Contents
What is Animal Flow training, what are they based on? Let’s talk about the benefits of Animal Flow training, their features, and contraindications.
Animal Flow is one of the new youth trends in fitness, which is translated from English as “natural animal movements”. It harmoniously combines Pilates, breakdance, yoga, gymnastics, and stretching.
Animal Flow workouts were created by US-based fitness expert Mike Fitch. He studied various sports methods for many years and concluded that the safest, most useful and effective for a person are training using not additional, but his own weight. He was inspired by the natural plastic movements of animals, took elements from breakdancing and gymnastics, combined everything into one, including his knowledge of biomechanics. As a result, Animal Flow gymnastics appeared, which many are fond of.
The sports direction got its name due to the fact that it uses different poses of animals – crab, chimpanzee and others.
Assignment of Animal Flow workouts
Animal Flow is used to develop endurance, give muscles and joints flexibility, strengthen the body, and become stronger. Training can carry a different meaning: it all depends on the pace at which the exercises will be done.
- Classes can be aimed at restoring the body after injuries, operations, prolonged inactivity and lack of sports activities, or they can give cardio loads on the body. If you take the pace above the average, then in one workout, which will last 1 hour, you can lose 400 calories.
- Some exercises are used to strengthen the stabilizing muscles while learning to balance. A person gains complete control over his body, learns to feel it. And the repetition of movements inherent in certain animals can turn into meditative exercises with relaxation of consciousness.
After such training, the joints are strengthened in people, they become more flexible and mobile. It also improves the flexibility of the ligaments, which affects their elasticity and significantly reduces the risk of injury.
Features of Animal Flow training
Animal Flow exercises consist of such types of exercises that are aimed at working out different muscle groups:
- Wrist Strengthening Exercises – This is necessary in order to perform various postures with emphasis on the hands without consequences and risks of injury.
- Transitional movements that link postures “They help to make the exercises flow smoothly so that they are not isolated. As a result, the training will look like a slow plastic dance.
- Stretching – Improves the flexibility of muscles, tendons and joints, increases their mobility. All weak areas are worked out and strengthened.
- Animal Poses – These are the main exercises that resemble the natural movements of animals, birds and even some insects.
All these exercises warm up the ligaments and joints, increase blood circulation. They can be used as a warm-up before an intense cardio workout or as a separate relaxing exercise. Although training looks simple on the outside, it requires a lot of energy.
For the first few days, a beginner can feel “strength” in many muscles, even in those that are not involved in everyday life.
Key Benefits of Animal Flow Training
- strengthening joints, which contributes to the prevention of many diseases, including arthrosis;
- toning the muscles of the back, which will allow you to have a healthy spine and not experience back pain;
- development of endurance, muscle strength, improvement of the general condition of the body;
- increasing the elasticity of the ligaments, which will save you from sprains and dislocations.
Workouts are also good because they get rid of the routine: there is no clear structure that must be followed. You can independently combine exercises, thereby making classes varied, exciting and interesting.
Recommendations for training
- Animal Flow does not require special preparation. So even beginners can do it. A small warm-up should be done to increase blood circulation and increase muscle tone.
- The workout takes approximately 45 minutes. – First, individual poses are learned. After you clearly remember them, you can perform a bunch of them. Ligaments are already referred to a more serious level of exercise.
On top of all this, Animal Flow classes do not require the purchase of equipment, which allows you to practice at home. Just before starting training, you need to consult with the instructor, take several master classes from him, or follow the recommendations from the videos taken on the network.
Exercises are suitable not only for those people who have been involved in sports for many years, but also for beginners with a low level of training.
Contraindications to exercise
Animal Flow has no strict contraindications and age restrictions, as training can take place at any pace convenient for you. Pregnant women, as well as people with thrombophlebitis and varicose veins, should be approached with caution. And all because many exercises are performed while standing, with a load on the legs. In these cases, you should talk with your doctor, discuss the feasibility of exercising and possible health risks.