Micro Workout For The Legs To Wake Up The Body

 

One of my recent articles was talking about a good routine of animal crawls to do in the morning to wake up the body and even the brain. Here's another option you can work on if you'd like especially when it comes to leg strength, hip mobility and getting the heart rate up for a few minutes to start the day.

Getting the legs going to start the day can have incredible benefits especially if you plan on going for a hike, move around at work or climbing stairs. Having conditioned legs go a long way and as we get older, it becomes more crucial in being able to stand up without help and move with as much ease as possible. Nothing wrong with wanting strong legs from weights but that's only a piece of the puzzle if you do that kind of thing. When it comes to squatting with weights, my main form of it is doing squats with a sandbag, hammers, maces, kettlebells or a 45 lb plate. I don't do barbell squats whatsoever anymore and haven't done it in roughly 15 years. 

Bodyweight Squats are a different story, the multiple variations you can use at your disposal have their place. Shit I do 100-200 squats with the band everyday lately and it keeps things rocking and rolling man. It's more than just doing a typical squat, it's being able to control your body and move with power, explosiveness and even durability. Stationary Squats like Hindu Style, Sumo, Air, One-Legged all work and are beneficial for those who do them consistently. Sometimes however, it's fun to play around with certain aspects of exercises. 

One routine I like doing is what I call the Step + Squat where it's basically walking and squatting at the same time. For those who want an idea of how this goes, check out the VIDEO here from the Bioneer. It's a great micro workout to get the blood flowing and play for a bit, you can do this anywhere and do it in intervals, in a row or in sets. Whatever works for you. For today, it's about doing it in a interval fashion. If you're new to it, get the feel for it just by taking a step, squat down, come up, take another step and repeat to get the technique down. Pay attention to your form and control. Once you get an idea, start timing it. You can start with 20-30 seconds of work and 30 seconds to a minute of rest for a couple rounds. Work up to maybe 5 rounds and then add time like 10 seconds and then reduce the rest to 45 seconds. Over time, work up to going for a minute or longer and rest for 30 seconds or less. For a micro workout, 3 rounds is great. This is roughly 4 minutes total, if you want to add rounds, go for it, personally, I never went past 7 rounds which is a total of around 10 minutes for the whole workout. 

Micro Workouts are awesome for anyone who is short on time and wants to get something quick in or help get their energy levels up during the day in increments. For more info about this check out Matt Schifferle's book Micro Workouts. They're bad ass time savers and can get you jazzed up whenever you need a pick me up. Push-ups, Squats, Isometrics, Intervals, whatever you'd like to do for a few minutes at a time. They can even be used as a finisher to your regular routine to spice things up. 

For more on Squat Walking, check out this VIDEO as well.

Be amazingly awesome and get your body going so the blood flows with strength and power. You got this and wake up springing into action. 

A Morning Routine That Takes 3 Total Minutes

Many will often wake up groggy, wanting to go back to sleep or just do whatever they need to in order to get themselves out of bed. It can be a pain in the ass at times and there can be so much going on the moment you get up. Here's a micro workout you can do to help fire up the neurons and get some good movement in the morning.

I've always believed Animal Movement is one of the best ways to train, not for the sake of working patterns but to play and have that positive energy while getting the body flowing. Mimicking animals in the wild gives you a sense of being with nature and learning to control the body that will function in ways that can be lifesaving especially as we get older. It can be treated as fitness but it's better to treat it as a formality that brings back to a time where we just played and have that free-spirited energy. 

A good routine to do is to pick 3 exercises or crawls, do them for 1 minute each to start the day. You can mimic the type of animals you like and work on waking the muscles and waking up the brain at the same time. For me, I like to do Bear Crawls, Gorilla Hops & Tiger Walks to get things going. Since coffee is out of the question for me (I absolutely hate it), this is better in my opinion and it doesn't take long. Even after doing one of the moves, I'm already waking up quick and feeling good. 

