Animal Flow’s Crab Reach is ground based exercise loaded with benefits ranging from being a potent movement to activate the posterior chain, stretching/lengthening of the anterior body , thoracic rotation, shoulder stability and general body awareness in space using an uncommon body position.
Benefits of the Animal Flow Crab Reach
The benefits of the Crab Reach are many, but here are some notables…
Posterior chain activation and hip extension
Active Thoracic Mobility
Anterior body stretch (hip flexors, quads, torso)
Shoulder stability/endurance emphasis in loaded shoulder
Trunk rotation
Right and Left Side
Low-impact
A Tool to Off-Set Sitting Posture
The Crab Reach is a great exercise to battle/off-set the negative effect long duration sitting.It’s not the only tool or the “best” tool, but a good one to implement on a regular basis.
Reversing aches and pains caused by primarily long duration sitting requires dedication, discipline and volume.There is no quick fix.
A quick hip flexor stretch, thoracic mobilization and glute bridge is not going to cancel out 8+ hours of sitting in the same turtle-like, wound up position.
Body restoration takes time, effort, consistency and volume.Lots of repetitions, likely lots of time and an aggressive mindset.Assuming you’re doing everything right, expect improvements to occur steadily, but slowly.
Sitting for long durations often evolves into a slumped forward posture.Despite how inactive sitting might seem, maintaining posture in a chair across 8 hours is not realistic.
At some point, the head starts to migrate forward,shoulders turn in and slump forward, the back rounds, the pelvis gets stuck in anterior tilt, the low back extends to make up for it, the powerful glute and hamstring muscles lay dormant as they are smashed into the chair, the anterior body often shortens (abdominals, hip flexors, quads, etc).
Sounds depressing and it is.Sitting when you’re body is tired of standing/walking and ready to rest in a seated position is normal.Sitting because you’re job forces you to is another thing.
Ok, so why is the Crab Reach a good exercise for helping with the negative effects of sitting?
Quite simply, the Crab Reach is the reverse position as slumped over sitting posture.
Nearly every shitty side effect brought about by sitting is worked in opposition during the Crab Reach exercise.
The Crab Reach recruits the posterior chain to drive the hips up into extension, tilting the pelvis to a neutral or maybe a posterior position, the hip flexors open up, the back arches and extends through the thoracic region, torso rotates actively, the shoulders open up (weight supported shoulder stabilizes while free shoulder reaches diagonally), head posture is back and rotated, the hip flexors/quads fall into stretch while the torso elongates and rotates.
Reading the above paragraph is a lot to take in, but in slang summary, the Crab Reach is the opposite position of sitting and a damn good tool to use every single day.
The end range motion (the high position with arm reaching over the top) of the Crab Reach is an active position.You have to be active to get to that high position and remain in that high position.
Making range of motion progress requires active involvement of the muscles.Many popular mobility and flexibility drills are passive.Static stretching is passive flexibility.The muscle is elongated and maybe range of motion is increase, but very little of the gain is useable.The downside to passive mobility and flexibility drills the range of motion gained isn’t necessarily useable, since the body wasn’t actively pursuing and “coding” in that range of motion, acknowledging the motion as “Yes, ok, I actively went here and I know I can go here safely again”.
The Crab Reach is active the entire of the way.
Uncommon Movement
The Crab Reach is an uncommon exercise.
Including an exercise into your program simply because it’s “uncommon”may not seem like a strong enough reason to practice a new exercise pattern, but ongoing exposure to progressive movement patterns and positions is an effective strategy for training the Central Nervous System, improving movement IQ, capacity and confidence.
The concept here is simple: if we do what we always did, we will get what we always got.
To make yourself a better mover means exploring movement.So, when you’re body is craving an unrestricted, multi-planar approach to your next workout, feed it with some ground based conditioning.
Practicing postures and movement patterns that are less common to daily life improves physical and mental confidence.Improving strength, mobility and stability in uncommon movements makes everyday exercises feel easy.Performing basic tasks around the house or at work becomes more of a game.
Training Rotation
When we look at the average person’s “workout of the day”, it’s generally packed with linear resistance training and cardio.
The objective for those who find themselves stuck in a linear dominant training program, should consider adding some multi-planar movement into the mix.
The Crab Reach is a multi-planar exercise.
Each rep moves the body through the Sagittal, Frontal and Transverse Planes all in one shot.
Most (not all) workouts are lacking rotation.Lots of squats, upper body pressing, jumping, pulling, deadlifting… but very little deviation from linear exercise.
Take quick audit of your training regimen.Are you twisting, turning, rotating on a regular basis?If not, integrating simple movements like the Crab Reach will fulfill the rotation element, effectively opening new doors to your movement training.
Including an exercise into your program simply because it’s “uncommon”may not seem like a strong enough reason to practice a new exercise pattern, but ongoing exposure to progressive movement patterns and positions is an effective strategy for training the Central Nervous System, improving movement IQ, capacity and confidence.
Over time, if you’re like me, you’ll likely find yourself executing basic tasks with some creative flare, versus bending, squatting, reaching, twisting movements like it’s a pain in the ass.
I don’t have all day to workout.So, with the time I do have to train, I prefer leverage exercises that kill many birds with one stone.Being a multi-planar exercise, the Crab Reach is an ideal pattern.Every repetition activates the posterior chain and stretches the anterior body while reinforcing thoracic rotation, shoulder stability and breath.
How to Incorporate the Crab Reach
Ground based bodyweight movement is extremely versatile, so don’t assume how I suggest using the Crab Reach is how you have to use the Crab Reach.Use this article for ideas, or, maybe as the blueprint for your next workout.
In the spirit of keeping it simple, there are several primary ways to start practicing the Crab Reach:in the warm up, as part of a lifting session or as part of a flow sequence (organized or improvised).
Of these three ways (warm up, workout or flow), the Crab Reach can be practiced in isolation or as a combination.I always recommend practicing new movements in isolation to increase focus on technique while getting in tune with your senses while moving.I believe isolating an exercise to better understand the mechanics and demands is best.It allows you an opportunity to “feel all of the feels”, pay attention to breathing, tightness, etc.
Isolated Crab Reach
For the intermediate or advanced, combining the Crab Reach with other Animal Flow exercises keeps training challenging and fresh.
Here are a few worthwhile combinations:
Side Kick Through + UnderSwitch + Crab Reach
Crab Reach + Spider Man Stretch (aka:Elbow to Instep)
Slow and Controlled Improvised Animal Flow Workout
Warming Up with the Crab Reach
Animal Flow exercises are perfect for pre-workout warm ups.The movements are dynamic, full range of motion and take the body through just about every position.Increasing the tempo raises core temperature and increasing respiration.All great things.
As part of a warm up the Crab Reach is an effective, low impact and full range of motion exercise.Driving the hips hard recruits the posterior chain, diagonal reaching reinforces thoracic rotation while unwinding the spine into extension, the spinal erectors flip on to further arch the back, the loaded shoulder stabilizes the weight of the upper body all while the anterior body (quads, hip flexors, torso) gets a nice stretch.
Crab Reaches serve as a valuable closed chain movement drill prior to deadlifting, kettlebell swings or any other hip dominant exercises where expressing hip/thoracic extension and mobility is important to technique, strength and power.
Crab Reach as Part of the Workout
Positioning the Crab Reach as part of a Tri-Set is a great way to isolate and practice the exercise while staying active/productive during a strength training session.
Here’s an example a simple Tri-Set:
Exercise A)Front Squats
Exercise B)Chin-Ups
Exercise C)Crab Reach
The Crab Reach fits nicely in this Tri-Set and doesn’t take away from the Front Squat or the Chin Ups because, again, it’s low load complimentary to those exercises without sucking away valuable energy.
Crab Reach Reps/Sets/Time and Practice Recommendations
Starting out, I worked 6-8 reps per side and I tend to recommend keeping the reps lower in the beginning while focusing a slow and controlled tempo through the range of motion.
After you are feeling good about the technique, increase the volume.
Don’t be shy about bumping up the reps to 15-20 reps per side, or even setting the timer for 2-5 minutes and alternating the right and left side continuously until the timer sounds.
The Crab Reach is a low-impact exercise with a very low risk of injury.Adding more repetitions (volume) is a nice way to hone in on movement efficiency.
Example…
A small open space on the floor can provide hundreds of different options to organize a bodyweight based training session, even with no equipment available.But I’ve found that acclimation to the mechanics of bodyweight patterns pre-workout warm ups or in combination with traditional lifts works best.
Over time, I began practicing longer duration improvised flows using nothing but bodyweight movements, transitions, flows, locomotion, etc.
Example…
Flow Training with Crab Reach
Create a simple bodyweight flow circuit, emphasizing the Crab Reach periodically throughout the flow.
Structure several exercises in a row.Start with two main exercises separated by a switch to keep it simple.The video above, “Side Kick Through + Underswitch + Crab Reach” is an example of a simple movement sequence.
For an added challenge, increase the number of exercises to 4, 5 or maybe 6.Of course, doing this will make it more of a challenge to remember the sequence, but it will also challenge the body move through many different patterns.Adding more exercises to create longer flows is great for the mind-body connection.
The tempo of your thinking must match the tempo of your body’s movements.
Whether you pre-program the sequence or improvise the flow, will likely depend on your movement IQ and knowledge ofbasic options (exercises, transitions between patterns, etc).
The ultimate goal of movement training is improvisation.This idea was plucked right out of the Ido Portal Method.Ido Portal Method teaches movement using the following hierarchy:
Isolation —> Integration —>Improvisation
Following this operating system will give your workouts a new purpose.
Improvised Movement
Improvised, seamless movement, is the ultimate goal of physical activity.
Moving however you want, whenever you want without thought is an amazing destination of ground based movement flows.
Bodyweight flow workouts only need a plan if you want one.
Otherwise, make it up as you go.Be creative.Explore the possibilities.Move all around the room, explore positions.
Do it all.
Syncing thought processing speed with movement tempo is an integrated approach to building the human body.You’re not just reading a book trying to absorb knowledge or pedaling a stationary bike for hours without thought, you’re bringing together the cognitive with the physical.
Warning:Expect to suck during the first couple of attempts at improvised movement flow.It’s likely to feel and look sloppy and segmented, nothing like you pictured it.Practice makes progress, volume makes progress.
Here’s another cool, unscientific benefit of practicing progressive improvised movement flows…
… daily exertion starts to feel like a movement game.
I’ve had this feeling playfulness toward physical exertion of any kind since limiting linear resistance training in favor of movement based training, and I know others have had similar an experience.
The idea of moving sucks when you aren’t moving.If you’re a couch potato, your body adapts to the lack of exertion and falls into the pattern of wanting to remain in that state.But when you’re proactively practicing movement, making progress and seeing/feeling improvement, you begin to crave it outside of the workout as well.
What’s happening during improvised movement progress?
I’m starting to get off topic, but real quick, here’s my take…
Reaction time to various physical stimuli decreases and uncommon patterns and ranges start to become second nature.It’s a pretty neat feeling to own more and more patterns, angles and positions without taking time to think if you’re able.This constantly expanding approach to movement creates limitless possibilities.
What do you need to do this?If you have some open floor space or a yard, get creative and perform a variety of crawls, transitions, switches in any order for as long as your fitness can handle it.Transition quickly and as seamlessly as you can.
Inside of a flow workout like this, consider isolating the Crab Reach from time to time.Hold the high position, dig in for more hip extension, more diagonal reach, relaxing the breath and the neck.
I mentioned getting off topic a bit, I apologize for that.The main message is that exercises like the Crab Reach are cash money when practiced in isolation, but they are also small (but valuable) puzzle pieces in a much larger movement picture.
Programs like Animal Flow emphasize the value of each individual movement pattern, but clearly recognize the bigger picture.The result is a human being that is more physically prepared.
I hope I’m making some sort of sense here.
In Summary…
Bodyweight ground based movements are effective for building strength, mobility, endurance and movement IQ
Animal Flow’s Crab Reach a versatile exercise that can be performed anywhere and anytime.
Benefits of the Crab Reach include posterior chain activation, anterior body lengthening, thoracic mobility, body awareness in space.
The Crab Reach is great include in warm ups, during the workout or as flow training.
The Crab Reach is an effective exercise to help mitigate aches/pains from sitting, restore function.
Improvised movement flow is the end destination of all movement.
Animal Flow
Naturally, Animal Flow is referenced throughout this article because the Crab Reach is an exercise within the Animal Flow program.Animal Flow exercises are progressive, unique, and scalable for the beginner all the way up to folks who are seeking movement mastery. I’ve written a few other Animal Flow related articles covering basic principles, exercises (and progressions) and flow combinations.
If you’re interested in bodyweight strength training, “Bodyweight Athlete” is worth your time. It’s another Mike Fitch creation (the creator of Animal Flow) and offered under the parent company Global Bodyweight Training.“Bodyweight Athlete” goes in-depth on effective bodyweight strength training, which compliments Animal Flow’s ground based movement perfectly.Read more about it here.
I almost didn’t compile this list, fearing people would find it in a Google search and think it’s another bullsh*t click bait blog post.
Feel bad for me? Me either.
But after giving it some thought, I realize how many people I come in contact with who have no idea some of these amazing movements exist.
Beyond that thought, how some of these movements can impact their daily workouts so much more than crunches and machine based training.
So, I decided to build the list and press “publish”.
My hope, is you are able to extract some value from this list.Sometimes, value is simply exposure to new ideas, if nothing else.
