Do Gorillas Carry Strength Secrets?

Have you heard of the story of the Gorilla at Animal Kingdom in Kissimmee, Florida? Many, many years ago, the foreman that was in charge of the habitat there was keeping an eye on the walls to make sure there weren't small cracks. Why would he do that? There's a simple explanation really and that's because if you gave an idea of how strong a Gorilla is, you'll learn that within a crack of a wall, if it gets even a singer finger within it, that's all it needs for leverage to scale the wall and get up and over. For real man, that's some stupid strength and if its in a rage, you're going to need to call on Godzilla or something.

The foreman knew it was possible for a Gorilla to do this. The real reason he knows, it's not because of the study of primates or anything like that, it's because it has happened before. How incredible is that? Think of the power you can possess if you had that kind of strength. Now, we know in reality, we can't literally have that kind of strength, however; we can have strength that the average human (especially in today's age) couldn't even fathom. Would you enjoy your training more? Feel stronger as a result of it? I would bet you would. Moving like an animal in the wild takes on a whole different feel of exercise than the conventional or even traditional way. 

Strengthening the tendons and ligaments by moving like a primate is actually one of the coolest things you can do. At Vahva Fitness, there are so many movements you can practice on but the movements that are inspired by Primates such as the Gorilla and various Monkey Patterns like the Baboon are on a completely different level. The conditioning aspect alone is worth the price of Movement 20XX. 

When you start to learn the patterns, the flows and the fundamental aspects of these movement exercises, boredom not only goes out the window, it shoots off into space to never be seen again. You can learn sample routines or come up with your own and format workouts that will shape you in ways many methods today can't. You'll be moving freely like a beast, gaining flexibility, strength, agility and endurance. That's only the physical part, the mental part is much more gratifying because you'll be finding ways to channel your brain and send your nervous system into a state of possible relaxation and a meditative aspect that can be only seen to believe. 

To give you an example of how powerful this type of training is: Rickson Gracie who's one of the greatest fighters of his generation practiced a lot of animalistic type exercises and breathing patterns that he mastered so well that one point, he was in such a meditative type state from moving this way that he couldn't even hear his coach Orlando Cani call him out for roughly 45 minutes and the man was within feet of him inside this little studio. Rickson was so in tuned with his body and mind that he became animalistic himself and was forming patterns and movements that were unbelievable to witness even for Cani himself.  Think about that, to be able to go into such a state that you're not even yourself anymore and just being primal. Being inside yourself and flowing on the outside as if it was effortless. That's a hell of an achievement and if the great Rickson Gracie can do it, why can't you?

If we can even do 1/10th of what Rickson accomplished, that would be an achievement that would satisfy us for a lifetime. Being animalistic is not about going crazy or so primal you'll hurt somebody, it's about being in touch with nature both internally and externally. The ability to unlock that animal within all of us. That's the true secret. We can become super strong and be able to move with ease if we let ourselves go and let certain aspects of our natural instincts take over. Move, Play and be Amazingly Awesome. 

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Animal It Out

            As kids and teenagers we go through extreme changes and some of that is being full of energy and hyped up. As adults it doesn’t happen quite like back in the day but still we can full of energy and just have a tireless work ethic (not all but some). Animal exercises are a favorite of mine especially mixing things up to make it interesting. When you train like an animal, you’re getting your hormones balanced out, you’re learning how to coordinate and you have fun playing around with them.

            Like everyone else I also get frustrated and mad at times to the point where it’s hard to think, it happens. When you get mad, your body shifts and it can throw you off so you need to chill out. Believe it or not, a few minutes of Animal Training can wipe out that anger and bring you back down to a blissful state because of how much of your whole body needs to be congruent with the movements.

            One of the major keys to be successful in your Animal Training is to think like that animal or what I like to call your Animal Spirit or Animality. Sure there are plenty of movements to do but there’s only one that catches your eye and you do it more often than the others, it’s what calls to you and sometimes without thinking about it you just do it and why is that? Every one of us has an animal spirit within and how we obtain it is by looking inside ourselves and once you find it you’ll know.

