👣 Animal Movements 🐾

People sometimes poo poo animal movements because they look “easy” or because they are “just bodyweight” and therefore can’t possibly improve your strength and athleticism.

If you are performing animal movements correctly, this is absolutely NOT TRUE.

Even with exercises as seemingly simple as the dead bug or bird dog, keeping your midline engaged and moving s-l-o-w-l-y is challenging.

But why do we even WANT to do silly animal exercises? What’s the point?

Sitting on a leg extension machine or performing a biceps curl is relatively straightforward. You don’t need flexibility, mobility, strength, agility, or grace. And while leg extensions and biceps curls can help you get stronger, they won’t help you with your coordination - for that, you need movements that require multiple joints working together.

In life, we move in a 3-dimensional space. We are not a train moving in a fixed path along a track. It’s important to be at home in our bodies; to be able to move with strength, confidently, in a fluid pathway of our choosing.

Animal movements can re-connect us with our bodies. They can remind us to play; to learn about ourselves and what we are capable of doing. THAT is why they are important, and why we all would benefit from incorporating these patterns into our training.

Go get your animal on! 😸

#weareallaworkinprogress