It doesn't have to be the three animals I mentioned, if you like Duck Walks, Crab Walks or moving like a Lizard, go for it. Keep the basics, follow patterns of opposite arm/leg and don't move so fast you'll crash on your face LOL. We may not always spring up in the morning but with a routine like this, slowly getting ourselves moving to fire things up, it could put that spring in our step after and feel like we can take on the world. 

Set your watch or timer for 60 seconds, do a move, take a brief rest and repeat 2 more times and that's it, there's your morning routine. Productivity that works cognitive function and blood flow to your system while stretching and moving at the same time. You can go longer as time goes on but this is a good start to your day. If you really would just like to start for 1 minute, that's fine too but 3 minutes is really the stepping stone here. You don't have to go Sonic The Hedgehog on the moves or anything, just start moving and feel your body.  

For more info on Animal Moves, come check out the bad ass course Movement 20XX that has all sorts of exercises, flows and routines that will help you build strength, flexibility, mobility and brain power. If you're on a budget and would like something a bit more affordable, check out Animal Moves by Darryl Edwards who's great motto is to "train like an animal, to move like a human." You always have options. Be amazingly awesome and get moving, your life depends on it and get that grumpiness out of your system in the morning, wake up with fire in you and jump start the day with energy. 

Shoot me a comment or use the contact form to email me. I no longer read anonymous comments due to HARASSMENT and DISTURBING notes that include abusive threats and sexual fetishes. Please use real names and be respectful. Thank you.  

Animal Stretching & Flexibility

Would you believe that Animal Exercises go beyond just warming up or being used for conditioning? What if the method was used to help loosen up the muscles and joints in a stretching routine? Although mainly used for dynamic work, they can also be used in isometric fashion if you understand the mechanics. Most stretching routines are pretty boring and you look stiff as it is as opposed to actually being stiff and trying to loosen up. A good routine can be found here if you want to try it out.

My favorite exercises to really get the body going and have that relaxing feeling is utilizing the Bear Walk, Scorpion Rotation, Over Reach and various moves based on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, add in a few Yoga moves, concentrated stretches and working the spine, knees, elbows and ankles you've got it made. I don't really take breaks in the middle of this workout because I just transition from one exercise to another like a Flow and keep going. The objective is to not speed through it but pace as relaxed as possible, remember it's just mostly stretching.

You don't have to do the transitioning, that's just part of it. If you're new to it, doing them one at a time than two moves, than three and so on until you can do a continuation without having to stop. It's like building up a cardio like routine where you get the benefit of building stamina as you stretch and you can go as long as you need to. There's no limit, once you get the a good routine down for yourself, you can go into a regular workout or just practice flows and combos till you're done for the day. It's all up to you.

I can make an update video of a off the top of my head kind of routine but for now here's a video of a 5 minute routine I did a couple years ago to get you an idea (I've lost weight since then) but it's still a good set of stretches to do at just about anytime when you need it. Stretching should never be boring, it should give you the ability to wake up and feeling good. I've never been a fan of routines and just go with my instincts which works for me. Because of the type of memory I possess, I can take just about any exercise I know and do a flow style set. That's where I feel most like myself instead of trying to follow exactly the same style as someone else, it just doesn't feel right, I'll pick up on stuff and learn the exercises for sure but from a routine stand point, it just feels wrong to me to "follow along." 

The transitioning aspect as you get better, creates more than just stretching the body, you're also stretching your brain to send the nerves into overdrive and be quick on your feet and breathing naturally. When animals stretch like a wildcat or a wolf, they naturally program their bodies to be ready for what lies ahead whether it's on a hunt, a battle for leadership or even when mating occurs. That's what Animal Style Stretching is like, to be able to wake up the body for what the day brings. You never know if you'll be able to help someone in need, to stay healthy to prevent injuries and having the body alert for taking care of loved ones. 

Flexibility is a key to staying young and some of the best stretches in the world come from the inspiration of the Animal Kingdom. Be flexible/limber, be aware and be amazingly awesome.