Core based training is an essential element of any comprehensive workout program.It’s important to note that all movement is core movement.You cannot wipe your ass without getting help from the muscles of your trunk.
A well-functioning body is educated (through movement practice and repetition) on how to absorb and produce force in all planes of movement, through a robust range of motion.A strong and stable core protects the body’s life force (the spine), serves as conduit for force transmission between the upper and lower body, and is a first line of defense with injury mitigation.
Injury mitigation is a hot phrase right now. No training method is guaranteed to prevent an injury. But, we can reduce the likelihood of an injury occurring due to ill-prepared joints and tissues.
I’ll warn you… this is a long ass article.Nearly 8,000 words long.Each movement has a brief description, interpretation, and either an embedded video or a link to my YouTube Channel where I demonstrate the movement.Some exercises I comment more in-depth than others.
A couple of things to consider:
This is not a “best of” list, each movement has it’s own value with proper application, timing, experience, etc.
This list of exercises is highly subjective, and the importance of each exercise can/will be debated from person to person.
This list is not designed to be “extreme”, each exercise is approachable with smart progressions and regressions for the beginner.
This list is organized in no ranking order of importance, no exercise is better than any other.
All movement is important movement and there are very few “bad” exercises, only poor application to one’s situation or possibly a lower level of usefulness depending on what a person is looking to gain from the exercise.
Consistency is king… the body will gain strength, stability and coordination to stresses with ongoing practice.
Six-pack abs are built-in the kitchen (nutrition) and highly influenced by hydration, sleep and physical activity outside of gym time.
Building a lean six-pack is not the intention of any of these exercises, do the work, stay disciplined and you’ll become lean as a byproduct.
The last three bulleted points can be tough for a lot of people to swallow and adhere to.People want to crank on their abs, feel the burn, wake up in a week and see a shiny set of abdominals staring back at them in the bathroom mirror.
It doesn’t happen this way, nor should it.
Lean bodies are earned.People who have made impressive transformations have a meaningful understanding of the discipline it takes to swap fat for muscle, take back control of health and build performance.It’s very simple, but it’s not easy.Everyone can do it, but not everyone will.
Consistent with focused efforts yield progress, gains, results and reward. This is not a 100% guarantee, but “luck” and good fortune seems to follow people who go hard on a regular basis.Give your body the chance to struggle, adapt, rebuild and understand the stresses of these exercises.It will understand eventually, but you have to give it time to do so.
* Sidenote:Embrace the struggle.In fact, I want people to struggle.If any of these exercises were easy, everyone would be doing them all of the time.Breaking beyond the struggle makes the reward so much sweeter.If the results came easy, you would have far less appreciation.
No “bad” exercises. I’m guilty of rolling my eyes, pursing my lips and turning away from “bad” exercises.Big mistake.The human body can do so many things movement-wise, I now realize this was a foolish stance to take.
Here we go…
1.Anti-Extension Roll Outs (aka:Ab Wheel Roll Outs or Fall Outs)
For $5 on Amazon, you can purchase a simple Ab Wheel and start “rolling out”.Ab Wheel Roll Outs are anti-extension core exercise, great for building not only core strength, but core endurance.
In a tall kneeling position, slowly roll out way from the knees.During this outward motion, cue your hips to fall outward at the same pace as the rest of your body.Roll as far out as you can, without allow the lower back to fold.Contract the mid-section, lats and pec muscles (gripping the handles hard) to return back to the start position.
During the most difficult portion of the roll out, try your best to maintain a “hollow” core position.To do this… tilt the pelvis back (posteriorly), squeeze the butt cheeks, keep rib cage pulled down and in (versus flaring out).Making a subtle “U-Shape” from the hips to the shoulders.This is hollow body.
Beginner tip:
The biggest mistakes beginners make is beyond their range of motion tolerance too far for their current strength, mobility and stability level.To help with this… consider the following
Set up facing a wall, yoga block, chair or any other object that can provide your maximum roll out distance before the lower back folds.
Roll out until the ab wheel makes light contact with the object.
Pause and roll back to the starting position.
The eventual goal is to roll out into full extension, with arms fully extended at the shoulders and elbows, chest facing the floor.
Advanced tips:
Roll for HIGH REPS (20+ per set)
Increase time under tension (5 seconds out, 5 seconds in… or longer)
Roll downhill (decline)
Roll from a standing position, returning to a standing position
2.Turkish Get Ups
As far as productivity and global training effect, Turkish Get Ups (TGUs) are hard to beat.They’ve been labeled a “king” worthy exercise in the kettlebell scene, and I certainly don’t disagree.
The Turkish Get Up is a segmented total body exercise.The basic premise of a Turkish Get Up is to move from a lying position (supine) to a standing position, reverse the order and return to the lying position once again.
Controlling the weight during the up-down sequence is fatiguing not only for the core, but for the loaded shoulder as well .
TGU’s are best performed with kettlebells or dumbbells, though nearly any object of weight can be substituted.I’ve used sandbags, liquid filled milk cartons, barbells, weight vests and weight plates to name a few.
For those who new to TGU’s, it can be a bit overwhelming to think about the number of steps or remember which step comes next. I’ve found Turkish Get Ups are best learned by isolating and practicing each segment.
Once you’ve got the feel of each step, begin adding steps to the practice.
The cool thing about Turkish Get Ups is the sheer value of each of the steps. They all carry their own value.
For a lot of people, “punching” the kettlebell up while rolling onto the free elbow will be the toughest part.This cross-body, rotational effort is a motion missing from a lot of daily workout routine.
Secondly, expected the shoulder to tire out quickly.Stabilizing the weight overhead is can be draining for the stabilizing muscles of the shoulder.However, time spent in this over-chest/over-head position is fantastic for building shoulder stability, which can help with injury mitigation and performance.
Standing up and laying back down equals one repetition of a Turkish Get Up
Sidenote: I’ve used Turkish Get Ups as my “workout of the day” for years. I set a timer (10, 15, 20 minutes) and alternate sides until the timer sounds.
I use a variety of weights during this time, work several repetitions in a row without putting the weight down or mix up the way I stand up and lay back down for variation (squat, lunge, etc).I’ve added a simple press at each of the 7 steps, performed kettlebell swings, cleans and snatches at the half way point (standing position).
3.Dragon Flags aka: Gymnastics “Candlesticks”
Bruce Lee made Dragon Flags famous, which is fine, but I prefer the gymnastics name for the exercise, “Candlesticks”.Same movement, different names.In reality, they should probably be called “Inverted Levers” or “Inverted Descents/Ascents”.
Candlesticks are one of the my favorite core exercises.
They require body tension like few other exercises and develop transferable strength in the core and low back region.Newbies to this exercise quickly find they are near impossible to execute without creating massive tension on each rep.
In a supine laying position, grab onto a bench, squat rack or any other immovable object with the hands positioned above the head.Invert the feet and point them toward the ceiling, making the body as straight as possible from ankles to shoulders.Maintaining this straight body position, begin lowering to the floor, resisting the pull of gravity as much as possible.SLOW IT DOWN.
Beginners can stop once the body contacts with the floor, tuck the knees in to “curl up” and begin the next rep.
Advanced Trainees can reverse the motion and bring body back to the inverted start position, all without changing straight line body rigidity.
A nice coaching cue for the candlestick exercise is to avoid any change in the straight line body position.Keep your body rigid straight on throughout the entire range of motion, limiting the range if need be.
I started to hammer away on Dragon Flags after listening to Christopher Sommer’s podcasts with Tim Ferriss, and after coming across some of the smart dragon flag progressions from Global Bodyweight Training.
4.Dynamic Plank Variations
Plank(s) are a foundational core exercise.Controlling a plank is a body building exercises in itself, but it also has widespread application to other exercises.
Personally, I believe it’s important to check in on planks from time to time, beginners to advanced movers and everyone in between.Planks are one of the early exercises back injury patients are prescribed to begin rehabilitation, so it’s hard to imagine that other folks are somehow too good for plank based exercises.
Above are is a simple demonstration of rotation side planks. I use these (and many other plank variations) frequently.
Reps, sets and time to hold each plank exercise is a highly debated topic.
Personally, I feel holding a plank beyond 90-120 seconds without strain is a clear indicator of diminishing returns and wasted time.If you’re strong enough to hold a plank for longer duration, it’s time to move onto a more challenging variation.
4.Beast Crawl
Crawling is one of the most important forms of movement we have.Babies or adults, it doesn’t matter.
Here is my jargon-free opinion on crawling… the more “adult” we become, the more we move away from the types of activities that we did as kids, the more we vitally need the activities that we did as kids.
Opinion:Adults need to exercise like kids.“Adulting” has lead us to sophistication, great careers… and also to an epidemic of chronic orthopedic issues initiated by spending a large amount of time sitting, laying… not moving.
Fixed static positions, deformation of posture, lack of movement, lack of play, lack of sleep, mindless food choice and consumption, etc.
Real uplifting isn’t it?
5.Lizard Crawl
The Lizard Crawl is the king of the jungle (in my opinion).I often think of it as “ground based conditioning” and others have classified it as locomotion.Ground based conditioning is free movement activity with no equipment, either static or dynamic, moving with an organized sequence or improvising into and out of positions (flow).
Lizard Crawling is one of the best (if not thee best) locomotion based exercises.It is also one of the most challenging to control, which in part is due to how physically demanding it is.Maintaining a low body position (in relation to the floor) while challenging the joints to a range of motion while the muscle maintain enough tension to support SUCKS THE LIFE OUT OF A BODY QUICKLY.
You’ll be tired.
Lizard Crawling is part of my workout 3-4 days per week at different volumes, variations and intensities.Sometimes I crawl very slow, drawing out each movement and holding positions.Other times I crawl with some intensity, aiming to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible (with reasonable technique).The distances also vary.As a beginner, I kept the distances short, anywhere from 10-20 yards at most.I’d separate efforts with rest to ensure I had gas in the tank for the next effort.
Lately, I’ve begun crawling for longer periods of time (45-75 seconds continuous) or 25-50 yards without taking a break.It’s soul crushing yet body developing.The Lizard Crawl has become an important part of my non-traditional workout practice (aka:movement without “lifting weights”).
Locomotion practice is essentially moving your bodyweight from point A to point B using a wide variety of quadruped based crawling patterns.Locomotion has beginner and elite level movement scalability, no different from basic lifts like lunges, squats, or push ups.
Developing strength, stability, mobility over one’s bodyweight enhances life.Especially when more complex aspects of movement are practiced.Locomotion practice is also ideal for those who need a break from resistance training, travel frequently or are interested in building athleticism beyond what typical linear exercises (deadlifts, bench press, squats, pull-ups, etc) can offer.
6.Offset/Asymmetric Pressing and Holds
Grab a dowel, barbell or a stronger broomstick.Dangle an object (with a handle) like a kettlebell or wrap a resistance band onon one end.
Now, press or hold that dowel without changing body position or allow the object to slip off.Confused?Me too.Watch the video above and it will all make more sense.
The idea here is influence by the reality that objects we encounter in real life rarely perfectly balanced.Weight is often distributed unevenly, which means we have to adapt to these asymmetries.
7.One Arm Push Ups
A lesson in indirect core training, one arm push ups will challenge muscles of the midsection better than 95% of core based exercises.Plus, you’ll get the benefit of building single arm stabilization and pressing strength.
The path to a single arm push up is simple.There are a ton of palatable variations to suit any strength level.My personal favorite for beginners to the one arm push up is to use the assistance of a resistance band.The band will make the toughest part of the exercise (the bottom of the push up) easier.
The premise behind L-Sits is core compression.The act of creating an “L”with your upper body down through your legs is extremely demanding for the hip flexors and lower abdominal muscles.
Don’t be frustrated if you can only hold an L-Sit posture for a few seconds at time.The value is still there, and with consistency, you’ll be able to extend the hold for longer durations.
Of all of the basic gymnastics postures, I have found L-Sits to be an absolute game changer for building core strength.Including L-Sits in my workouts 2-3 times per week has increase my hold duration time from a few mediocre sets of 10-15 seconds, to 30+ seconds with legs moving above parallel.
You must look into gymnastics based core exercises if you’re currently unfamiliar.They are some of the most practical and effective core training drills out there.
9.Arch Body Holds
Lay on the floor face down, arms and legs stretched out straight above/below.Simultaneously lift the upper body and lower body, creating a “contact” point at the belt line.Hold this Superman-like position for a 5-10 seconds and release back to the floor.Repeat for repetitions.
Progress Arch Body Holds by increasing the time of the hold.
This article is about the “core”, and the core wraps all the way around the body, 360 degrees.Personally, I think of “the core” as spanning from the shoulders to the tops of the knees, a full 360 degree wrap.
And this might be doing the body a disservice since we operate as an integrated unit, not in isolation.But hey, it’s my “core” article so I will share any core exercises I want!
10.Hollow Body Variations (rocking and static holds)
The Hollow Body position is fundamental stepping stone for gymnastics based training and has application to all progressive bodyweight movements where tension is a must.It reinforces how to shape the body as ONE unit.
Hollow body holds (progressing into rocking) build the entire front side of the body, known as the anterior chain.The quads, diaphragm, abdominals, hip flexors all get challenged during a hollow body hold.
* The anterior chain has taken a back seat to posterior chain dominant exercise promotion (nauseatingly so) over the last 10+ years, but building a complete body means addressing the performance of the anterior chain also.
