Take Your Animal Exercise Anywhere

As of late I've gone back to the Animal Movements because it is by far my most favorite form of exercise and the one system I get most excited about. Having that urge to move like a wild beast and getting in awesome shape while having fun for under 30 min. I'm convinced nothing burns off fat faster and makes you stronger than Animal Exercise. As much as I love doing things like pull-ups, sprinting, hammer workouts and kettlebell juggling; the animals take the cake.

I have written possibly a dozen times or more about moving like a wild animal and the reason that is besides what I just wrote above is that it brings me joy to my life more than any other system has. You can do these anywhere you wish, I even do them indoors on a sucky day. When you're outside you can do them all over the place but indoors you can move a little slower and do exercises in a stationary position like the Frog, Flamingo, Condor, Spider against your wall, Armadillo, Puma, Isometric Alligator or Seal whatever you choose to do. I believe in making the best of them when you're in the mood and just have at it. I do these exercises no more than 30 min. at a time and always hungry and ready for a shower afterwards.

It's also important to incorporate deep breathing between sets of exercise to open up your lungs and let your body recover because these exercises hit your whole body with a vengeance. This helps increase endurance, develop a faster metabolism and generate insane natural growth hormone which helps you burn off fat, build strength, put on natural muscle mass (not bulk like a bodybuilder) and create athletic ability. Watch how animals have insane lung power like the tiger, cheetah, Bear and even chimps. Sure we're built differently and don't have the same hunting senses but overall we can increase our conditioning and power in our bodies that frown upon our DNA to move and live with great strength and incredible athletic agility and stamina.

The biggest thing about training this way as I've said many many times is that it creates an atmosphere that is enjoyable and fun that it doesn't feel like working out. If you're someone who is hyper, this is the perfect system for you because when you move for so long your body releases endorphins and builds on bringing that calming and relaxing affect on your nervous system. Don't push so hard you pass out (happened to me on the first day) but understand when to stop and just breathe and let those endorphins kick in. If you're someone with low self-esteem these exercises perk you right up because when you move in this manner you're using every muscle in your body and it opens up an area of the brain where you generate that happy side and having that sensation of powerful calmness and beautiful feeling of smiling from the inside you can't help but light up.

Get into the mindset of a wild animal being adventurous and exploring your fitness potential. Who knows, in a short amount of time you'll ind yourself feeling better, muscle comes in quicker, you have more energy and for guys, your testosterone will shoot through the roof and for women those hormones will get you going like you were 18 again. Do us all a favor and get out there and just move like your favorite animal and get your body in the shape it was meant to, build up and see your body shape up with animal muscle.

Making Push-Ups Interesting

I'm not the biggest fan of push-ups but I know they work very well and have great benefits that are beyond conditioning and strength. Some call them the greatest bodyweight exercise and some say there are better ways to build muscle than with push-ups. All I care about is how things make you better whether people agree with them or not. Push-ups have been the staple exercise throughout many cultures and in the military making it the homestead of strength and endurance. I for one feel once you reach a certain level of push-ups, do more difficult versions and see how far you can take it without injuring yourself or get so bored you begin to hate them. 

I do feel however that an exercise of that caliber should have a place in any program but it's not always a necessary exercise, for me the best exercise is the Bear Crawl; it literally hits your body from every angle and having to move in awkward positions creates a stronger base as oppose to push-ups where you are only going up and down in the majority of variations. Sure the Bear Crawl needs a bit more space but when it happens, you will be huffing and puffing quicker than Peter Griffin's time on a Cardio Bike. I like to make Push-ups interesting or try variations that are a little out there. One way I do my push-ups is using a weighted vest and do them slower with less repetitions with fewer sets to build up testosterone and get more of my arms in the mix. I also use what's called The Power Push-up Plus from Lifeline that makes it more of a Bench Press feel to it where resistance is the main key. 

Most of the time I see people doing Push-ups, most of the variations they use are very boring and just so tedious they're not fun. Sometimes too basic becomes dull so spice things up a bit. Going up and down isn't what life is about, it has curves, swirls, circulates and even has you at a dead stop at times. Make your push-ups interesting; do them upside down, do Archer Push-ups, clap for joy and even jump around, have fun with them. If I wanted to just go up and down just do stairs. Be creative.

I've done tons of reps in this exercise well within the hundreds in single workouts so why continue that cycle, sometimes I don't count and bounce around doing a few reps of different variations and goofing off. Doing hundreds of reps a day is boring period, if you're into that more power to you but having a puffy chest can only get you so far. Live it up and do push-ups with a little Flair (and no i'm not talking about Ric Flair's grandkids).  

Theme Park Isometrics

When it comes down to it, I love amusement parks, been to a few in my life and always end up having a pretty good time especially at the greatest theme park of all-time Disneyland. Yesterday however, I had the opportunity after nearly 4 years of living in Idaho I went to the state's most famous theme park Silverwood in Athol. Very fun and just an awesome time with my girl Holly, speaking of which if you get a chance check out her bad ass blog about Turner's Syndrome at This Butterfly Life. Anyway back to it, me and the lovely Spider Monkey had an incredible day full of love, laughter, enjoyment and just pure kick ass fun. Went on water rides, a couple Coasters, saw a magic show, ate awesome burgers at a wild west themed restaurant and rode a 3 mile train ride that included a stunt show and tour of the grounds circling the park.

Now why did I come up with the title of this article, how the bloody hell do I mean Theme Park Isometrics? Well students, what you do is when you're in line at a par of this caliber or any amusement park for that matter, while you're in line waiting for your ride; you do Isometric Exercise against the railing or wall of the line. This really tells you that excuses are not part of the quota here and you can get training in even at a crazy place filled with characters, buildings and large fucking rides. I've been doing these for years at the Boardwalk and at Disneyland. Standing in line, doing wall pushes, pulls, sits, arm wrestling a pole, chest presses, Iso Curls and even muscle control with my hands in my pocket; whatever you can come up with make use of it. This will help you keep up your energy so you can stay pumped full of life during your stay at the park, walking is also awesome which you do a lot of anyway but why not bring muscular contractions to make things interesting. I even once did a unassisted Handstand in line of World Of Tomorrow at the Happiest Place On Earth.

It can be a little trying to exercise in line and might be worried that someone might look at you funny and think you're some kind of weirdo; trust me I thought the same thing and I did get some looks every now and then and was even asked what I was doing, just said that i'm doing what I love and that's training. Some get weirded out by it, others have given me praise for them but the majority of the time, no one gives a shit; they're either on their cell phones texting friends that are right next to each other or being bored when the line will move and then there are kids, that is self explanatory. I do it because it's fun and you can even make it look a little casual like nothing out of the ordinary; that's where the wall sits come in handy big time especially if you want to keep up the stamina of your legs throughout the day.

Next time you're in line waiting to get on a ride, do a few Isometrics against the railing whether it be wood, a chain, hollow aluminum steel and whatever else. Passes the time when you're there a while (try being in 2 hour line waiting for fucking Indiana Jones in Adventureland you'll thank me on that one). Will it wear you out? No if you play your cards right and not go full boar in every line, only use maybe 40% of your strength at best and do it for a few seconds and don't make yourself too obvious to attract so much attention the person operating finds out and won't know what the hell to do with you, be creative but casual and relaxed, not so full of adrenaline you make a damn scene. It's a lot of fun and it gives you something to do instead of moping around or getting so excited that you might lose it after waiting too long. Go for it and may you get stronger before you get on your favorite ride.