Blending Fitness, Health and Nature into One: Tribal Fitness, A New Way of Exercising
Tribal Fitness Island Retreat. Photo courtesy Tribal Fitness Facebook Page
Having been born in the middle of two boys meant that wrestling and soccer were amongst my daily games. Having a father who is a naturalist meant that cucumber was the prize for long hours of study! Living in Egypt (a country with too many living in poverty) meant that tales of struggle and strife were essential bed time stories for me and my brothers. Giving birth to twin boys meant nobody to inherit my beautiful dolls which I keep at the side of my bed and the opening of yet another chapter of wrestling and soccer for a new generation. All in all, toughness is an essential part of my personality and life.
No wonder then that Tribal Fitness immediately caught my attention; I wanted to understand it. It is a movement to get back to nature, move with the trees and breeze, and eat what God has naturally created with no man’s interference. Climbing trees, lifting up rocks, running in greenery, lighting up fires like Stone Age people, throwing away vegetable oils, sugar and all refined elements, and simply being tough enough to endure nature as it is … all made much sense and rang a bell in my mind.
Although I never participated in any of the activities myself, I couldn’t resist asking my friend, Shannon Pincock, what they do there. I marveled at the concept of Tribal Fitness and wanted to know more.
Craig, the founder of Tribal Fitness puts it simply: “Tribal Fitness is a movement, food and lifestyle system that optimizes an individual’s health and fitness. Movement includes climbing, lifting, sprinting, defending and jumping. Food is that that can be gathered or hunted. These are real nutrient-dense foods that humans evolved to eat. Lifestyle includes sleeping well, playing, controlling chronic stress and having a positive mindset.”
Just like waking up every day not knowing what my twin boys are going to surprise me with, there’s some unpredictability involved. Craig reveals what I consider to be the TOUGH aspect of his Tribal Fitness program: “You do not know what the session is. Our people have to be highly adapted to every natural movement in a range of natural environments. Yes, you can run on a treadmill but can you run through the desert carrying your injured friend on your back in hot weather. Can you think clearly under fatigue?”
Gerald – the giraffe in ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ – couldn’t think clearly when the animals sneered at him. The cricket who met him later on said these beautiful words of wisdom, “Listen to the swaying grass, and listen to the breeze, to me the sweetest music is those branches in the breeze. So imagine the lovely moon is playing just for you, everything makes music, if you really want it to.” Even children’s books call out for some nature.
There’s something very relaxing about nature in its tough primitive form, isn’t it? And nature is calling us to “live longer and take life’s challenges with ease”.
Photo courtesy Tribal Fitness Bahrain Facebook Page
Craig, the founder of the movement, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to Warrington, UK around age 2. At 16, he moved with his family to New Zealand. At 17, he left his family to take up professional rugby with a league in Australia. He studied to become a P.E teacher but got frustrated by the state of the school. He became a certified personal trainer through the New Zealand College of Fitness and continued to up-skill with courses such as MovNat, TRX, SOS Survival and Olympic lifting. In 2010, he moved to Bahrain when a friend suggested he look at business opportunities there. And that was when Tribal Fitness was born.
Craig explains the philosophy behind Tribal Fitness as he sees it: “The modern gym world is distanced from how humans move naturally. I wanted to blend my love of fitness, health and nature as one. Our purpose is to return our people back to their healthy roots through natural movement, food and living. Our vision is to re-connect the fitness industry and nature as one.”
Craig sees that humans had been evolving pretty well for hundreds of thousands of years. But now we have started to de-evolve! That is why creating an environment of positive, hardworking and open-minded people was a calling he had to make into reality, “Improvements start from the moment you join us and never stop.”
Tribal Fitters take refuge in nature. “Our gym is nature – the beach, the desert, the ocean, the trees and parks. We like to become adaptable to our natural biome, not a plastic machine.”
Andre Pardo and Shannon Pinckock are a family that decided to do Tribal Fitness together. Andre says “I used to do CrossFit and when I moved to Bahrain I was looking for something that would be fun, exciting and a challenge. I was originally attracted by Tribal Fitness because it offered exercise outside which was more appealing than being stuck in a gym.”
I asked Andre: “Do you think it is a tough genre of exercise? What is tough about it?”
He replied, “A great aspect of Tribal Fitness is that it is as hard as you need it to be. Craig, Danielle and Kane are great coaches and they know how to get you to workout effectively, efficiently and safely. Most importantly, Tribal Fitness is about more than just working out hard. Any coach can make you tired. Tribal Fitness is about living, eating and moving naturally. The sessions focus on getting your body to move better, with more efficiency and balance. But there’s also a focus on eating and living more naturally.”
Andre loved that the sessions were always different. “Sometimes we climb trees, sometimes we carry large rocks or play ‘hide and seek’ or walk on a balance beam … With most other workout programs when the coach has you doing an exercise it is simply to train a muscle. But with Tribal Fitness you train movements; your body is learning how to move more efficiently, with better coordination and control. This also makes your muscles stronger but it also makes you more athletic, less prone to injury and better prepared for the rigors of life.”
“Tribal Fitness is not just another exercise class. It is about reconnecting people to their natural roots; it is about moving, eating and living naturally. It is not just for those that want to exercise but everyone that wants to experience a healthier, more natural life.”
Tribal Fitness Bahrain is on Facebook
Imane Fawzy Nofal is a translator, News Reporter, Copywriter, Editor, Proofreader (Arabic<>English) and mother of twin boys. She is an Egyptian living in Bahrain and blogs at Express It 2 Live It. Imane regularly shares her thoughts on human interactions and real life experiences through her DUNIA Mag column Express it by Imane. Imane’s first language is Arabic.