11.Toes to Bar
Toes to Bar improves core strength, midline endurance while improving grip, shoulder health and back performance.Prolonged hanging from a bar, branch or anything overhead is therapeutic for the upper body.
There are few different variations of the Toes to Bar exercise, kipping (ballistic) or strict.
Starting out, I am a fan of strict for everyone.I’d rather someone spend time on a regression to an exercise because they cannot yet perform the strict variation, versus flailing around using momentum to perform something that resembles that exercise and satisfy the ego.
Demonstrating strict, slow tempo form through a robust range of motion is demonstration control over one’s body.
Once you own the movement, do whatever you please.You earned it.
12.Bridging and Rotation into High Bridge
Proper bridge work is a full war on the modern-day desk warrior posture.
I say “proper” because jumping into a full high bridge is not a great idea for a lot of people, since bridges requires quite a bit of shoulder and thoracic mobility, along with hip flexor length.
But, following lead up bridge positions and working shoulder and mid-back mobility, hip flexor flexibility and glute strength can inch you closer to a full bridge every single day.
Sounds like a lot to address, but it’s not, and much of it can be improved with simple regressions to the bridge.
Once you’re able to hold a static high bridge for time, start playing around with the rotation into high bridge movement.Super fun and a great confidence building exercise.
13.Dynamic High Plank Exercises (pull-throughs, push-pull)
14.Landmine Grapplers
A barbell and a weight plate on end and a fixed pivoting point on the other end, landmine grapplers are challenging loaded rotation drill.You must first create rotational force to arc the barbell up across the midline and over to the other side, but quickly absorb that momentum and decelerate the weight to a stop.
The landmine trainer provides the opportunity to train many angled exercises and rotational exercise not possible without the pivoting sleeve.Landmine training is part machine and part free weight, a hybrid of sorts.
Using moderate weight, I like going higher repetition with landmine grapplers.3-5 sets of 8-15 reps per side.But the landmine trainer can be used for heavier loads which would decrease the amount of reps due to the increase in weight.
15.Slosh Pipe Exercises
The water inside of the pipe is unpredictable and free moving.Tilt the slosh pipe an inch below level, the water is runs, the balance of the pipe changes and your body must react to this change.There is no rest for the body during a slosh pipe exercise.These subtle adjustments add up over time, many people find slosh pipe exercises to be very challenging.
16.Sandbag Training
Sandbags lack structure and change shape constantly during exercises.Texture of training tools is often overlooked and very important to how effective sandbag training is.
Every repetition with a sandbag is a fight.The clean-squat-press exercise is exactly that.A clean, a squat and a press, with the unique twist of a series of split second adjustments by the body try to stabilize a shape changing object that wants to fall to the floor.
* If you want to increase the instability component of sandbag training, avoid over stuffing the outer shell with inner filler bags.The more room inside the outer shell, the more the inner bags will slide, roll, move.
On the flip side, if you’re looking to develop raw strength, load up sandbag and train with it like you would a barbell or any other strength based tool.Due to design, sandbags have unique grip options not available with other tools (bear hug, shouldering, etc).
17.Slow Mountain Climber Variations
Yoga refers to this exercise as “knee to nose”.Call whatever your heart desires, it’s challenging to pull the knee up to the “nose”.The prone position (chest down) is a disadvantaged position for the body to make this happen.Arch the back and hollow out, push the shoulder blade out and back (protract) and slowly bring one knee up as far as you possibly can.
I like to cue myself to bring the knee up far enough that I could set the foot down gently and stand up.
18.Weighted Plank Variations
If you can successfully dominate bodyweight-only planks, add weight and try the same variation.It will be harder.If you’re a go getter, figure out how to put the weight on your back by yourself.At the present moment, I don’t yet own a weight vest. I am not sure why, but I don’t.So, I shimmy a heavy sandbag onto my back and hold planks while balancing the sandbag.The process of getting the sandbag onto my back is a workout in itself.
19.Tuck Planche
Tucking the thighs tight to the stomach while supporting bodyweight using only the arms.It’s a difficult task with many regressions to make the task more palatable.
The tuck planche requires core compressional strength and eventually endurance as the duration of the hold increases.
20.Stand Up Paddle Boarding
Core training in a standing position on a body of water in the sunshine?Yes, please.
The first couple of strokes on a stand up paddle board is all of the proof you’ll need to understand how challenging this activity is for the core.Though the entire body must be engaged to stay on top of the paddle board, SUP’ing is mainly upper body focused.
Each stroke on a stand up paddle board is core dominant. Core strength is essential for moving the board through the water.
21.Sleep
Zzzzzzzzzz.
The benefits of 7-8+ hours of quality sleep are very important for body composition, daily function, mental clarity as well as recovery and regeneration from the stresses of exercise. Yet, the value of sleep remains largely unknown and under emphasized.
I am not a sleep expert, but it doesn’t take a million person study to realize how “off” my body and mind feels when I don’t get an adequate amount of sleep.
If you’d like to learn more about sleep in a super entertaining, yet informative interview, check out Joe Rogan’s interview with guest Dr. Matthew Walker.The link to this episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast can be found here.
All movements are core movements.In other words, you cannot crawl into bed, bend down to tie your shoes or brush your teeth each morning without your core musculature supporting the effort on some level.Anyone who’s experienced a back injury undoubtedly knows how important the core is when performing simple tasks.
Kettlebell swings, while not a direct core exercise, work primarily the trunk, hip and hamstring muscles.Entire books have been written around the kettlebell swing and it’s ability to improve power, cardio conditioning, strength and body composition.Nutrition aside, if I was to hand select a few movements to burn fat and build muscle at the same time, I would go with kettlebell swings and Turkish Get Ups.
23.Dead Bugs
Ly on your back with chest facing the ceiling, actively press your low back into the floor (curling your pelvis back neutral/posterior), lock out all four limbs and point them toward the ceiling.To start the movement, slowly lower opposite arm/ opposite leg to the floor.
Ideally you’ll make soft contacts with the floor or stop 1-3 inches above, and come back to the start position.However, a use an abbreviated range of motion if you feel your pelvis shifting to make up for lack of control.
Imagine a full glass of water in a skinny tall glass balancing at the navel region (or just above) while you move the extremities, yet keep the torso “quiet” and still.
A lot of the exercises in this article have some room for technique deviation.But in my opinion, strict technique is only way to practice dead bugs.
Alternate each side for repetitions.3-5 sets x 8-20 repetitions.
24.“Twisted Tea” from the #OMU (Instagram)
This is my new favorite “core” exercise.
I have to give credit to the “#OMU” crew on Instagram for introducing me to this multi-planar core drill.
Assume a high plank position with arm extended out in front of the body.Now, make the biggest circle possible, spiraling down to the floor, reaching in and out of the legs, etc.When you reach the end point, reverse the motion and take it back to the start position.
Each rep is extremely long, challenging and very interesting.So far, I have only used a 2.5lb and 5lb weight plate on this drill, and my obliques were sore for days after.
25. Overhead Loaded Squats
Basic exercises become increasingly difficult when weight is overhead, which raises the center of gravity and requires more joints to contribute to the activity.The overhead position is challenging for a lot people, often due to having stiff upper backs (thoracic spines) and stiff/unstable shoulders.
Again, positioning weight overhead raises the center of gravity causing the torso to lengthen.The core muscles make the adjustment and work overtime to stabilize the body.The overhead position is very challenging for the joints, moving from the shoulders to mid-back, to hips, to knees and finally down to the ankles.Each joint must have adequate mobility and stability to control the weight overhead.
Overhead squats are a fantastic exercise and therefore worth mentioning on this list, but they are also the exercise with the most pre-requisites.Make sure you’ve done your mobility and stability work before slinging weight overhead.
One way to observe your readiness is to practice overhead squats with a wooden dowel… and film your technique.
26.Windmills
This is a classic, yet forgotten kettlebell exercise.The weight is supported overhead with elbow locked (but soft).Hips are pushed to the side while the upper body lowers to the floor.Softly touch the free hand to the floor and return to the starting position.
Windmills are one of those movements I program infrequently, but I really see value in establishing motor control and know how.In a real world setting, we won’t always be perfectly vertical while supporting objects overhead.Sometimes, we have to bend, twist and hinge while maintaining control from shoulder to elbow to hand.
27.Janda Sit Ups
I do not program sit ups in my own training regimen and also do not prescribe for others.I feel there are FAR better uses of gym time.However… Janda Sit Ups will change your perception about the intensity of isolation.
Janda Sit Ups help to further isolate the rectus abdominals by reducing hip flexor contribution during each sit up.This means the abdominals have to do more work, probably so much work that you’ll feel like you cannot control the descent to the floor, or get off the floor at first.
The effectiveness of the Janda Sit Up is all in the set up and technique.While a training partner is good to have for these, I do think they are possible to execute alone using a well placed stretch resistance band.
With the knees at roughly 90 degrees and heels on the floor, anchor a resistance band (at knee height or slightly above) around squat rack, door, piece of furniture or anything else sturdy. Stretch the band out and wrap it around your calves, 3-4 inches above your ankles.The band should have some stretch loaded into it, which will require your glutes and hamstrings to actively pull against the band during the sit-ups.You’ll have to play around with the band height and tension until you find a sweet spot.
Before and during the sit up action, contract the glutes and hamstrings to initiate reciprocal inhibition of the hip flexors.
My first couple of experiences with Janda Sit Ups resulted in a level of muscle soreness that humbled me to my core (no pun intended).
To be honest, the first couple of reps it’s hard to know if you’re doing it correctly, but in general, if you have the sensation of not being able to peel your back off the floor to sit up, you’re on the right track.It’sinteresting to see the amount of assistance hip flexors give during sit ups, and along the same lines, how intense isolating the abdominals a bit more.
28.Hanging Knee Tucks
Hanging Knee Tucks effectively kill two birds with one stone, maybe more than two birds, but for now we will focus in on two specifically.
Hanging from an overhead bar for extended periods of time is great for building grip strength/endurance, traction for the spine, stability for the shoulders.Second, the motion of raising the knees up to parallel with the waist line (or ideally above) is a challenging exercise for the core, particularly the lower abdominals.
I prefer to do less repetitions of hanging knee tucks, opting for longer duration holds with the knees tucked.Anywhere from 5-10 seconds per hold.5-8 reps of a longer duration holds will have your abdominals and grip burning.If you’re in the mood for a metal test, simply hang from the bar with knees tucked for as long as you can.
29.Zercher Sandbag Squats
Hooking the arms under a sandbag is both a bicep scorcher and a worthy challenge for the core as it battles to maintain body position, even in a non-moving static position.Now you add a squat and the challenge becomes even more difficult.Although we want the sandbag pulled in tight to the body, it’s still an external load situated just anteriorly to your center of gravity, wanting to pull you forward.
30.Explosive Flexion Slams
Slamming a weighted ball on the ground is basically a mutated variation of Olympic Lifting for your core.The lats also get a nice stimulus during flexion slamsPower development in all planes of movement is a great thing.If you’re going to do flexion slams, consider using a no rebound ball, versus slamming a ball that re-arranges your face.
31.Rotational Throws
The human body must be able to produce force and resist forces acting on it.Rotation is a missing component from a lot of workout programs.Most exercises work off of the pull of gravity, which is a vertical force, as I am sure you know.The weight goes up and comes back down.Up and down, up and down.
But our bodies can rotate to perform, so rotational throws had to make this list.
Don’t necessarily reach for the heaviest weighted ball in the gym or on Amazon if you’re going to buy one.World Class Pro Athletes often train explosive rotation using 8lb, 10lb or 12 lb medicine balls.The most common weighted ball these days seems to be the 20lb, mainly because of “wall ball” exercise.But keep in mind, “wall ball” is straight up and straight down.Rotation is much different and you may want to dial back the weight of the ball, at least for a little while.
3-5 sets of 5-8 throws per side (ideally while the body is fresh).
32.Chops and Lifts
Ironing out body symmetry is a worthy endeavor and not all core drills are going to light your abdominals up like a Christmas Tree.Chops and Lifts are a very simple exercise that most people will find they:a) cannot do on either side, or b) can only successfully do on one side.
There are many different positions to perform Chops and Lifts in, but the inline position is one of the most humbling.Assume a half kneeling position (one knee down, one knee up).Place the down knee directly behind the heel of the up leg.So, make a straight line with your up and down legs.
Chopping or Lifting once in this position is dramatically more difficult.You will also find it’s calming to the ego, as most people cannot hold posture while chopping or lifting much more than 15-20lbs.
33.Anti-Rotation Press Outs
Training rotation is often forgotten yet a HUGE part of everyday movement.One of the core’s important functions is to brace against forces acting upon it.By stretching a resistance band under tension, pressing the hands out away from the body, you’re educating your core how to resist the pull of the band, therefore resisting rotation.
3-5 sets of 8-12 repetitions.You can hold with elbows extended for 2-3 seconds at first, extending that time later on.
34.Single Arm Push Ups
Everyone is fanatical about something, and I am fanatical about the value of single arm push ups.
To get started here, allow me to say that single arm push ups are not a circus exercise only for the flashy calisthenics athlete.They are for EVERYONE.Follow the progressions and you can make great gains with upper body pressing strength, stability and range of motion.
Single arm push ups are a fully scalable movement for a beginner.A beginner can make single arm push ups more approachable by executing from a kneeling position, hands elevated on stairs/bench/plyo box or by wrapping a resistance band around the chest to reduce the loading.All of this regressions will build strength while moving you closer to the a full single arm push up.