            Another secret is to play and just have fun with the Animal Movements. When it stops feeling like a chore and more of a game, your results can be more efficient and more likely to happen. Kids love games, it gives them structure and they enjoy it. When you teach them to play a certain game with Animal Exercises, it helps get stronger and more brain efficient because they have to use it to coordinate, be aware and learn to control what they’re doing while building natural muscle and powerful tendons that can aid them in sports and other endeavors. Create something fun out of it whether you’re a kid or an adult, you can find a way to Animal it out. 

The Spirit of The Gorilla

          When you come across a powerful creature of immense strength, mighty spirit and tremendous power in the tendons, the Gorilla or Mighty Ape is what comes to mind in my opinion. It is extraordinary to think of the Ape as a true king of the vast Wild Jungle. As heavy as 500 lb. can still climb trees and truly wrestle the very best the animal kingdom offers in it’s surroundings. It’s spirit is so powerful it takes hold of what we as human that have evolved from stand the test of time as one of the strongest animals ever.

            We all have an animal spirit within us, it’s called our Animality. Some of us hold a special animal in our hearts, not so much the domesticated but a wild creature that has grasped our imagination, the ability to use our instincts and be able to move with grace, power and speed. When you hold onto that Animal Spirit it becomes the embodiment of what we truly strive to become and that’s a strong, mighty and powerful being and could become superhuman if we truly submerge ourselves into a deep state of mind.

            Our imagination is what binds us to create the reality that dwells within each and every one of us. We can create similar things but there’s always something different and unique to it because we think differently and channel our energy differently. What we think tends to become a reality if we truly believe in it. The world is huge and dangerous and powerful natural occurrences but it’s also very beautiful in many areas of life and we tend to overlook this concept. Our Animal Spirit is a driving force for which our imagination runs with. You can’t create something without thinking of it first. It’s that whole world inside all of us that helps us find what we seek and where we want to go. Follow your Animality and see where it leads you.

            For me my Animality is the Gorilla, that ferocious strength that courses through my veins, being able to strengthen my body from the teachings of this mighty but beautiful animal. My ability to hang with the strength of my hands; walk on my knuckles and fingertips that will bring intense power in my tendons and muscles. My love for strengthening my body from awkward positions and turning my tendons into cords of Vibraniam, not steel or iron but Vibraniam you know the element from Captain America’s Shield that is far stronger than steel. You also have an Animality that is waiting to be unleashed, giving you the strength to do what you were meant for and the surge of strength and power coursing through your body. Helping you find the best way to build your body the way you were meant to have.

            It’s that natural instinct that is now fading away because we have forgotten how to harness it’s power that doesn't come from big muscles or an ego the size of Texas but it comes from what we see from within, the spirit that dwells in our minds and our hearts that reach out to us. Listen to it and you’ll realize how beautiful it is when it speaks to you and helps you in ways you couldn't have imagined before. Listen to your Animality and when you unleash it into the world in a positive and healthy way, it becomes a reality that has been hidden far too long. 

The Ultimate Beast

            As a species we've been striving for strength since the dawn of time. The early evolution of man was to hunt, run, swim, climb and didn't have a choice to be strong, you either were or you died that simple. As we became civilized, we've lost touch of our roots of what is strength and life-long health and power not just in physical form but emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Most ancient man of strength was either in slavery, farm work, blacksmith, sporting man or soldier and no more than that. There was a time when kings were great warriors and their physical strength was incredible, nowadays most don’t value the strength they've developed or don’t realize the true strength within them.

            A key ingredient to successful physical stature of strength and fitness is to evolve backwards and it’s one key way to become naturally superhuman. Today with all these gadgets and machines, “aerobics” classes and other things, we are nearly fading in the shadow of our ancestors and forgotten more about strength and health than any other time period. If you value your body, give it strength; give it a reason to be resilient to disease and learn to control what you put into it. A great form of exercise is to move like a wild animal. Build your body that can become three times stronger than the average person. Imagine powerful tendons, a mighty back, arms with powerful functional muscle, abs that can take a punch, legs that have full of energy and build your hormones to levels that couldn't be fathom before and all with great strength, tremendous balance, graceful agility and devouring power. Think about that.

