What the Heck is Movement ‘Fidelity’? - And Why it Might Be the MOST IMPORTANT thing for a Backcountry Athlete

The concept of Movement Fidelity is related to your ability to perform when conditions are not ideal.

Can you perform just as well when it’s 30 below zero, you’re cold, wet, and hungry, and you’re physically and emotionally exhausted as you do in a climate-controlled gym, you’re well-fed and well-rested?

If you’re anything like most people, the answer is a resounding “no.” 

Most people tend to fall apart when conditions are not ideal. As a backcountry athlete, you don’t have the luxury of always working with ideal conditions. In fact, you’ll likely rarely have that luxury.

We must purposely and intelligently train in sub-optimal conditions in order to prepare our bodies and minds for the inevitability of dealing with those conditions when we’re out on a backcountry adventure.

While you should strive to get to a point where you can perform reasonably well in crappy conditions, it bears noting that you must first be able to perform optimally under controlled conditions. Building movement fidelity is the last piece of the movement equation and should only be undertaken once you’ve laid the groundwork covered in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this blog series.

PS. Not sure if you’re ready to start working on Movement Fidelity yet? If you want to take the guesswork out of your cross-training, we take care of all of that for you (plus nutrition, and a whole host of other things) as part of our Backcountry STRONG coaching service.

Fill out our Coaching Application Form or Contact Us and we’ll set up a no-obligation discovery call to see if it would be a good fit for you.

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