Are you advanced?Too cool for school?Take it to the limit then… use what we know to be effective with exercise progressions:increasing load (add a weight vest), increase time under tension (slower on the way down, slower on the way up), increase reps, sets, etc.Varying the movement complexity is green lighted.Press from different positions or use the press as a transitional piece into other movements.Single arm push ups on a set of gymnastics rings will make your eyeballs dislodge from your face.
Do it all.Explore.
I have found single arm push ups to be one of (if not thee greatest) the best upper body pressing exercises in my arsenal.
35.Atomic Push Ups
There is a time and place for isolate core work, and at some point, you realize that all exercises are “core work” on some level.So if you can add a push up to a knee tuck, do it.The key to the knee tuck in this exercise is lifting the butt/hips to the ceiling, as high as possible, to make room for the knees tucking in toward the elbows.
3-5 sets of 6-15 reps
36.Core Smash
Core smash = intense core flexion contraction.
Ly face up on the floor.Place hands on the side of the head (fingertips just behind the ears), slowly bring your knees to meet your elbows, pressing elbow into the knees as hard as you can.Hold it there, think of something other than the intense core contraction you’re feeling.The Core Smash set ends when the elbows lose contact with the knees.Aim for brief holds at first, lengthening as you gain strength and confidence.
37.Arch Body
The core is not only on the front of the body, easily scene in the mirror.It wraps around your body like a weight belt.Hard to see in the mirror, the glutes and spinal erectors are crucial for human performance, body health and injury mitigation.
Arch body exercise is the opposite of the Hollow Body exercise.Chest down on the floor, you’re going to create a pronounced U-Shape by lifting the arms/back/hamstrings and heels.A lot of people will feel weak during the arch body, possibly cramping.It’s ok.Hold as long as you can, rest and repeat.
Hammer the front side, hammer the back side.
38.Hollow Body High Plank or Push Ups
Assume a high plank position (aka: top of a push up), roll your pelvis under, arch your spine and protect your shoulder blades to make as pronounced of a “U-Shape” as possible.Hold there and embrace the suck, because it’s a highly rewarding position but a sucky position at first.The hollow body position is fundamental for many more difficult gymnastics based movements.
Stability balls are naturally unstable.So, putting the elbows on the stability ball to perform a plank creates a wobbly situation.Now, add a circular motion with the elbows as if you were stirring a giant pot of soup.
Why do this exercise?Because adding more time to a marathon length standard plank is not what most people need.More time doesn’t mean greater gains.At some point, especially with planks, make them harder.One way to make them harder is to add a dynamic movement to a fundamental stability exercise.Take the core stillness reinforced with a traditional plank, start moving the arms on a stability ball, but maintain that same core stillness.Plank variations are great for improving core endurance.
40.Suspension Trainer Pendulums
Slip your feet into the loops of a suspension train or gymnastics rings, turn over and assume a high plank position (top of a push up).The feet are now suspended while the upper body is supporting.
Initiate a side to side motion pendulum motion from the waist on down by activating the hands/arms/torso.Grip the ground hard and swing the legs without breaking at the low back, hips, knees.
This is a very non-traditional exercise that will blow up your mid-section.Expect oblique soreness in the days that follow.
3-5 sets of of higher repetitions, maybe 10-20 per side.
41.Core Compression Pulses
Core compression pulses are a beginner level gymnastics exercise, which in itself is humbling to think about.To do them, sit on the floor, upper body erect and legs straight out in front of you.Place hands on the outsides of the thighs, pressing into the ground for assistance as you lift each leg entirely off of the ground, pulsing up and down.
Lift the legs as high as possible without rocking, bending the knees or compensating to do so.
Core compression pulses are a high repetition exercise, but beginners don’t be surprised if you’re only able to get 3, 4 or maybe 5 before form breaks or cramping begins.Staying disciplined to this exercise will result in quick improvements.
I like to work these early in the workout, before any other lifting or cardio because they are so demanding and isolating the motion is important.3-5 sets of 4-20+ reps.
42.Loaded Carrying Variations
Loaded carries are incredible for core development and performing real world work.
For the functional fanatic in all of us who want every minute of strength work and cardio exercise to translate to real world scenarios, is there any other mode of exercise more functional than carrying objects of varying weights, texture, shapes and sizes (not to mention carrying in various positions) from Point A to Point B?
Personally, I do not think so.
43.Lizard Crawl + Push or Pull
Perform a lizard crawl while pushing or pulling an object of weight.Simple as that.
I hesitated to include this hybrid locomotion exercise, but ultimately felt that people who can Lizard Crawl proficiently would enjoy adding a brutal push or pull to the exercise.If you don’t have an understanding of the basic Lizard Crawl, start there before adding elements to an already difficult locomotion pattern.
Push and pull equipment.Tools that can be used for the push/pull include a sandbag on carpet or a hard floor surface, or, substitute a kettlebell, dumbbell or weight plate.I have used all of these tools with success, but keep returning to using a sandbag on carpet or hardwood.
If you’ve never pushed or pulled a sandbag on carpet, you’re in for treat.It’s difficult.The amount of friction between the sandbag and floor makes moving it a nightmare, in a positive way.Plus, a sandbag lacks shape, which requires constant readjustments in body position to gain leverage to move it, along with hand position on the bag as it melts into the floor.
44.Spinal Waves
It’s been said we are only as old as our spine is healthy.
Spine health is our life force and if we cannot move it when we need to, it is likely to become a problem down the road.
Soft hump the wall for 100-200 reps most days of the week.Sounds like too much?200 reps of spinal wave takes less than 5 minutes and your body will thank you for the movement.
45.Standing Spine CAR’s
Lock in the hips, hug yourself and articulate in a circular fashion as if you were trying to dodge pushes from a boxer.Say hello to controlled articulations and their ability to wake up the obliques.Brace and breathe.
46.Hip CAR’s
Assume a quadruped position with hands, knees and feet in contact with the floor.Raise your leg out to the side of your body as high as possible, pretend like you’re a dog about to pee on a fire hydrant.Be mindful to keep your shin bone parallel with the floor, which means your foot doesn’t move higher or lower than your knee.(Watch the video)
Draw as large circle with your knee (articulate) as you slowly move the knee behind the body.This will look like the finishing position of a donkey kick.Lower the knee back underneath the body, but don’t set it down.Reverse the pattern.
Once again, many of the best “core” movements are not isolated movements, and they shouldn’t be because isolating the “core” is not how humans operate.Every little movement is a synergistic experience, with many muscles contributing.
47.Animal Flow Side Kick Through’s
Side Kick Through’s are a basic movement element in Animal Flow, resembling a break dancing type move.
Animal Flow is a bodyweight focused, ground based movement system packed with performance and restorative movement patterns.
Start in a quadruped position, hands and feet supporting the body (knees hover 1-2 inches off the floor).Rotate to one side by pivoting on the ball of that sides foot, opening up your chest to the side you’re turning toward.Slide the trailing leg through and “kick” it through until fully extended.At the same time as the leg kicks through, pull the opposite arm/hand back as if you were drawing back a bow and arrow.
The simultaneous opposite arm/leg reach with light up the anterior oblique system (fascial slings crossing the front of the body).Some will and some will not feel this diagonal “stretch” from the hip through the torso up to the opposite shoulder during Side Kick Through end range… I personally feel it.You, may not.Regardless, there’s tremendous movement benefit in this exercise.
48.Animal Flow Crab Reach
This is my favorite Animal Flow exercise because it’s LOADED WITH BENEFITS.
Posterior chain activation, controlled rotation of the torso, elongation of the often shortened muscles of the core, and honestly… it’s a position most people do not explore, which is absolutely of great benefits for expanding movement IQ (aka:confidence).
In one shot, the Crab Reach accomplishes the following:
–Opens up the torso and chest in a diagonal pattern (far hip to far shoulder)
–Challenges and improves shoulder stability on the loaded working arm
–Opens up the hips anteriorly
–Activates the posterior chain (gluten/hamstrings) moving into extension.
–Uncommon position (head and eyes get a different look at the world)
The end, finally.
This extensive exercise list does tend to place higher stress on the muscle of the torso/trunk.
But, ALL training is technically “core training” since we cannot sneeze or cough, reach for tissue or stand up from the toilet without assistance from our trunk muscles.
I don’t want this list to project favoritism to core building exercises, as if these are all a person should focus on.However, if a simple audit of your gym time shows you’re spending a lot of time crunching your core into oblivion, sub-out those crunches with a few of these exercises.
A complete training regimen includes bits and pieces from many different movement patterns, drills, muscles, tempos, strength, power, stability, mobility, cardio, etc.
If there’s one final thought to leave you with (assuming you made it this far) it’s this:do it all.
Keep showing up and working movement in all planes, in as many different positions as possible, making gains through smart exercise progression, mobility training and probably most important of all, consistency across the long haul.
Your body will love you for paying attention to what it needs as you build it’s capacity to move well and mitigate injury.
Before you read this, please know I am a HUGE advocate for moving workouts into the home setting.
Cutting the cord on a big box gym membership is a little like cutting the cord on cable television. I’ve done both so I’ve got some experience here. Change is hard. Sounds dumb but when I cut cable television for good, I had a few weeks of not knowing what the hell to do with myself at night.
It was purely conditioning and habit driving these feelings.
But eventually, I adapted and transitioned my time to more productive activities. Of course economical streaming subscriptions also helped fill the void (Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc).
Anyways, there’s some initial hesitation, weighing, back and forth, and although it sounds kind of funny… anxiety involved with cancelling a gym membership (or cable television).
“What will I do without my gym membership?”
Step oneis to ask yourself if you’re actually using your gym membership. If you are, how many days a week are you going? Are you getting results from that money and time investment?
These are simple questions. Are you going to the gym enough to make the cost of keeping the membership worth while?
A lot of people go to the gym with intentions of losing weight, building strength, getting healthy, yet have very little if anything to show for it.
No offense to these folks, but there’s a lot of people that fall into this category. Gyms love them because not achieving results (aka: spinning tires in the mud) is great for ensuring a steady revenue stream. The anxiety is too high to cancel the membership. So, you pay every month.
If you do go to the gym and you enjoy it, KEEP YOUR MEMBERSHIP.
The goal of this article isn’t to project a rigid stance on big box gyms and paint them as being a bad place.
My goal is to shed light on the effectiveness of working out at home and let you know it’s more than doable, it’s becoming the new standard. Lots of people aren’t aware of this. #themoreyouknow
A lot of folks use gyms as a social hang out just as people get memberships at the local country club to hang out with their buddies.
Well built gyms often offer amenities to families (pools, child care, classes, etc). So for these folks, spending the money might be well worth it.
Mom and Dad can get some exercise in while the kids play in the pool with licensed gym staff.
But…
… cancelling your gym membership will free up funds, time and hopefully bring some excitement back to your workouts.
The biggest benefit (in my opinion) of moving workouts to a home gym set up is the freeing up of TIME.
When I was younger I had a much harder time understanding the value of my time on this earth. My perception was that I had all the time in the world. Wrong.
Fast forward several birthdays later, I feel much differently. I have a desire to own as much of my time as possible. Life’s too short.
Google “Memento Mori Chart” and fill one of those out if you really want the realities on the shortness of life.
Balancing family, career and finding time for recreation can eat up most of the time in a day.
Working out at a membership based brick and mortar gym certainly has it’s advantages, but it also has limitations which often go overlooked.
#1 Paying for something you don’t use.
A gym membership going unused or not being used on a regular basis is a waste of money.
#2 Time.
How much is your time worth?
Time is our most precious commodity, and we can never get time back. Drive time to and from, changing clothes time, waiting for equipment time, workout time, shower time, etc. Big box gyms are a TIME SUCK.
#3 Safe equipment.
Most gyms still refuse to offer fitness equipment considered to be “taboo” or “dangerous” because it’s a liability for injury.
So, the average big box gym is littered with fixed range of motion (aka: artificial and unnatural range of motion cardio and resistance machines)
There’s a reason most people despise exercise… because spending hours on these machines is uneventful and completely against human nature. We were force fed the concept of exercising on fixed machines back in the 1960’s and 1970’s and somehow the concept survived to 2018.
Those feelings of boredom while “ellipticalling” are real… and more importantly they are NOT WRONG. Your body craves robust movement, exploration, change of direction, challenge.
It took 8+ years for most gyms to offer kettlebells to clients for fear of throwing them through mirrors, dropping them on toes, or blowing out backs from poor technique. All reasonable concerns.
To be blunt, if your gym isn’t offering and promoting alternative modalities of building fitness such as kettlebells, you’re missing out.
#4 Personal training is expensive
God bless personal trainers and their ongoing commitment to educating the public on the benefits of exercise.
But personal training is expensive.
Personal training is expensive regardless if you’re training 1-on-1, semi private or in a group setting. At $5, $10 or in some areas $70-$80 per session you could pivot and transition those dollars into one of many online training programs (probably starting with bodyweight based training like yoga or calisthenics) and gradually purchase some home equipment.
Start with a simple pair of dumbbells or kettlebells, maybe a suspension trainer. These are three of the most versatile pieces of gym equipment on the market.
Yes, I know barbell training is amazing. But even in the year 2018, barbells freak a lot of people out. I don’t know if their is data on this, but it’s anecdotal fact for me in conversations with people.
