A couple of months ago I was checking out my Twitter feed, as many of us do, when I came across a picture of an old friend and colleague in what appeared to be some pretty funny looking postures that reminded me of something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Naturally, I picked up the phone to ask her “Freyja, what on Earth are you doing in those photos?” Her response: “Animal Flow®.”
All of a sudden it came rushing back: a YouTube video I had seen a little over a year earlier of Animal Flow® creator Mike Fitch doing some truly impressive bodyweight training. At that time I had been so impressed that I immediately jumped on their website and started looking for courses in my area (which, at the time, was Toronto). Sadly, there was nothing on the schedule for ANY Canadian cities. Next step: pick up the phone and call their offices to find out if there is anything planned that just hasn’t found its way onto the website yet. Still no luck. They say they’ve had a few requests for both the Toronto and Vancouver areas, but nothing has been set in stone yet. Flash forward to a couple of months ago, when I’m on the phone with Freyja, and she tells me that she is actually doing her apprenticeship to become an Animal Flow® Master Instructor, and that they have a yet-to-be-announced training coming up in Toronto. I managed to find out the dates and I booked my flights, and was the first person registered for the course.
Flash forward to May 15th, when I walk into day one of the course to find a who’s-who of Toronto-based personal trainers, massage therapists and chiropractors. 14 out of 18 people in the room I know either personally or by reputation to be leaders in their respective fields. This just further solidifies for me that it was worth the trip.
Animal Flow® Master Instructor Rich Scrivener takes the stage and walks us through the agenda for the next two days. Day one is scheduled to be static and traveling forms, while day two will be switches and transitions. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that the first day is just the “easy stuff”. Or so I think… after the first two minutes of static form work I quickly realize that there’s more to this than meets the eye. Holding yourself in a “Beast” can be easy when executed poorly, or incredibly taxing when executed correctly. Obviously the focus of the course is mastering executing the exercises using proper technique. It’s basically the difference between doing a “regular” plank, and an RKC Plank, with the latter being incredibly challenging even for a seasoned fitness pro.
This becomes the theme of the whole day: exercises that LOOK easy, but when executed correctly, prove to be incredibly challenging. By the end of the day all of the participants are thoroughly exhausted and head home for a night of quality rest and recovery.
Day two is switches and transitions, meaning how to gracefully move from one static form to the next and back again. This is the part that makes Animal Flow® look really cool and slick. Once again, the movements LOOK simple enough, and are pretty easy to fake your way through, but when you actually focus on doing them well they become a real challenge. The key, as with many movements, is to break the movement down into individual components and practice adding elements one at a time. It takes a certain amount of patience to not get ahead of yourself with what should, in theory, be intuitive movements for a human being.
All-in-all it was a great experience. Any time spent with leaders in your industry is time well spent, especially if you can walk away with one or two new tools or tidbits of information under your belt. My biggest takeaways were:
• It’s one thing to execute a movement; it’s something totally different to execute a movement WELL.
• “Intuitive” movements are not all that intuitive to the 21st century human being, even those working in the health and wellness industry.
• Everyone can benefit from mastering how to move around on the ground and how to get themselves up again. The biggest and most common barrier to independent living is the ability to get up and down off the ground. Period.
• The “Static Crab”, when executed correctly, is an EXCELLENT exercise to help correct posture.
• Closed chain movements for the upper body are incredible at grooving good shoulder mechanics and stability.
In the end, every course is only as good as YOU make it. Were there elements of this course that I will likely never use with an actual member? Sure. Will I use those elements in my own training? Absolutely. Were there elements that I began utilizing with members the very first day I was back in the club? You better believe it! Overall, I now have an even more diverse box of tools to draw from when programming mobility, stability, full body conditioning, and just straight up adding more FUN to workouts!
For more information on Animal Flow check out www.animal-flow.com and their Animal Flow YouTube Playlist.
Sean Allt,
Club Manager
Innovative Fitness Vancouver
p. 604-609-5450 / c. 604-314-8627
www.InnovativeFitness.com
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