We live in a society where making things complicated (knowingly or not) is the norm and the Fitness industry is no different. You find programs that have major holes and reeking of bullshit that it is hard to fathom whether it works or not. For the most part, a lot of programs do work but not the way you want to believe. You see a lot of these programs cater to a specific audience or the general population and expect that demographic to take the workout schemes and ads at the word of the author, trainers or by every positive review. The biggest thing many programs lack is simplicity.
Simplicity is basically taking the most basic elements and molding them into a easy to follow progression system where an individual can take on the tasks without overthinking and being stress-free about it. The problem is however, as an individual, it can be very difficult to determine what is simple and what can look confusing. This is where I feel
Animal Style Movements have the greatest form of simplicity. Forget the trendy versions of Animal Movement for a second and let's focus on the realistic arena of Animal Moves that have the formation of the best possible version of mimicry.
Take the Bear Crawl, very simple movement, get on all fours with your ass in the air and start moving in all sorts of directions. There's really only 2 variations there is in this case, slow and fast as hell. This exercise alone can be done by just about anybody from young to old and can be modified to a person's level. Let's take it for what it is and not break down every single little mechanic that would only confuse somebody.
Another great movement is the Frog Jump, building that explosiveness and leg strength; you squat down as low as possible and than jump, easy to remember. If you're not keen to have the ability to jump, just touch the floor with your palms in the squat position, once you get better, do little jumps in place, than big ones, next jump forward and so on. The major problems with simplicity is that many people think it is not enough or not interesting enough and want a variety which ironically gets them into trouble and not wanting to do the program all together.
Have you ever watched an animal program like Planet Earth, Monkey Planet or any show based on Wildlife in Africa, Alaska, Europe? We are just captivated by how animals move and as kids, we had the wild imagination of being our
favorite animals. What happened to that excitement and enthusiasm? I'll tell you what happened; life, growing up and being told that those childish games shouldn't be done anymore. Why can't we just go back and be wild and free? The truth is, we can but with modifications. As kids, we had energy like no tomorrow and had great time learning things and figuring things out on a whim. As adults, we become more analytical, complicating things and stopped showing the passion and curiosity. We need to get back to these things but on a level that works for us because in this generation, we have let kids use too many electronics and not enough play time to get in the habit of using the body as a form of tool to develop our minds, motor skills and coordination using various areas of the brain.
This is where the simplicity of
Animal Movements come in, we get to go back to that state of child-like entities but with a greater purpose because let's face it, as we get older our bodies begin to change and not always for the better so it is important to have an upkeep and take hold of the idea of keeping our bones, muscles and even our brains strong. Animal Moves generate a lot of brain activity, producing muscular definition, building hormones and reduce pain. I may still be a young buck compared to those over 40, 50, 60 and 70 but I'm not going to let my body just take hold of old age, at nearly 34 I'm in the best shape I've been in but I also want to keep that up as long as I can with that enthusiasm and drive. 34 may not be old to many but many people in my age range are already letting themselves go or overdoing it to the degree where injuries are more common and takes longer to recover.
Be simple regardless o your age and get moving with the best of intentions. Do it at your own pace but also make it fun and interesting. The more you utilize your imagination with movement, the better off you'll be.