So, do your homework on dumbbells, kettlebells or a suspension trainer.
For the cost of one month of gym membership, you can buy one or possibly two pieces of equipment. A kettlebell is a one-time purchase. That kettlebell will outlast your life.
The gym membership model succeeds and relies on signing up customers who don’t set foot in the door.
I didn’t make this up.
Listen, if I owned a gym I wouldn’t want all of my members to workout daily and tear up my expensive equipment.
It would be a hassle and lost dollars for me to constantly fix broken down cardio machines, reface beat up barbells and weight plates, patch holes in benches, etc.
No, no… if I owned a gym, give me your money and stay at home.
Here are some great articles regarding gym memberships:
“Joining a gym is an interesting form of what behavioral economists call pre-commitment,” says Kevin Volpp, director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the Wharton School. Volpp says we actually like the idea of being locked into a gym contract … at first, anyway. “They’re picturing the ‘new me’ who’s actually going to go to the gym three times a week and become a physical fitness machine.” We convince ourselves that since we have committed to putting down money for a year, we will make ourselves go to the gym. And then, of course, we don’t.
Working out at home is not for everyone.
“Wait, I thought you just told me that…”
I did.
Before you cancel your gym membership, it’s important to understand your habits and personality.
Cancelling a gym membership with intentions of working out at home, but never actually getting the home workout habit to stick is not good. It’s a step in the wrong direction.
If you were exercising twice a week at a gym, but now exercising ZERO times per week after making the transition, this is not a good scenario.
While taking workouts into the home setting is loaded with advantages, a lot of people may find it difficult to stick to a workout regimen at home.
I’ve found that inability to make the home workout habit stick are pretty similar to the reasons a lot of people shouldn’t have a home-based career.
The comfortable environment of the home setting can kill off motivation for physical exertion and breed complacency.
The temptation to do anything but be productive and get work done is too great.
Before cancelling a gym membership, test the waters by bringing 1 or 2 workouts into the home. Keep it simple. Work some bodyweight sessions, play around with the space you’ve got and get acclimated.
No equipment means no workout!
Survey says: Wrong.
A common perception is that quality exercise cannot happen without the presence of fancy fitness machines.
Heavenly Father… what are you supposed to do without any fitness equipment?!
I can see how a person would have this opinion, I really can. But the reality is you DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.
If you have these feelings, you’ve got to explore your options.
Here are some ideas for you…
Yoga, Animal Flow, KinStretch, gymnastics and calisthenics and resistance training are all INCREDIBLE forms of movement that can provide far more benefit for your body (looks, feel and performance) than any machine ever will.
Listen, exercise machines have their place, but moving your body in a natural environment should be a primary goal. Your body and the ground. Start there.
What about walking?
Walking, time and time again has proven to be potent form of daily activity. Start with 10 minutes per day, every single day. See what happens.
The Economics of Building a Home Gym
Before buying home gym equipment there are two important points to consider:
Quality gym equipment often isn’t cheap at time of purchase. The upfront cost of purchasing the equipment will likely exceed what you were paying per month at your gym. However, shift your attention to the long-term value instead of the short-term. Most quality gym equipment should last you lifetime versus paying for monthly gym memberships.
What’s the cost of not exercising across the long-term? This question can be hard to wrap one’s head around, but seriously, in 10, 20, 30 years, what will be the cost you pay for not taking care of yourself physically when you had the chance.
A badass home gym could be built by shifting spending habits for 6-8 months.
Many people won’t buy gym equipment for the home because they don’t know how to use it. In 1996, this was a valid concern, but not in 2017. This little thing called the internet has created massive opportunities to learn basic technique of physical conditioning, all the way to movement mastery.
Fitness is now digital. The information is distributed through video, audio and the written word, there is education that appeals to all forms of learning. A lot of it is given away for free.
Everything a person could want to know about fitness is on the internet.
If you’re one of those anti-internet people… please stop. Yes, the internet has some crap floating around but so does society.
Take ownership, research, experiment, explore, refine, get curious, learn.
I want this article to open your eyes to a different perspective on working out, where you do it, how you do it and a alternative view to transitioning your health regimen back to home base.
Even if you don’t make the switch, it’s important to have the information.
Please let me comments or questions.
Check out some of these other topics of I’ve explored on the blog…
Workout finishers (also known as metabolic finishers or conditioning finishers) are a short burst series of exercises at the end of a workout designed to complement strength based training.
A workout finisher can be a single exercise, like a burpee, or a series of exercises strung together (squat, push up, pull up, etc). Finishers typically take 1-10 minutes to complete, and can be organized into intervals or metabolic resistance training (think thrusters).
A tough finisher will burn extra calories, boost cardio and work capacity while increasing the fat burning potential of the days workout.
These days, I mainly string together several different exercises, using a variety of movement patterns and equipment. From time to time, I’ll schedule a single exercise finisher, but it’s rare. Burpees are a great exercise to use if you’re only going to do choose one.
Mixing Kettlebell Swings and Burpees
This post is all about one of the toughest workout finishers…
The word “burpee” makes me cringe. Burpees are a brutally effective exercise and I rarely program burpees into my own training simply because they are hard.
I shouldn’t admit that.
Burpees jack up your heart rate fast. Few other bodyweight exercises compare to burpees for total body conditioning. Burpees, though simplistic, are extremely functional. Transitioning up from a low ground position to a standing position happens in sports all of time. Maybe not for high reps like we program in a workout, but it happens.
How do you make the burpee experience harder? Add in some kettlebell swings.
This kettlebell swing and burpee workout finisher is brutal. Back when my equipment arsenal consisted of 3 kettlebells, I gave the kettlebell swing/burpee finisher a go.
The combination fit the equipment and space I had available perfectly.
I stopped twice on my first attempt. Not for extended periods, but long enough to consider throwing in the towel. It’s hard to remember my finishing time, but I think it was less than 8 minutes.
I do remember the fatigue however, it was hard to gather myself. I ate a pile of food that night and the following morning and the afterburn effect was potent.
So I share this workout finisher with you. Keep it in your back pocket on the days where you’ve completed your skill work and strength training and still high on motivation.
Equipment needed…
You’ll need one kettlebell and some space to for burpees. Ideally the burpees will include a squat jump each time (aka: full burpees), so take into account overhead clearance. Choose a kettlebell you can swing for 15-20 repetitions comfortably. It will be sub-maximal weight for the swings.
I recommend most males to swing a 24kg or a 28kg kettlebell and females to swing a 20kg or a 24 kg kettlebell.
Of course, you can swing whatever size kettlebell you want, the recommendations are just generalized suggestions. A heavier or lighter kettlebell may be chosen based on your fitness level and experience with swings under extreme fatigue.
By design, this workout finisher has 100 kettlebell swings and 55 burpees.
The kettlebell swing reps remain fixed at 10, while the burpees increase by 1 rep each round. When you finish the 10th burpee on the last round, you’re done.
When you’re doing this workout finisher, it’s easy to lose track of what round you’re on. I’ve performed several rounds twice by mistake.
Modification and Variations
Decrease Difficulty
There are a ton of options to reduce the stress of this workout finisher, here some examples:
• Decrease kettlebell swings to 5 reps each round • Swing lighter kettlebell (keep reps at 10) • Burpee with no jump (removing the jump makes burpees easier) • Burpee with no push up and no jump (again, much easier)
Don’t forget… take rest if you need it. Resting is a simple way to decrease the difficulty of this workout finisher. The goal should be to push through each round without rest, but if you need it and technique depends on it, take it.
Increase Difficulty
Careful here. Having completed this workout finisher periodically over the years, I know how brutal it can be.
Before trying to make this harder, set a target finish time finish of 6 minutes or less. Anything over 6 minutes and there is no reason to make it harder. You’ve got progress to make before increasing the difficulty.
If you finish in less than 6 minutes, consider sizing up the weight of the kettlebell or adding an extra round where you’ll complete 11 burpees in the final effort.
I don’t foresee a lot of people needing more intensity, but there are always options to do so.
Variations to the original…
Smaller Cycles w/ rest periods
Keep kettlebell swings at 10 reps but stop at 5 reps of burpees.
Round 1: 10 Kettlebell Swings + 1 Burpee
Round 2: 10 Kettlebell Swings + 2 Burpees
Round 3: 10 Kettlebell Swings + 3 Burpees
Round 4: 10 Kettlebell Swings + 4 Burpees
Round 5: 10 Kettlebell Swings + 5 Burpees
Above is an example of one round.
Rest for 90sec-120sec after this round before starting the next round. Complete anywhere from 2-5 rounds total. This decrease the working time in half and give you a chance to rest before going again.
Break up the Burpees into separate movements
Instead of performing a full burpee with a push up and squat jump, break it up. Now you’ll be performing like so:
The afterburn effect of this workout finisher is HUGE. If you’re pushing your boundaries, you’ll feel it for hours post-workout. Personally, I like to position something like this after a strength training session where I know the next day is a rest day.
Workout finishers are great for adding in a little work capacity and increasing the fat loss potential of a workout.
“Hmmm… Animal Flow looks a bit moving yoga. Then again, it also looks a bit like Capoeira. Well, maybe not. Maybe it looks like gymnastics. Yes, definitely gymnastics. Wait… there’s another yoga exercise, now it looks like yoga again.”
These are exact thoughts I had watching Mike Fitch demonstrating a movement flow several years ago.
Watching Mike flow seamlessly around the empty room captivated me. Even to the untrained eye, it’s unmistakable when you see someone who has complete dominance (aka control) over their body. When you see it, you know it.
I crashed head first into Ido Portal Method and Animal Flow at about the same time. Which makes sense now since they are both rooted deeply in bodyweight based movement.
At the time, Ido Portal was growing at breakneck speed, but he had not (and still hasn’t) packaged his movement system into a product. Animal Flow did have a product, which it has now updated into Animal Flow 2.0.
Crawling patterns and primal movement were gaining traction as validated tactics to reset one’s body, improve strength, stability, core integration, body controls, yadda yadda yadda. In reflection, it makes sense Animal Flow caught my eye because Traveling Forms (Ape, Beast, Crab) are crawling locomotion patterns. For branding purposes, Animal Flow refers to these three basic forms as “animal-like” exercises which they are, but they are also crawling patterns.
Piggybacking the opening paragraph of this blog post, the most important point I could make about integrating Animal Flow into your workouts is this: Shape, mold and make it function any way that suits you.
Animal Flow is a hybrid training system constructed from many other movement disciplines, therefore it can serve you any way you need it to.
Cardio conditioning? Move fast, aggressive, lots of transitions, soft but quick floor contacts.
Recovery? Full range of motion, move slow, controlled, breathe deep, hold positions, find the stretch.
Pre-Workout Warm Up? Move through a full range of motion, activate hard at end range looking for expanded range, build the tempo up from slow to fast.
Animal Flow as the workout? Leverage lots of different tempos, explore many positions, make shapes, breathe, bring the heart rate up, lower it back down, improvise, etc.
Ground-based movement can serve an infinite number of purposes. How do you want it to serve your needs? That’s what I’d like you to keep in mind as you read through the rest of this article.
The purpose of this article is two-fold:
1) Share Animal Flow movement tactics with people who aren’t currently familiar.
2) Expand the application of Animal Flow exercises.
In we go…
I won’t pretend like it was love at first sight.
It took me a while to jump into Animal Flow. I was already working yoga steadily on non-workout days. Days when my body needed a rest but craved a sweat, range of motion, slow tempo and breath work. You know, the calming effect yoga is famous for.
Once I finally committed to mixing in Traveling Forms more seriously, I could immediately feel the difference. I felt more connected from my top half through my core to my bottom half. Shoulders opened up and felt more stable. General body awareness in space and control improved also.
Stepping away from lifting is a major reason my body “opened up” and felt more fluid and connected. Pressing pause on lifting for several days if not several weeks (even months) is something that changed my entire perspective on daily physical activity. I recommend anyone who’s been a die-hard lifter to remove yourself from weight training for an extended period of time. Don’t stop exercising during this time, rather, seek out alternatives.
Animal Flow is a perfect place to start and explore.
Using Animal Flow exercises for Pre-Workout Warm-Up
Initially, I started by using Traveling Forms during my warm-up. Here is how I structured everything…
Pre-Workout Warm-Up (15-20 minutes) Foam Roll + Thoracic Mobility Peanut Drills Dynamic Stretching Activation (using mini bands, wall slides, etc) Animal Flow Traveling Forms (and maybe some jump rope) The Workout
After working through more traditional strength and conditioning stretches, activation and mobility, I’d start crawling for 3-8 minutes, sometimes followed by jumping rope, sometimes not.
In the beginning, 3 minutes of crawling patterns seemed daunting. After a month or so, I was crawling without rest for 8-10 minutes. Challenging? Hell yes, but the body acclimates quickly with consistent practice.
This pre-workout routine provided enough time to explore each of the three Traveling Forms in isolation. Isolating new exercises has always been my strategy. Isolating an exercise allows me to focus on the mechanics of the movement.
Favoritism and familiarity lead me to practice Beast and Crab first. Beast is a prone crawling pattern (chest to the floor) and Crab is a supine crawling pattern (chest to the ceiling). Beast and Crab are essentially opposites, and therefore complement each other very well. The difference in body position changes the stress on the core and arms, front, back, and side of the body. Each movement also challenges active mobility differently.