            You’d want to spend as much time outside as possible. If you live in an area where weather conditions aren't so great aka Idaho where weather is almost like Sybil and still has all four seasons, you learn to adapt. In the summer and spring when it’s warm and beautiful go outside and live around nature, be adventurous and play, in the winter, keep warm and train as much as you can. There’s no excuse to not train everyday of the week even if you only have 5 min. do something. The wild is our gym, you can lift odd objects, if you go to the gym; do some basic lifting (presses, squats, pulls) and leave the bunny weights alone. You live in an area that has snow, shovel it out of the way, that’s a great workout, got a tire and a hammer, strike it down and become more powerful than you can possibly imagine (if you don’t get that reference I feel sorry for you). You live in the city, adapt to your environment and walk to certain places. There’s always something you can do to make the best of your training. Live out in the country, chop wood, who said a gym is the only place to train.

            We all have an animal within us. In Mortal Kombat: Annihilation despite its horrible acting and overdoing the characters, there was a distinct message in there. Within us is our own what’s called Animality. Animality is the spirit within us that has a distinct animal. No one has the same form of animal and it makes us unique. We move a certain way and our Animality is what we strive to be even if we don’t know it. When you do physical animal movements, there will be at least one animal you will do more frequently, you may not know or you may come to grips with it but whatever animal comes up and you end up having more fun, more results and you do it more often because your mind is fixated on it that is more likely the animal spirit within, your Animality.

            Kids are the real inspiration for our future but nowadays that’s fading away due to obesity, the way kids are taught in school, bullying, depression and not enough love and encouragement to help them strive to be their best. One of my friends Bud Jeffries has a son named Noah, this kid has had obstacles in his life that most wouldn't dare to fight back but yet at nearly 17 he’s one of the strongest teenagers, very intelligent, is one of the sharpest shooters in the world and learned how to develop his mind in ways most can never understand. He is one inspirational kid and had great parents to get him through life. You don’t have many kids like that today and it’s sad.

            Kids should be encouraged, loved, showing them how they can be great at what they love to do. Help them find what they’re best at and have it be a positive influence. Get them to exercise like an animal, let them play, have fun create friends and share stories with them. I’m not a parent so I don’t have the luxury or the tools to tell you how to treat your kid and don’t need to but I've been around kids my whole life and observed from a lot of families including my own. Show them what a great life they can have, how they can change the world for the better and give them something to hope for, encourage them, and give them something that brings them joy.

            It’s time to unleash the best within us and become strong in every possible way whether it’s fitness, business, sports, teaching and/or entertaining, we all strive to be strong in our own way, let it bring out the best in all of us because it’s more freighting to feel locked up than to be free. 

How To Become Tarzan In Your Own Way

            In the Jungle, you don’t know what to expect, don’t always where to eat or drink because there’s always something else that might get in your way. You’re constantly on the move and you can go from tree to tree or you run on the ground. To move like a wild animal, you must learn its moving patterns, where to plant your body when you land, which direction to use your arms to get where you want to go. Tarzan is a great reminder of how to use your body and mind.

            When you've been in a certain environment long enough, you know where everything is, you know what can be dangerous and it becomes second nature to you. You can use that to your advantage when you want to train. When you learn how to use your environment as a resource for exercise and fitness, you can take it anywhere and anytime you want. You don’t always need one specific place, when you aren't used to a certain environment, learn how you can make it your strength and learn how you can use it to get in awesome shape.

            One of my friends Ed Baran has a few words that he says called Way Of The Animal, it’s related to how you move like a wild animal in the Jungle, using your body to develop strength and muscle like an animal. It is far healthier and much more natural to move like an animal in the wild than sulking in a gym waiting to use the weights. When you head outside and go to a park, there’s a great connection there. Since kids are back in school as of late, this is the time to reflect on getting them in tuned with their animal counterparts by imitating them to fight off obesity and other forms of illness.

            A thing I have learned over the years that I’m still learning is to follow my intuition meaning how to use my awareness in a mindful way. For me, my intuition is never wrong and whenever something comes up no matter what it is, it’s usually spot on. Like Tarzan from all his time in the Jungle, his intuition is so powerful that it’s kept him alive, it’s helped form a bond with his body and mind when he senses danger and needs to protect himself. Granted yes in the movies he never dies because the script said so but there is some truth to that notion when you learn to follow your instincts and something inside of you is telling you something, you better listen.

