ANIMAL FLOW - PRIMAL BODY WEIGHT EXERCISE
WHAT ARE ANIMAL FLOW BODY WEIGHT EXERCISES ?
Body weight exercises, in the form of the floor based training discipline of Animal Flow. Was devised by fitness innovator Mike Fitch in 2010.
It combines the primal movement patterns of the animal kingdom, with the agility and flexibility elements of gymnastics, hand balancing, yoga capoeira and parkour.
WHY ANIMAL FLOW ?
Apart from being a great addition to the kettlebell workouts. Animal Flow exercise routines combine to form one of the most complete functional movement programmes around. Which can be customised and integrated to meet the needs of many other different areas of fitness.
Such as : weight and fat loss, shape and toning, fixing muscular dysfunctions and imbalances, rehabilitation issues, or sport specific improvements etc.
Therefore Animal Flow, in conjunction with kettlebells. Is the perfect vehicle in developing total fitness and achieving great results for everyone !
WHATS ARE THE BENEFITS OF PERFORMING ANIMAL FLOW BODY WEIGHT EXERCISES ?
One of the major benefits of Animal Flow, is that it does not require expensive or gimmicky equipment. As it is totally body weight based.
Animal Flow educates you in understanding the importance of anatomical chains and weight distribution. Helping you to stabilize and utilize the whole body when executing the movement transitions.
Once you master the basics, Animal Flow builds into vast array of different combinations called Flows. Where individual exercises seamlessly interchange from one to the other.
Many of these movements require you to perform crawling patterns that involve Four Pillar Stances (simultaneous hands and feet contact with the floor).
These crawling patterns also act as excellent core exercises to improve posture, as they have to be perfromed with stability and precision. Recruiting the inner unit or major core muscle groups that are instrumental in re-alligning the body as a whole.
Therefore, superior gains in : mobility, flexibility, stability, power, endurance, motor skills and neuromuscular development. are achieved considerably.
Above all, Animal flow is a fitness workout program like know other. That is both fun and challenging, and can be performed individually or as group workout routines.
With an Animal Flow workout, you are only limited by your imagination !!
ANIMAL FLOW COMPONENTS
All the movements in the Animal Flow Library, consist of 6 components, which play an integral part in developing different skills and strengths throughout the body weight workout.
They are :
WRIST MOBILIZATIONS
Before performing any part of an Animal Flow exercise routine, it is a vital pre requisite that your wrists become acclimatised to the weight bearing stresses put upon them throughout the workout.
Wrist mobilizations are simple joint warm ups for the hands that encourage the production of Synovial Fluid to the wrists, to help eliminate strains.
CLASPED HAND ROTATIONS
SNAKE ROLLS
LATERAL WRIST STRETCHES
BACK TO BACK WRIST STRETCHES
ACTIVATIONS
Activation exercises have 4 basic functions :
- They act as a starting position before performing a flow
- As an initial assessment to determine the body’s ability to stabilize. (especially the shoulder spine and hip)
- They can be used to correct postural inefficiencies or inbalancies.
- As a brief interlude during basic or complex Flows, or incorporated as a strength element.
STATIC BEAST
STATIC CRAB
FORM SPECIFIC STRETCHES
These specific body weight stretching exercises should always be performed slowly and under control, when the movements involve various ranges of motion. They are designed to allow the body to develop total mobility and stability through stretching.
APE REACH
FRONT VIEW
LATERAL VIEW
LOADED BEAST / UNLOAD
LOADED BEAST/ WAVE UNLOAD
CRAB REACH
SCORPION REACH
FRONT VIEW
LATERAL VIEW
TRAVELLING FORMS
The Travelling Forms included in the Animal flow body weight Programme, are designed to syncronise different areas of the body to work in unison. They essentially act as communication tool for the upper and lower body (eg: shoulder and hip coordination).
They are a vital ingredient in the prevention of muscular inbalances, and in the improvement of general functional movement.
APE : / LATERAL / LOW & HIGH
LOW HIP
HIGH HIP
BEAST : FORWARD & BACKWARD
CRAB : FORWARD & BACKWARD
SWITCHES AND TRANSITIONS
These body weight exercises add a dynamic element to the flow movements, and are a used when transferring from one move to the other. They include rotations and kick throughs, and challenge you to sustain balance through sudden weight distribution.
Switches and transitions play a pivitol role in the whole Animal flow programme.
UNDERSWICHES : ( STATIC BEAST TO CRAB TO BEAST - UNDERSWITCH / TAP )
STATIC BEAST TO CRAB TO BEAST
UNDERSWITCH TAP FROM CRAB
JUMPING UNDERSWITCH
SIDE KICK THROUGHS :
SIDE KICK THROUGH - JUMPING SIDE KICK THROUGH
SIDE KICK THROUGH
JUMPING SIDE KICK THROUGH
LEVITATING SIDE KICK THROUGH
FRONT KICK THROUGHS - FRONT / LATERAL VIEW
FRONT VIEW
LATERAL VIEW
FULL SCORPION
FULL SCORPION
FLOWS
Flows are all of the body weight skills above, combined into one fluid routine.