Currently, my home gym allows for 12 feet of crawling in any one direction. Working with my training space, I would crawl 12 feet forward, reverse it and crawl 12 feet back. The first couple of workouts I programmed low volume and a much slower tempo crawl.
Beast – Crawl down and back 5 times (120 ft of crawling) Crab – Crawl down and back 5 times (120 ft of crawling)
Start Workout.
From here, I ramped it up pretty quickly. I get antsy.
Combine Beast and Crab together, crawling down and back 6 times each without rest. This will take about 5-6 minutes to complete with a steady tempo.
Once I started to explore and understand Animal Flow Switches, I integrated them into my little Beast/Crab crawling medley…
Forward Beast + Under-Switch + Reverse Crab
Forward Crab + Under-Switch + Reverse Beast
Start Workout.
Rinse and repeat for time. This combination is simple and effective. Crawl down forward, switch, come back in reverse.
Next, I played around with longer duration for each Traveling Form, ramping it up to 1-minute per exercise before switching to the next…
I recommend working these patterns for as long as you like. Don’t overthink it. The risk of overdoing crawling is almost non-existent. Of course, if your plan is resistance training afterward, leave something in the tank for the training session.
Eventually, I introduced Lateral Traveling Ape to the pre-workout routine. Lateral Traveling Ape was my first real exposure to side-to-side locomotion. I struggled. What my mind’s eye thought I was doing was not what the playback on my iPhone camera showed. My technique was brutal. But the pattern was completely foreign.
I practiced Lateral Traveling Ape more incrementally than Beast or Crab, starting with two reps in one direction, two reps back to where I started. Rest and repeat. A smooth flowing Lateral Traveling Ape did not come easily for me.
Fast forward to current day, I’ll rip out pre-workout Traveling Forms almost in any structure I like. Lately, a medley I’ve been enjoying has been:
Cycle 8 minutes of: Lateral Traveling Ape 16 ft Switch Beast Crawl 16 ft Switch Crab Crawl 16 ft
Start Workout.
Cycle through each of the 3 Traveling Forms for 8 minutes without rest. You’ll never feel more ready for a workout as you will after this effective little medley.
The badass thing about Animal Flow exercises is that your body will learn the mechanics quickly with diligent practice. Lateral Traveling Ape went from being an exercise I avoided to one of my favorites.
Personally, I think there are a lot of people dabbling with crawling patterns, which is great, but not including enough volume to see desired results. I’m not implying you’ve got crawl for a .5 mile every workout, but if you really want to get benefit from crawling patterns, play around with increasing the volume (without bending on technique).
A Tool for Recovery…
I love many aspects of yoga and typically feel great afterward, but I don’t always enjoy how stationary yoga is. Yoga sessions can feel rather restricting. Stay on the mat, you must never part with your mat.
Animal Flow takes features of yoga and transforms it into a dynamic practice. Essentially, you can move around the room until you’re ready to hold a pose or position.
Transitioning into an animal-like crawl to relocate or continue switching body positions to find the next hold.
Combining movement with elements of yoga creates a comprehensive training session pack with benefits from each. Here is a simple recovery workout…
Lateral Traveling Ape x10 yards Beast Crawl x10 yards Downward Dog x 5 long breaths Reverse Beast x10 yards Downward Dog x 5 long breaths Crab Crawl x 10 yards Table-Top x 5 long breaths Reverse Crab Crawl x10 yards Crab with Reach x3 each side *** Repeat the cycle for time or rounds***
This simple recovery workout seamlessly fuses yoga with Animal Flow. I’ve worked sequences like this for 20-30 minutes and felt absolutely fantastic afterward.
Or, give this more comprehensive recovery session a try, which includes drills from Kinstretch and Animal Flow.
Start with some basic Kinstretch drills to nourish the joints, finishing with some dynamic Animal Flow exercises to further open up and re-educate the body to cross-crawling patterns, reaching and positional switches.
Kinstretch: Hip CAR’s x5 each leg Spinal CAR’s x3 Shoulder CAR’s x5 each arm
… Followed by…
Animal Flow: Beast Crawl x 10 yards Reverse Beast Crawl x 10 yards Crab Crawl x 10 yards Reverse Crab Crawl x 10 yards Lateral Traveling Ape x 10 yards Crab with Reach x 5 each side Slow Under-Switch x 5 each side Scorpion Switch x 3 each Slow Side Kick-Throughs x 3 each side *** Repeat for 3-4 rounds ***
*** Sidenote: If you aren’t familiar with Kinstretch, check it out. It will change your life.
This will take 30 minutes of your time (or less). Move slowly through each of these exercises in descending order (top to bottom). Breathe deep with control, owning each movement.
This workout has a boatload of natural joint mobility and muscle activation work in it. Crab with Reach alone is a million dollar movement. If you’re activating extending the hips and reaching hard in the high position of each Scorpion Switch, there is likely to be some soreness the next day.
A gentle recovery workout like this helps to open up the joints, turn on important muscles, challenge multi-planar core stability and while getting a sweat without the beaten down feeling.
It might seem off-topic to list sweating as a benefit of a recovery workout, but considering the skin is the largest organ of the human body and sweating helps eliminate toxins from the body, support proper immune function and fight out toxin-related diseases.
Animal Flow and Kettlebells for Cardio
Virtually any exercise or series of exercises can be adjusted to create a cardio training effect.
Limiting rest, increasing the tempo and exercise complexity are all fantastic ways to further tax the cardiovascular system.
The recipe is simple: global bodyweight movements recruit more muscles plus higher intensity tempo with little or no rest in between elevates heart rate and respiration. Across time and with enough intensity, the body will head straight into oxygen debt. Huffing and puffing begin.
Ground-based movements are a total body experience. Combining various Traveling Forms (ape, beast, crab, lizard crawl variations, etc) and Switches creates a potent multi-planar training effect.
Kick-Throughs… Kick-Throughs are an excellent ground-based cardio exercise. Kick-Throughs, similar to any other Animal Flow exercise, can be scaled to suit any skill or fitness level. The explosive nature of faster tempo Kick-Through’s makes them ideal for cardio.
There are two primary variations: Forward and Side Kick-Throughs.
Many people will find Side Kick-Throughs to be a great entry into higher tempo ground-based movement.
Side Kick-Throughs how-to: • Start in the quadruped position (static Beast), hands and feet on the floor, knees hovering an inch above the floor. • Lift and slide one leg underneath your body as you pivot on the supporting foot. • Reach with the sliding leg and open up the chest. • Return to the quadruped position and perform the same action on the opposite side.
Gradually increase the speed of the kick-through to the point where technique remains intact but on the verge of “out of control”. 15-20 repetitions per side of Side Kick-Throughs will get the heart rate going. Another measurement of work is time. Anywhere from 30-45 seconds of exertion is a great place to start.
Kick-Throughs pair very well with kettlebells, as you’ll see below.
Select two kettlebell exercises and one variation of kick-throughs. Here are two great examples.
Workout A Kettlebell Swings x8-10 Side Kick-Throughs x8 each side Kettlebell Overhead Press x8 each arm *Repeat for 6-8 rounds, rest for 45-70 seconds between each round.
Or…
Workout B Kettlebell Gorilla Row x8 each arm Forward Kick-Throughs x5 each side Kettlebell Deadlift x10 *Repeat for 6-8 rounds, rest for 45-70 seconds between each round.
Or…
Mix and Match: Alternate Workout A and Workout B Round 1: Workout A Rest 60 seconds Round 2: Workout B Rest 60 seconds Round 3: Workout A Rest 60 seconds Round 4: Workout B *** Repeat for 8 rounds ***
Each round you’re performing 3 completely different exercises, using the same tool (kettlebells). If you’re tight on space, limited on equipment or looking to keep training simple and effective, this is a fantastic option.
Improvised Workouts Ground Based Conditioning Plus Animal Flow…
This is my favorite part of this article.
Animal Flow is a flexible movement discipline that can serve as little or big of a role in your training as you need to. In this section, I’ll talk about using Animal Flow as the workout, not just part of the workout.
Practicing many of the Animal Flow elements in isolation leads to stringing together longer pre-planned sequences, which eventually leads to the total improvisation of a workout or freestyle. This is the “flow” part of Animal Flow.
Flowing between various exercises for several minutes changed the game for me. It’s liberating to move around an open space without having a plan, just an understanding of knowing you can move in and out of many different positions, making shapes, increasing tempo, slowing tempo, etc. You’re in control of the session, your mind-body connection is communicating the way it was designed.
Very poetic.
Improvised flow is the highest form of training. It’s essentially movement play and exploration. I touched on this in my popular Ido Portal Method post.
I have no recommendations for improvised workouts, as they are improvised. You make it up as you go. Take what you know about Animal Flow: locomotion patterns, switches, transitions, etc… and build a sequence.
There is no wrong way to flow, just start moving.
Workouts like this can last as long as you’d like. I’ve improvised for 20-30 minutes, increasing the speed of movement sporadically throughout the session but constantly moving and changing positions.
Closing Personal Commentary…
Equipment free, ground-based conditioning has expanded my conditioning in incredible ways. I am a huge advocate of rowing ergs, airbikes, skiergs and the like, but conditioning on an open floor is entirely different than machine-based conditioning.
I’m not anti-machine.
I still use my Assault Bike and Concept2 Rowing Erg 2-3 times per week. Not for extended periods, but long enough to matter.
Taking a break from machine-based cardio will make you realize how mindless it is. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s difficult but mindless. The gears and levers of a cardio machine move through a fixed pattern/range of motion. How hard you push yourself on the machine is entirely up to you. It’s a mind game. It’s willpower.
The amount of energy required to crawl, bend, twist, lunge, reach, roll, sprawl, rotate, squat, press around an open floor intensely for an extended period of time is mind-blowing. Especially if you are new to it.
Animal Flowis an innovative, gap bridging movement system built around fundamental bodyweight exercise, organized in a readymade package.
The movement system is comprised of a wide range of exercise progressions to get a beginner flowing in their first workout, leading up to advanced movement mastery.
Animal Flow exercises and workouts are designed to help people improve strength, flexibility, body control and coordination.
At the end of the day, Animal Flow is a playful expression of what your body can do.
The most impressive aspect of Animal Flow is how well the movements and transitions fit together to create an artistic, fluid practice.
For many reading this, starting up with Animal Flow may serve as a long overdue body reboot. The movements will ignite a re-discovery of what your body is capable of doing when it’s just you and some empty space on the floor.
The brilliance of Animal Flow is that it’s a melting pot of movement disciplines. Instead of being locked into one movement discipline, Animal Flow draws the best from several practices like yoga, martial arts, parkour, break dancing, and gymnastics to name a few.
Training concepts taught in Animal Flow have become increasingly important as we learn more about modern-day physical activity, expanding movement capacity and improving movement I.Q.
Natural ground-based movement is as functional as it gets. The shift away from sets, reps and weight lifted represents the evolved, expanded idea of what it means to be “fit”.
Traveling Forms make up 1 of 6 components in the Animal Flow training system.
What are Traveling Forms?
From the Animal Flow website: “Traveling Forms are exercises that mimic the movements of animals. You’ll start with the “ABCs” – Ape, Beast, and Crab – to get you going on these full body conditioning moves. The traveling forms are essentially how we move like animals to improve the function of the human animal.”
Each of these moving forms has an emphasis on contralateral movement, which means the movement occurs across the body’s midline. For example, during Beast and Crab, the opposite hand and foot are going to move together. Contralateral movements are great for building body awareness and coordination.
Ape, Beast, and Crab are the “big three” Traveling Forms. These three exercises can be categorized as ground-based locomotion patterns. Locomotion, in laymen’s terms, means moving from one place to another. Walking, skipping, running, pushing a heavy sled, farmer walks are all variations of locomotion.
Traveling Forms are mainly performed in the quadrupedal position, with hands and feet interacting with the floor to create movement from one place to another.
Benefits of Animal Flow Traveling Forms?
Humans are bipedal creatures. We move most efficiently using our legs, placing one foot in front of the other to get where we need to go.
Practicing locomotion patterns with the body and head in unique positions other than upright walking position (head on shoulders, eyes forward, arms hanging at the sides, etc) challenges the body to re-orient itself to those uncommon positions.
Quadrupedal, animal-like movement patterns expand our movement capacities, making our body a more complete piece of machinery.
Sure, one could argue that life happens on two-feet and that’s partially true.
However, starting right now, pay close attention to how often you aren’t on two-feet. It’s a lot more frequent than you realize. Playing with your kids on the floor, reaching for an object under the couch or rolling out of bed are all simple examples of activities that happens in positions other than standing or walking.
One simple reason to supplement a training regimen with Animal Flow is to make life’s known and unknown tasks that much easier. A great goal of any fitness program should be to create a higher level of efficiency across a broader range of positions, whatever those positions may be.
Practicing quadrupedal locomotion patterns doesn’t mean you have to stop being a bipedal creature and begin moving on all fours at work or around the house. Maybe you will, but I highly doubt it.
Traveling Forms articulate joints that rarely see any range of motion most days. They also stimulate the provide a gentle loading for the upper extremities and demand the core musculature sort out new stimuli (cross-crawling)
Many people rehabilitating from nagging chronic dysfunction or acute trauma are often prescribed basic rolling and crawling patterns to re-establish movement integrity.
Establish neuromuscular links throughout the kinetic exercise chain.
Movements are multi-planar, preparing the body for different planes of motion.
Up and down
Side to Side
Transverse (rotational)
Flexibility through movement and the opening of fascial lines and slings.
