Why We Animal Flow?

Why do we practice so much Animal Flow? Well… lets let someone else besides me explain that. Here is an excellent description of the benefits of AF and why you should be incorporating it into your daily practice. Maybe now you’ll see why I get so excited while coaching it to you;) 13 Things I Learned and Re-Learned at the Animal Flow Workshop Posted by DrPerry on April 2, 2012 I had the wonderful experience of attending Part 1 of the Animal Flow workshop by Mike Fitch today in NYC at Equinox Gym. So many wonderful and amazing people were there learning and sharing new techniques to make themselves better and to pass that knowledge onto others. Met some wonderful new friends. Get the Flow On! Bodyweight training is my absolute favorite form of exercise for all it does to maximize physique enhancement, injury prevention, injury recovery, performance, durability and metabolic fat burning. People often make the mistake of thinking body weight training is easy since you are not using an additional load (weight training). They would be wrong! How many people do you know that can actually do a bodyweight pullup? How about a standard pushup with locked in technique? The additional load in bodyweight training is ‘your own body’ weight magnified by altering movement vectors, sequencing muscle patterns, neural coordination and controlled tempo. Training global patterns of full body movement as opposed to traditional isolated exercises is the ‘secret’ to its effectiveness. You combine a wonderful flow of energy with allFour (4) Primary Pillars of Movement: 1. Pushing 2. Pulling 3. Level Changes 4. Rotation Your body becomes the machine integrating all 4 Pillars. It’s a real eye opener! Stop Chasing Pain‘s paradigm is ‘Move Smarter. Move Better. Perform Great.‘ Precision movement with quality helps you feel great and optimize energy transfer. Part 1 Animal Flow solidified many things that I talk about on myFacebook page. It was wonderful to hear Mike explain the benefits of Animal Flow and know they align perfectly with my philosophy of movement. I am sure there will be more take homes in Part 2, however I wanted to give you a glimpse of my day moving like an ANIMAL. Here are 13 things that hit home for me. Hope they jog a few brain cells in you too. Make movements purposeful. I talk about precision of movement all the time, whichis another way to say quality. I love that word purposeful. What is your body doing? What does it want to do without you thinking about it? Stay focused and in the movement zone. Why it matters: Less stress on the joints from heavy loads and controlled movements decrease injuries. Regress to Progress. Sound familiar? Take a step back and modify your movements until you can gain control and not be in a state of movement chaos. Challenging not difficult is the goal. Why it matters: Clients can earn the right to progress in system that may be monitored for progress and motivation The brain learns from failure, but not too much at once. Give your nervous system a chance to integrate new patterns. The nervous system software switch will flip to the next level of motor learning as long as you don’t overload its capability. Why it matters: Brain body connection heightens the performance of tasks associated with activities of daily living. Animal Movements open up fascial lines and slings. Full movements within all See that white stuff? Fascia vectors help to uncover hidden fascial restrictions and optimize muscle activation patterns to alleviate tensile stress on the joints. Why it matters: Increased mobility. Decreased stress. Optimal muscle range of motion for more dynamic movements and greater calorie expenditure Your metabolic rate will hit a new thermal high with the stability required to control the body. Move the body, not body segments. Challenging four points of stability simultaneously requires essential muscle patterning and neural sequencing.Why it matters: More fat loss. Nuff said! My wrists need work. Supporting your bodyweight in extension patterns of stability gives you a new appreciation for how critical the fascia, joint, and soft tissue extensibility is in the wrist. Why it matters? Soft tissue extensibility in the wrist is a critical player in shoulder stabilization and neck function. Locking the shoulder into the socket with external rotation and compression to the Load that shoulder ground in a closed kinetic chain pattern enhances shoulder stabilization. Amazing way to fire the rotator cuff muscles with sensory input from compression. A must to add in my shoulder rehab program. Why it matters? More stable, stronger, and injury resistant shoulder. The closer you get to the ground the more obvious your asymmetries. Taking the power global body movers out of the equation (cheater muscles) with large movements altering vectors reveals a lot of information about your left and right side balance. No cueing is necessary because the client will instinctively feel the asymmetry. The Static Beast Position will find your flaw quickly. Why it matters:Feedback to body symmetry for energy leaks. Own the central core stability to increase distal mobility. Relearning alternating patterns of movement takes time. Opposite leg to opposite arm. Learning to move like we did as infants. Crawling, reaching, forward, reverse and lateral movements helped increase my intensity because my brain had to process where I was going and how. Totally different than sitting in a machine and mindlessly pushing and pulling in one vector. I actually feel like I got smarter. Lol Why it matters: Increased body awareness, faster reaction times, and increased brain- body reactive timing. Strength development is full throttle. The necessary stability required to move thruthese patterns stimulates the neuromuscular system leading to more power. The joints are locked in. How do you get better at the exercise? Do the exercise? Explosive power is unleashed. Why it matters: Stronger and more muscle. Nuff said! 11. The Crab Movement is a shock and awe muscle activation pattern for the upper body posterior chain. What an