer and boxing we had to relearn. Most importantly, playing is exercise. Playing is primal. Students have to learn to stand still to "learn" despite a rich tradition of learning by doing. Even Socrates, Plato, etc lectured as they walked with their students. Just move. Don't stop moving. Play. Don't forget to play.

[blainermiller]

I am a 60 year old truck driver. I started incorporating these activities into my daily workouts. Now I don't need much to get in a great workout and improve my mobility and not turn into a big fat trucker! You guys are a great inspiration thank you!!

[mitch-lawless]

4th primal movement: Throwing. Involves lots of foundational movement patterns like twisting, pushing, and lunging in tandem to generate force when tossing a range of different objects of different weights and sizes.

[seriouslyawesomegirls]

wow I never seen human adults move like this - so powerful yet at the same time so graceful just a like a leopard or a panther out in the wild! its so inspiring to watch you guys move - I have incorporating crawling in my daily life and am enjoying it!

[herrar]

As a rock climbing enthusiast, I can attest to this message. Climbing feels awesome and it'll always be my favourite but it needs to be supplemented with either corrective strengthening exercises or other free movement patterns to feel really good. Best to do both of course. For the regular person, trail running is probably the best, most efficient way to stay healthy imo

[surmanator]

The only other basic movement I can think of is the roll/fall. Sure, it can be thought of as an extension of the jump but landing is different from continuing that momentum efficiently.

[hermes]

Love this... I am basically walking for several reasons, but my walking has become INFECTED with your videos. I no longer just walk but move harmonically forwards, engaging arms, torso, hips, the entire foot and big toe, also as I listen to music my patterns are also following the rythms, I tackle small obstacles with grace and a new gait. I am 73, and loving it. Yeah, seventythree smackeroos

[hsard]

My brother, please PLEASE, can you make a video with a 10-15 minutes primal movement routine which combines strength, movement and flexibility, to be done upon waking up, before leaving for work? I would be SO grateful! Thanks in advance, God bless.

[xDLusional]

Love the simplicity, I'd add something to hit on balance as a fourth movement. I feel like balance can unlock body awareness really well, which is what can really help people feel where they have tightness and atrophied muscles

[chrisleguen]

I'm 46, stopped working out a couple of yrs ago but am still a bit flexible and mobile from my martial arts day's and doing body weight and light weight exercises, chin ups, pull ups, push ups, dips, I'm back at it again as I've been busy as a full-time single parent and I've actually incorporated crawling with on my hands and feet and it's such a full on workout both cardio and muscular I love it

[JediBunny]

We are animals first and foremost; we’ve (societally) made our environments and daily lives so cushy that our bodies and minds suffer. Fantastic video, and important reminders, as always!

[beachinhonolulu]

I work at a functional training gym as a massage therapist and your channel is so helpful for me to tie in my work with movement!

[GeoffreyABruce]

I work as an ECE in a kindergarten program, and my favorite part of the day is taking the kids to the playground. I'm doing rolls, cartwheels, crawling, and I'll even give the monkey bars a go time to time.
It's more important now than ever, as kids aren't getting outside as often as they used to, and this can spell big problems for physical health down the line.
Keep playing!

[richardleesl]

I think "balance" would be one of our most basic abilities. The ability to shift your weight around to balance is so crucial in all movements to avoid falling over. Understanding which muscle groups to engage in activating that balance has been lost in all of us who are chair bound.

[apnhderlleip]

I'm a 50 yo countryside guy in Brasil and I LOVE to do those movements!
As you said it work wonders in the body, so much so that some peoplo think I'm on my 30s 🤦‍♂.
If I can add something to the benefits I'd include stretching some before and enough after the play (workout).
Most importantly: HAVE FUN!
#Love&Peace! ✌

[nathalyacosta]

It seems surreal that these movements could make you feel better but it just so happens that I crave it. Thanks for your content, am applying it and slowly building up.

[jamesrigby]

I'd pick lying down and resting. You don't need much more than this, plus recovery is an underated and important part of any exercise program. Fantastic video, already started incorporating plenty of your stuff into my toolkit. Thank you.

[clarkeyzmachine]

Started in athletics at 9, was doing this and yoga at home after workouts and didn't even know what they were. Truly is in our DNA!