Full articulation of joints to reinforce mobility.
Reconnecting the brain-body activity with contra-lateral movements.
Exposure of asymmetries and energy leaks as you move closer to the ground (versus standing).
Here’s another great reason to implement Animal Flow style drills… They aren’t boring.
Does this look boring?
Yes, some might say it’s superficial to start a new exercise venture solely because it’s new and exciting, but we shouldn’t act like it’s a bad thing. If you’ve been going through the motions or near giving up on working out because you’re bored to tears, it’s absolutely worth exploring new training methods to re-ignite feelings of excitement.
Or, maybe your gut’s telling you there must be something other than counting sets, reps and chasing numbers in the gym. Trust your gut, it’s accurate. Traveling Forms satisfy the free movement craving quickly, which is often a much-needed breath of fresh air and departure from the traditional.
Let’s take look at each of the three basic forms taught in Animal Flow…
Ape
Of the three foundational Animal Flow Traveling Forms, it’s likely Ape will be the most challenge technique-wise. Timing, force absorption, core compression, and flexibility are all important to a smooth Ape.
Traveling Ape Variations: – Forward Ape – Reverse Ape – Lateral Ape
Beast
Cross-crawling patterns have long been hailed as a re-calibration activity for rehabilitation specialists. But you don’t have to suffer an injury to reap the benefits of crawling. Beast, is an ideal crawling exercise for anyone and everyone. Beast is fantastic as a warm-up or as part of the workout. Traveling Forms like Beast are important for reinforcing and building reflexive strength along with connecting the left side of the brain with the right side.
Small space? No worries.
Beast is an adaptable exercise to fit the space you are training in. In my basement, I’ve got no more than 10 feet in any one direction. I make it work by perfectly by making more trips. Reverse Beast is a challenging variation because the eyes aren’t seeing where the feet are being placed, it’s all by feel.
For people that find themselves traveling a lot, stuck in hotel rooms, Beast is PERFECT. If you’ve got 8-10 feet of space, Beast is in your wheelhouse.
Beast can be modified to suit a wide variety of training stimuli and goals. Ramp up the tempo for cardio, slow it down for movement control and an emphasis on core and joint stability.
I suggest practicing Beast crawling slow and controlled establish a familiarization with technique. But once you’re acclimated to the demands of Beast, ramp up the intensity to initiate a more potent cardio conditioning effect.
The opposite of Beast is Crab, literally. Crab positions the front of the body toward the ceiling with arms supporting behind the back and inches in front of the glutes. Each hand placement is performed without sight and many will find out how good their shoulder extension is. Crawling in a modified supine position engages the backside muscles of the legs along with loading the shoulders in a unique extended position.
Crab is a unique exercise because of the way it engages the lats, traps and external shoulder rotators, opens up the anterior chain while simultaneously activating the posterior chain. Of the three basic Traveling Forms, Crab is the most difficult to modify for higher intensity work. The mechanics of crawling fast in a modified supine position is not ideal. However, Crab serves a valuable purpose inside of Animal Flow, especially with flow workouts.
Traveling Form exercises can be used as warm-up drills, recovery from the previous day’s training stress, included into a workout circuit or practiced inside of a flow for long durations. Because we are dealing with natural bodyweight movement you can practice these anytime. Warm or cold, go for it. Practice means progress and if you stick with it long enough, movement mastery.
Personally, I prefer to practice fewer skills in a “less but better” training format. Do fewer things but do them better. Early on, I practiced Ape, Beast, and Crab in isolation with extremely slow tempos to lock down motor control, a range of motion and timing.
Slowing down exercise tempo is a great way to reveal areas that need more attention, along with a simple assessment of ownership over the movement.
In isolation, I would work each basic form across 10-15 yards, mainly because that is the length of the space I had to work with. Many times I would slow the crawl to last 2-3 minutes across that distance. It’s brutally challenging and exhausting, yet great for building strength, stability, and endurance.
Traveling Forms can also be brilliant for improving cardio conditioning. Simply increase the tempo and intensity. Move faster.
Take that slow Beast crawl I referred to earlier and speed it up. Don’t lose control of your technique or core. Aim for soft hand and foot contacts.
Change of direction, body position, loading the upper extremities, tension, crawling, sprawling will jack up your heart rate as fast as any other form of cardio. All without any equipment.
Animal Flow 2.0 includes 26 total exercises and 20 example flows.
The basic Traveling Forms we talked about in this article make up 3 out of those 26 exercises.
If you’ve been looking for the next realm of movement, Animal may be what you’ve been searching for. I’ll continue to post updates over the coming months.
I’ll continue to post updates over the coming months. Exercise progressions, flows and other details about how I supplement Animal Flow into my own training.
Some of the toughest workouts I’ve ever tested involve fewer exercises and the least amount of complexity.
One might think it would be the other way around, but it hasn’t been my experience.
Simple… and brutal.
Yesterday’s workout involved only one exercise and a simple goal.
[If you’ve read other posts on this blog, I am rarely an advocate for extremely high volume training, much less sky-high volume using only one exercise. Overdone, I feel it opens the door to unnecessary injuries while leaving out a lot of really great movements which creates a more integrated total body training session.]
Here’s the workout…
Workout Structure
Exercise: Full Burpees
Repetitions: 200
Time: 20-minute time limit
Discussion…
Exercise
The guidelines for this workout is simple: each repetition must be a FULL BURPEE.
What classifies as a full burpee?
Modified Squat
Sprawl
Push-Up (chest to floor)
Jump Squat (aim for a consistent 8-12 inch of height per jump)
Rinse and repeat…
Simple enough, right?
Full burpees.
Like any exercise, burpees have many variations. So if you’re a gamer and want to take this workout for a test-drive but are inexperienced or not suited for full burpees, make sure you check out the alternatives to full burpees (which I will write about in another article).
There are plenty of burpee variations for EVERYONE.
Repetitions
200 burpees is A LOT of up and down, I am aware of this.
However, this is the structure of the workout, so…
… get them done.
200 burpees in 20 minutes assume a 10 burpee per minute pace. Inside of this workout, you’ll find surges in energy where you may complete 20 reps in a row, followed by a measly 3-5 reps. Reps are reps.
If 200 reps are out of the question, adjust the rep/time structure.
Keep in mind, reps can be adjusted easily.
If you must decrease the reps, I suggest staying firm with the intensity of the time limit. You’ve got a have something to motivate you to keep a brisk pace.
Here are some options:
150 burpees in 15 minutes or less
100 burpees in 10 minutes or less
50 burpees in 5 minutes or less
Each of these alternatives demands a 10 burpee per minute pace, at the minimum.
Another motivating workout option is to select target reps and complete as fast as possible. Record the time, as this sets the personal best for the next workout.
Broken down further:
1 burpee every 6 seconds or…
10 repetitions per minute
If you have no prior experience with higher volume burpee workouts, start with one of the alternatives above.
The “50 burpees in 5 minutes or less” option is a nice workout finisher (post-resistance training).
Time
Challenge yourself to finish as fast as possible.
The relationship between the number of repetitions and the time with which I am asking you complete them is most of what makes this workout a beast.
Don’t flirt with the time limit just because you have seconds to spare. Attack it. If you can finish in 15 minutes, do it.
Advice: Don’t “become a victim” to the fatigue. This is different from “falling victim” to the fatigue. “Becoming a victim” is essentially folding when times get tough. And believe you me, if you’re pushing it, this workout is tough. “Falling victim” is the moment when you know you’re cashed.
This is a fine line and each of us will interpret this moment differently.
Most people have a hidden gear they can shift into to neutralize fatigue, whether they know it exists or not.
Remain mentally aware. Stay engaged with what your physical self and mental self is doing, because they influence each other greatly under physical stress.
Mentally, reject limiting thoughts.
Fatigue gives people crazy thoughts during conditioning workouts. Your thought pattern will attempt to negotiate more rest, maybe even trying to persuade you to quit.
Don’t. Attack the workout.
That’s all folks…
If you’re up for it, leave me a comment and let me know how you did!
Animal Flow is a ground-based, bodyweight only movement system that mimics various animal movements along with integrating some of the best elements of yoga and gymnastics.
Sounds hybrid… and it is.
Linear strength and conditioning exercises are still a very important part of any training regimen. Exercises like squats, pressing, pulling and deadlifts are important to build a functional base of strength.
But the human body is designed to move!
Animal Flow drills can improve a person’s movement capacity also. Improving your ability to interact with the ground, using nothing but bodyweight will help you as a mover, and probably make your traditional lifts better.
One the greatest benefits of practicing Animal Flow drills is how quickly a person can build confidence in unique and unfamiliar body positions.
A lot of people lack twisting and rotational movements in their workouts.
Rotation is a basic human movement action and training it consistently can provide some noticeable benefit with regard to performance and postural integrity. It’s quite common to have people comment that their “mid back” (aka: thoracic spine) feels locked up, maybe even achey.
Insufficient mobility at the mid-back region can cause excessive motion at the lower back, as the lower back tries to pick up the slack to make everyday movements possible.
Crab Reach is a great drill to reinforce mid-back mobility while opening up the hip flexors and activating the powerful glute muscles. The stretch from the hip to the shoulder is incredible.
Rotational movements like Scorpions, Crab and various transitions are multi-planar and bridge the gap that many lifts simply cannot fill.
Animal Flow exercises and sequences can be scaled for beginners and progressed for elite movers alike.
Sequences are a series of pre-planned movements fused together. Like a movement sentence.
Using Ido Portal’s movement classification system, Animal Flow can be used in Isolation, Integration or Improvisation.
Beginners to Animal Flow will want to start by practicing each movement in isolation to work on the mechanics and adaptation. The range of motion can be modified to suit what you can comfortably handle, but this will improve with practice.
The human body is a brilliant adaptation machine.
Most of my early Animal Flow practice involved spending time focusing on 1 or maybe 2 movements in isolation. I like to work new exercises with a “do less but do it better” type approach.
As my movement efficiency improved, I began to string together 2, 3 even 4 exercises in a row, flowing and transitioning between each for reps or time.
If you haven’t yet explored ground based bodyweight training, you must. The benefits of training movements like you’ll find in Animal Flow will make you a better mover.
If you’re worried the movements don’t look like a hard enough, you’re mistaken. Every exercise has progressions leading up to mastery. The tempo of each exercise can also be manipulated to ramp up the cardio training effect.
Not a lot of people spend a lot of time crawling, or loading the arms using locomotion movements, so the training effect is quite profound.
Find yourself lifting weights a lot? Great! Keep that habit. Strength is important.
But open new movement doors, develop movement efficiency and economy using crawling variations, switches, back bending, twisting, reaching.
10-15 minutes of ground based movement training can leave you exhausted, particularly if you’re new to it and inefficient.
Soreness in the days after is to be expected. Newbies to ground based movement training should consider implementing such training before more linear resistance training takes place, when the body is fresh.
Training total body ground movements can improve all other areas of fitness.
If you’d to learn more about how Animal Flow can improve your movement, here’s a link to the official website.
Otherwise, give a few of these exercise and sequences a try and let me know how you made out…
Fusing body weight locomotion movements with traditional strength and conditioning exercises can create a hybrid workout experience. can breathe new life into a stale training regimen.
When training gets stale, mix it up to breathe new life into your regimen.
Basic linear lifting can get extremely monotonous. Instead of skipping the workout, toss in different exercises to give you new motivation.
What exercises are you avoiding or leaving out of your program? Everyone has some. It is impossible to do it all, all of the time. My YouTube channel has hundreds of exercise demos, only 4-10 exercises can make the cut for a workout on any given day. That leaves hundreds more sitting on the sidelines.
Many people forget about the value of carrying heavy objects. Carry those objects in as many different positions as possible (overhead, at your side, chest height, bear hug, etc). Do it all.
Locomotion drills are also a relatively new platform for building fitness most people haven’t explored. If you haven’t, you must.
This training session includes both.
Today’s workout includes the following exercises:
Lizard Crawling (“traveling forms” in Animal Flow)
Suitcase-style Kettlebell Carries
Overhead Kettlebell Carries
Kettlebell Walking Lunges
Reverse Crab Walks (“traveling forms” in Animal Flow)
*** For all of the kettlebell exercises, feel free to use dumbbells instead. Any object with a handle and some challenging weight will do.
What you’ll need:
1 heavy kettlebell
2 kettlebells of matching weight
15 yards of walking space
The Structure of the Workout
Start by lizard crawling 15 yards the location of the kettlebells.
Clean the heavy kettlebell up to chest height and position overhead. Walk down and back with the overhead carry.
Clean the same kettlebell overhead with the opposite arm. Walk down and back with the overhead carry.
Suitcase carry the same heavy kettlebell down and back with both arms.
Pick up the matching kettlebells and lunge walk the same 15-yard distance, down and back.
Reverse crab walk to the initial start position.
Repeat the process, beginning with lizard crawling once again.
Workout Video Demo
Workout Notes
This workout can be executed for rounds or time, whichever you prefer.
If you were going to work this for rounds, I suggest starting with 3-4 rounds and crushing those rounds. The idea is to work hard and work smart. Working smart is awareness of fatigue and body position. When your movement turns sloppy, you’re done.
Of course, more rounds can be added if you can handle it.
If you’re hammering this workout for 8-10 rounds, you need to increase the difficultyof all of the exercises. Lizard crawl for 20-25 yards, increase the weight of all of the kettlebell carries and the walking lunges. More is not always better.