            Have fun when you’re learning how to use your intuition, your way of moving around your own environment and practicing the movements of a Jungle animal. Too many of us get stuck in this rut where things are so downward and dull, boring and we don’t give ourselves time to relax and enjoy what we have. I understand you have certain things to deal with in your lives but that doesn't mean you make it harder on yourself to control what you really can do in a more productive and positive way. Channel your energy and learn from somebody like Tarzan, he’s got more issues then you do and yet he still has that child-like quality of him that still plays even in the worst conditions of the Jungle. Be fun and have a kick ass time. 

Animal Ability

           Do you want to have the strength, mobility & toughness of an action hero? Well let me tell you about my own method that I have used training myself (& others as a former fitness trainer) to work towards this goal. Let me preface this by saying if you want to be a powerlifter, bodybuilder, etc you need proper guidance for steering this toward your specific goal. Also if you play a specific sport you need to make sure you add in specific skill development.
     
        My methods will take you 80-90% towards anyone of these categories. If you want to be prepared to take on anything then this is a (if not the) style to use. Strength, power, speed, agility, quickness, mobility & flexibility are what this style will help you build.
   
       So let's jump right in & quit the yammering, the following is a guideline to the order I have found works well in most cases. Now when I say most that means it is NOT written in stone. Do not be afraid to experiment! Just don't hurt yourself doing something weird. I train six days per week, one day conditioning/cardio type movements, the next more explosive/strength/power oriented work. I use Monday – Saturday with Sunday being a free day.

       General Warm-up – I know, I know, boring, but it needs to be done. Take at least five (5) minutes of moving all or at least the majority of your joints. Do not just get on a bike for 5 minutes & think you have done good, because you haven't. Jumping Jacks or a variation are a good thing to start with, but you need some squatting/hinging, some reaching & twisting.

       Specific Warm-up – This is usually used mainly on  explosive/strength/power days as your body works best when your nervous system is stimulated. This usually (you may see this word a lot) consist of the first 3-5 exercises or movements simulating them. I even do this for explosive jumping/plyometric movements, I just do them without as much explosiveness.

       THE WORKOUT!
       Stamina/Conditioning/Cardio - I sometimes use a certain skill or skills I wish to learn at or near the beginning, but then I get into the meat. I use rounds/timed tempos with minimal rest between movements & rounds/tempos. I usually end the session with some odd work like muscle endurance in my feet, light resistance high reps.

       Explosive/Strength/Power – I usually (that word again) start with a jumping &/or sprinting drill. I try to make sure the combined rep total is 20. Depending on S/C/C day I choose drills that are not compromised from that training. This is important as it further stimulates the nervous system. This can allow stronger muscle contractions.

    Next I usually move to some high resistance lifts. I usually perform a squatting &/or hinging, upper body pull (vertical – horizontal), upper body push (vertical – horizontal), ofttimes I will follow with midsection or posterior chain work. I try to stick with certain basic movements & place specialized odd movements after basic heavier movements. Some people would choose to do it opposite, but in my experience the basic movements are so much heavier than odd movements that with focus it doesn't really matter that you have worked those muscles.
     
   A final comment before I go to the next part. E/S/P is not stamina/conditioning/cardio so take at least 0:30 or longer between movements. Having said that it is rare that I rest longer than 2:00.

       STRETCHING!!!! - This is the life saver. For the last five years I have been using http://www.yogabodynaturals.com/ method called Gravity Poses. I have no monetary interest in this company I just have found Lucas' Gravity Poses to work the best.
       RECAP:

       General Warm-up  5-10 minutes

       Specific Warm-up (especially on high resistance days) 5-10 minutes

       Stamina/Conditioning/Cardio 10-30 minutes

       Explosiveness/Strength/Power (jump, sprint, basics + esoteric) 15-30 minutes

       STRETCHING! 10-20 minutes

       Total Time S/C/C = 30 - 60 minutes

       Total Time E/S/P = 35 – 70 minutes

       You should always strive towards the lower end of the time scale. Most important take away is use the minimum amount needed to achieve your fastest gains.

       So if you wish to be prepared physically & mentally for any activity or sport try the Animal Ability style!