5 Animal Flow Moves For Flexibility

Animal flow moves are a sequence of floor-based exercises that, when practiced regularly, improves overall flexibility, coordination, and balance.

Animal flow movement was created by Mike Fitch, a certified and experienced gym trainer, NSCA-CPT in 2010.

“The movements are about restoring connection and stabilization throughout the entire body. The goal is to make people better movers.” – Mike Fitch

In these exercises, movement fluidity is more important than keeping track of reps. One example of an animal flow movement is the bear crawl exercise. Likewise, all exercises are imitate the way animals move steadily being closer to the ground at an even pace with good hand-to-leg coordination.
Animal flow moves are bodyweight exercises that occasionally mimic break dancing, capoeira – an afro-Brazilian martial art, or Parkour. Although animal flow methods are significantly easier, it may take some practice to feel comfortable practising them on your hands and knees.
In this post, I will share my recent experience of trying the animal flow moves after almost 4 years of recovering from an ACL knee surgery. I will discuss the benefits of flow moves and motivate you to try 5 essential flow moves for strength training.

You may also like to read: <strong>Discover The Amazing Benefits of Bear Crawl Bodyweight Exercise </strong>

Disclaimer: All contents in this post are for general health information only. Please consult a specialist physician or a coach before trying any new exercise, diet or health advice. There are no affiliate links attached to this post.

POST CONTENTS
History of animal flow movement
Benefits of animal flow moves
5 Basic Flow moves to try

HISTORY OF ANIMAL FLOW MOVEMENT

There are many types of flow movement exercises that have become popular, like Yoga Flow and Primal Flow Moves. Each of these flow movements has their specific principles that they follow. However, Animal Flow Movement differs from them in a number of ways.
Mike Fitch, a certified gym trainer, wanted to challenge himself with something completely different from lifting weights. He found that animal flow uses bodyweight, enhances awareness and functionality, and can be used as a warm-up or combined with other strength training exercises.

“When we’re talking about the system of Animal Flow, we have these four pillars, connection-communication, performance, resilience, and community. Reconnecting the body, that’s the communication connection part of the pillar. Its hands and feet in contact with the ground, bring mindful awareness back into the body, allowing your body to communicate to itself as well.”
– Mike Fitch

As a dancer, I was drawn to practising animal flow moves due to their street dance-like resemblance. However, the grounding moves were challenging due to the need for arm and wrist strength. To practise, I used a large yoga mat and learned proper coordination, which requires core muscles to hop from one move to another.

You may also like to read: Wall Sit Exercises for Desk Workers

BENEFITS OF ANIMAL FLOW MOVES

I recently tried the animal flow again, inspired by YouTube videos by movement coach Kellen Milad. He has animal flow moves for beginners to intermediate levels. He slows down the pace of each move, which made it easier for me to understand where and how to support and balance my body. He will teach you two or three moves to practise after which he will gradually combine all three into one fluid movement. You can begin with one rep and work your way up to two or three reps before adding more moves.

Here are the benefits of animal flow moves I discovered that will also help beginners.

• Staying low to the ground and moving actually feels safer because there’s no chance of falling.
• A slow pace is highly recommended.
• Even if you have stiff joints, you can still try some of the moves because you are supporting yourself with your arms and core muscles. You don’t have to lower your hips all the way to the floor, but focus on moving slowly and keeping your balance. 
• Animal flow improves coordination, and you will feel more in control as you practise it regularly.
• You should practise animal flow moves at least three times a week.
• It’s a great exercise for improving flexibility because it challenges your shoulder joints and glutes to work together.
• It’s a versatile workout that can be used as a warm up or for hard core strength training.
• It can also be easily modified according to your fitness level.
• It’s a complimentary bodyweight workout and cannot be replaced by other weight training workouts.
• It improves focus and strengthens core muscles.
• It is artistic as well as holistic in nature.
• It looks aesthetic and is a lot of fun once you get comfortable with it.

You may also like to read: Finger And Wrist Stretches For Frequent Keyboard Users

5 BASIC FLOW MOVES TO TRY

Before you try the 5 basic flow moves, it’s important to first become comfortable walking on all fours. Use a yoga mat or even try it on your bed.
Step 1. Get down in a tabletop position so that your arms and wrists are in the same line as the shoulders.
Step 2. Balance on bended knees and, keeping your weight on your heels, slightly lift your knees off the ground. 
Step 3. Stay in this position for some time and try to assess if you are putting too much weight on your arms or your heels. You can do this by rocking back and forth.
Step 4. Now try to lift one hand off the floor and try to balance. Try this on the other hand as well.
Step 5. Relax your knees to the ground, slide your buttocks on your feet, and stretch your arms forward. Stay in this position for 30 seconds.
Step 6. Perform the cobra stretch to further relax your spine and stretch your hamstrings.

FORWARD TRAVELING BEAST

LOADING AND UNLOADING BEAST

SIDE TRAVELING APE

FORWARD TRAVELING CRAB

CRAB REACH

These exercises are not recommended if you are recovering from a recent injury or have weak bones. If you are a beginner, then practice the anmal flow moves under guidance of a certified gym coach.

REFRENCES
Animal Flow Fitness, By Maggie Fazeli Fard | Experience Life, June 10, 2021.
https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/animal-flow-fitness/amp/

Mike Fitch – Movement Modality, Animal Flow, by gabby | Nov 29, 2021 | Performance – Fitness, The Gabby Reece Show.
https://gabriellereece.com/mike-fitch-movement-modality-animal-flow/