If working for a target amount of time, I suggest capping this at 20 minutes. The video demo above shows roughly 8 minutes worth of execution.
Use the lizard crawl and overhead kettlebell carry as indicators of when you need intra-workout rest periods or when you need to pull the plug on the session altogether. Don’t be afraid to rest. There is zero shame in it. Your body can only fight fatigue for so long before the movements get sloppy. Take the rest, towel off, get back to work.
The overhead carry is an amazing shoulder stability/vertical core exercise, but it is also an exercise that deserves respect. DO NOT FORCE THE OVERHEAD CARRY FATIGUE IS EATING YOU UP AND TECHNIQUE IS DROWNING.
“Odd-object training has been practiced for centuries and the makings of the sport of Strongman can be traced back to ancient history, far before society began to experience the phenomena of physical fitness. For the general population of habitual exercisers, however, this very primal style of training has been forgotten for many years in mainstream fitness as new tools such as barbells, dumbbells and high-tech machines have dominated the common weight room. The practice of moving stones, carrying logs and lifting heavy load is about as practical and accessible as it gets and is not only excellent for training elite level athletes but for mom and pop types as well.”
I’ve been familiar with sandbag training for 15+ years and just last year I finally broke down and bought two from Brute Force, the company’s products I am going to review in this article.
I’m a skeptic with fitness equipment. The competition in the marketplace is great for consumers because it causes price wars, but it also introduces many poorly constructed low-quality products.
Sifting through what’s good and bad is time-consuming, and with companies on Amazon offering freebies in exchange for 5-star reviews, it’s getting harder to know what’s good and what’s not.
I’ll research products for months before I pull the trigger. Doesn’t matter what it is or how much it costs… the research must be done.
Why the long hold out?
I’ll admit I’m a big advocate of sandbag training now. Reflecting on my past position of the usefulness of sandbags, I’ve got that “whoops, should have jumped on that much sooner” kind of feeling.
I felt sandbag training was gimmicky after my initial introduction.
Why train with a sandbag when I could train the same exercises/movements using dumbells, a barbell or a kettlebell? Or how about just using body weight for $free.99?
Another major turn off was the obvious niche carving going on.
Were fitness professionals promoting sandbags because they added a results-oriented value to a workout session? Or because it was a novel new training tool and consumers EAT UP novel new training devices without a second thought.
Like any industry, fitness experiences periodic market-driven thrusts to create unnecessary niches and products to fit those niches. Some make it, some do not.
The marketing to use sandbags for fitness reminded me a lot of what Pavel Psatsouline did with the introduction of kettlebells to the Western World in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Kettlebells took off like a rocket ship. The timing was perfect and the odd-shaped kettlebell introduced a style of training previous unknown to many.
I’d watch YouTube videos and read articles from self-proclaimed sandbag experts like Josh Henkin and other guys/gals proclaiming that sandbag training was the “missing link” to building athleticism and functional fitness.
To buy a sandbag made me feel like I would be buying something that I could perform 99% of exercises with tools I already owned: kettlebells or barbells.
Of the fitness equipment I own…
I beat the hell out of all of it on a near daily basis. My wife can attest to this, since she has to cope with the clanking of iron, grunting, weight hitting the floor and shaking the house, the fans on the rower and airbike, and probably worst of all, the music pumping out of my Bose speaker.
Despite whatever vibe I project here on the blog, I don’t buy equipment just to buy equipment. I hate clutter. I don’t want my gym to look like I’m a hoarder of equipment.
The equipment I purchase must have a justified value.
I also don’t like parting ways with my money if I don’t 100% see the value in what I’m buying, no different than any of you.
Buy cheap, buy twice.It stings every single time it happens.
So, I’m sorry if I bored you to death, but that’s my personal story with sandbags. Now, I’d like to share with you the company I settled on buying from and why I did.
Brute Force Sandbags
Size Options
Brute Force offers 3 different size sandbags:
Mini Sandbag Training Kit – (5-25lb)
Athlete Sandbag Training Kit – (25-75lb)
Strongman Sandbag Training Kit – (50-125lb)
If you’re a beginner I suggest starting with the Mini or the Athlete option, strictly based on the weight of the bag. You can always size up as you get stronger.
For intermediate or advanced, I suggest buying both the Athlete and the Strongman in one shot.
Why? Because the Athlete won’t be heavy enough for some exercises, while the Strongman will be WAY too much weight for other exercises. They compliment each other very well.
Plus, the sandbags are interchangeable so you can transfer the filler bags from your Athlete bag to the Strongman, and vice versa.
Personally, I bought the Athlete and the Strongman, both in the color black. I would make the same purchase again without thinking twice. Both serve different purposes within my workouts.
Here are the most important features that separate Brute Force sandbags from others on the market.
Material Choice and Construction
Brute Force makes a durable sandbag using the following:
1000D Military-Spec Cordura
Military Grade Velcro
5 Panel Seatbelt Webbing
YKK Zippers
1000D Military-Spec Cordura
The outer shell and inner filler bags are constructed with the same military grade material being used by the armed forces. 1000D Military Spec Cordura. Cordura fabrics are known for their durability and resistance to abrasions, tears, and scuffs.
Cordura fabrics are known for their durability and resistance to abrasions, tears, and scuffs. They’ve been used in the military since WWII, introduced as a type of rayon at that time.
Personally, I can handle the scuffs. Scuffs are a part of the ownership of any item. But when the abrasions evolve into tears, that’s a problem.
Military Grade Velcro
Plain and simple, crappy velcro sucks.
You will need two hand technique and some serious pull-apart strength to peel back the velcro on the inner filler bags.
After my Athlete and Strongman bags arrived, this was one of the first things I noticed while filling the bags with sand. If the filler bags are crap, the entire bag is crap, even if the outer shell is durable.
Why? If the sand leaks out of the filler bags, it’s going to find a way to leach out of the outer shell at some point and you’ll slowly create a mess.
The inner filler bags of any quality sandbag SHOULD NEVER LEAK.
5 Panel Seat Belt Webbing
The seat belt wrapped around Brute Force Sandbags is the exact same that you trust your life with while driving your vehicle.
This seat belt webbing is aggressively stitched into the outer shell and leads up into the handles of the sandbag.
Much of the training you’ll do with a sandbag will utilize the handles.
The handles must be able to tolerate the weight of the bag when lifting, throwing, carrying or dragging.
Brute Force did a nice job adding a ton of reinforced stitching between the seat belt webbing and the handles. Doing so will prevent the gradual handle tear away so many other sandbag companies have struggled to fix.
YKK Zippers
I’ll be honest. I had no idea what “YKK” meant. When it came to zipper the logical feeling was that I didn’t want to deal breakage. No pulls that pop, herky-jerky sliding mechanisms, teeth that break or lockups.
But I did some research on YKK zipper anyway.
YKK zippers are produced in Japan and have been since 1934. The founder of the YKK zippers, Tadao Yoshida, built the company on the foundation of this quote: “no one prospers unless he renders benefit to others.” Boom. I’m on board with that.
Remember that awesome pair of expensive jeans you bought, but the zipper sucked? Yeah, me too. I’ve had a couple pairs of these. I didn’t think much about the quality of the zipper prior to buying my sandbag, but the reality is I was buying a $100+ dollar pair of jeans that I was going to be physically abusing.
Zippers matter. Especially if you plan on removing the filler bags frequently to change the weight for a given exercise, or traveling with the sandbag and refilling with your destination.
Handle Options
I wanted a wide variety of handle options and I got it. All of the Mini, Athlete, Strongman sandbags have 4 sets of flexible soft-grip handles, 8 handles total.
The 4 sets of handles offer the user the following grip options during exercise:
Neutral Grip (palms facing in)
Barbell Grip (overhand)
Suitcase Grip
End Cap Grip
You may think you’re only going to use 1 or 2 of these grips, but you’ll start exploring sooner than you’d think. I use them all for a variety of different exercises and various reasons.
Being able to switch grips on the same exercise can give a different training stimulus and keep training fresh.
I use the end cap handles the least, but I have used them when playing around with variations.
Filler Bags
I touched on the importance of having good quality velcro above, but what I didn’t mention is each Brute Force filler bag is designed with a double Velcro seal. The Athlete version comes equipped with two filler bags. One bag has a 50lb fill limit and the other has a 30lb fill limit, for 80lbs of total system weight.
The Athlete version comes equipped with two filler bags. One bag has a 50lb fill limit and the other has a 30lb fill limit, for 80lbs of total system weight.
80lbs in a sandbag feels like twice that weight. Don’t associate sandbag training with rigid equipment like barbells. 80lbs is going to wear you out quickly, which is the point.
I’ve not dabbled with going over the suggested weight limits for each bag, and I probably won’t. Sandbag training thrives off of the oddness of the structure, shape changing, and weight shifting as you move. Few repetitions are exactly the same.
Few (if any) repetitions are exactly the same.
Overstuffing the outer shell with filler bags will leave no room inside for the filler bags to move. We want the filler bags to move.
So, overstuffing a sandbag eliminates one of the main benefits of sandbag training, the reactiveness required to handle the sandbag during exercise.
Some things to keep in mind…
The sandbag might rip, tear and leak.
I just spent 10 minutes of your time and 1000+ words pumping up the Brute Force line and now I’m tossing this out there?
Damn right. Ripping, tearing and leaking is a reality, as it is with any fabric-based piece of gym equipment.
This is why you found this review, isn’t it? I’d bet that it is. Outside of design features and functionality of the sandbag, you’re probably curious if Brute Force Sandbag are going to hold up across a respectable amount of time.
Look, I was in your shoes asking the same questions prior to making my purchase so I get it.
The most honest answer to that question is this: it depends.
It depends on the exercises you’re doing (slams, dragging, the frequency (daily use versus just sometimes)
Friction wears things out. We change our car tires and our shoes because of friction, when we were kids we threw away pencils because the erasers wore down to the metal.
Friction is a major reason we have to replace the old with new.
If you plan on high repetition slamming or long distance dragging your sandbags across jagged gravel versus grass or a smooth wood or concrete basement floor…
… then yes, no matter what sandbag manufacturer you choose, the outer shell is going to rip and tear until the inner filler bags are exposed, then those are going to leak.
I wouldn’t quite refer to this scenario as negligence or product misuse, more a reality of using your equipment aggressively and decreasing the lifespan dramatically.
But this is common sense, isn’t it?
Here’s another fact. Just as no company should tout their sandbag products to be “indestructible”, no self-respecting company will hint their products could wear out.
I’ve owned both of my Brute Force bags for over a year, beat the hell of out them, and they still look new. I am extremely pleased.
You might not find value in every sandbag exercise.
Just because I demonstrate a sandbag exercise I found value in, doesn’t mean you will.
Personally, I find heavy hang cleans with a sandbag to be inferior to hang cleans with a barbell.
The pull is awkward, which morphs the technique into something I fear could result in injury. Probably not, but it’s a hunch I have, so I stay away from it. Plus, the exercise feels forced.
What do I do instead? I don’t use heavy sandbag cleans in my workouts. I’ll work sub-maximal hang cleans with my Athlete sandbag, mainly as a way to get the bag from a low position to chest height.
If I go heavy, I use a barbell instead. Simple as that.
Keep your mind open to all sandbag exercises. My suggestion is to start by working common linear exercises first (squats, lunges, overhead pressing) and progressing on to more involved exercises like rotational swings or combination moves.
Start with light weight, get the feel of the movements, then add weight as you progress. It’s no different than progressing with any other piece of gym equipment. Familiarize yourself, then progress to more challenging exercises.
Sandbags are EXTREMELY functional…
I’m not going to tell you sandbags will change your life, cause you to lose fat that you couldn’t with other tools or increase your conditioning more effectively.
Can’t do it.
What I will say, and I alluded to this briefly before, is training with a sandbag is a completely different training experience versus traditional weights. Sandbags lack structure, so picking them up and stabilizing them is a pure challenge.
Half of the workout is navigating the bag up to the position you’re going to use for the exercise.
Grabbing a sandbag without using the handles will be a real eye-opener to your grip strength.
Exercises like squats, lunges, carryingand dragging are ABSOLUTELY ideal for sandbag training. There are so many alternative variations, holds, grips, and movements you simply cannot do with iron gym equipment.
Bear hugging a heavy sandbag for squats, lunges or carries is brutally taxing.
Here’s a squat variation using an underarm hold, which challenges your bicep endurance while you squat…
What I’ve found is that mixing sandbag work has improved my rigid equipment performance (barbells, kettlebell, dumbells). Picking up a nicely balanced barbell seems convenient now, versus trying to figure out how to lift a 120lb structureless bag from the floor up to my shoulders.
In daily life, we are often faced with the challenge of moving odd-shaped objects. There is no way around it. Every time I load my lawn mower or our bikes into my truck bed I’m reminded of this. Where are the handles? None in sight, but the work must be done regardless.
What makes a form of exercise functional is the transfer it has to help a person become better equipped to thrive with common physical tasks, whether they are sport related or real-world task.
Few pieces of gym equipment better transfer more appropriately as sandbags.
MetCon Workouts like this are short, simple but brutally effective. I used to use barbells for combinations like this, but the sandbag has a much better feel.
I won’t be shy about my appreciation of the sandbag and the unique dynamic it’s added to my own workouts. It’s awesome additional to the home
Sandbags make a nice functional addition to the home gym set up or a personal training business for that matter.
