Systematic exercise is the typical norm of modern day fitness; you do this many reps for strength/endurance, you go at this speed to burn fat, you run this many miles to determine if you're in shape and so on and so forth. Everything is planned out, you have your machines, weights and all sorts of things at your disposal, hell even bodyweight exercise has a ball point system of carefully planned pre-noted exercises like push-ups, squats, sit-ups and various pull-ups. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get in shape for various purposes and with the right kind of training you can increase hormones and enhance brain activity which is always a good thing. Now what I'm about o tell you goes beyond all this.
You see, I was never fond of predetermined routines that had do this and that; not that I don't love a good circuit or do 500 Squats when I have the opportunity but I feel like if I step out of that and went a completely different direction where reps aren't relied on and you can do things for as long as you want or as short as you want and get something out of it either way, that's where I turn to the unorthodox style of Primate Training/Conditioning. I feel it's just as beneficial if not more so than a full on narrow systematic approach.
It's not truly "exercising" like a primate, it's basically mimicking animals, that's it. Nothing more than just learning movements and holds that resemble an animal's behavior. The primates in general are our closest animal relative, humans are considered primates in a scientific sense. Now why is this method beneficial? It does far more than just playing and making weird sounds or a gorilla or a chimp; it's reinventing or studying through our own physiology in order to take on the body's capabilities in a very unique and very primitive way. Yes it's true, we can't exactly mimic every primate's movement patterns for obvious reasons but it shouldn't prevent us from finding a suitable adaptation to basic and even tough ways to move our bodies similar to a simian.
Moving like a primate in various ways, opens up channels of the body that releases a natural satisfaction of being free and learning to use the body unlike the normal fitness crazes. Walking like a chimp can be very silly looking but on a deeper and much more open minded outlook, it can lead to healing shoulders, enhance leg conditioning and more. Moving like a gorilla or bonobo or orangutan can strengthen the fingers to a degree even greater than fingertip push-ups; unlike FTP where you go up and down using all ten fingers down to one and all the variations you can do, try doing the same exact principle when walking like an ape. You're going in all different directions and you need a sense of balance that is very unique, I have done this with different movements of apes and only a couple are very easy to do, I have walked on my fists, my knuckles, my fingertips, my thumbs alone and even did them going backwards and have developed strong hands because of them.
Hanging is by far one of the most beneficial exercises or holds of all-time and for good reason; when you hang from various grips, you're not just hanging on (which in itself is difficult for most people) you're lengthening the torso, stretching the back in it's natural position, building the core muscles in a very powerful way and increasing strength in the tendons and ligaments. It's a bit of an irony when there are people who can do quite a few pull-ups but if you ask them to just hang there, chances are they won't last more than a few seconds. If you can't hang, you shouldn't be doing pull-ups period. Hanging alone can help alleviate back pain, open up the shoulders, gain flexibility in the obliques and give you grip strength that is natural & functional.
Make Primate training a part of your daily lives, don't just do it for a particular workout/playout, do it throughout the day in small segments, if you have sat too long, get deep into the squat position and put your palms on the floor, if you can't then do what you can. If you're a complete and utter beginner, practice what is possible for you and build from there. I didn't start out being fast or able to hang for a solid period of time, hell even at 250+ lbs. its still a challenge at times but make it fun and work for you. Be a primate, it's in your blood.
To learn the top movements and hold for primate get Animal Kingdom Conditioning I & II, want your child to build that kind of strength; get Wild Animal Fitness For Kids. These courses by themselves can give you a lifetime of practice and having the adventure of a lifetime.
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