Skip to main content

4 Reasons to use Animal Flow for Athletes


Animal Flow for Athletes

                For those who do not know what Animal Flow is I have provided this link for you to check it out before reading this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYkafEBJ9oI

 

                There are an endless amount of reasons why Animal Flow is such a beneficial workout for Athletes, but for today we will list what I consider to be the top 4.

1)      Mobility/Flexibility: In may experience with working with Youth Athletes,  I have noticed that the reason so many of them get injured is because of lack of mobility in their joints.  When the joint cannot move properly the body creates compensations.  These compensations lead to injury in the long run. Doing Animal Flow, even as just a warm up, can help promote mobility in the joints and get the body ready to perform task whether in the weight room or on the field.

2)      Rotary Stability:  What sports use rotation? ALL OF THEM.  Many of the moves used in Animal Flow require you to stabilize you core while lifting opposite limbs. The movements also require that you control the movement of your body before placing the limbs back on the ground.  One of the rules of Animal Flow is that Limbs Lift and Land Lightly. In order to follow this rule you will have to have a ridiculous amount of rotary stability due to the fact that these moves place such a high demand on our anterior chain slings.

3)      Connection of Muscle Patterns: Too often in training programs there is a ton of isolation exercises for specific muscle groups. Many of these exercises are not beneficial for athletes.  Animal Flow requires that you train muscular patterns through full ranges of motion.  There are many moves that require you to engage the entire posterior chain. Training these patterns help to promote better movement which can lead to a stronger well communicating body. I have also found that training these patterns teaches better neuromuscular control and helps to prevent injury in athletes.

4)      FUN! :  In working with youth athletes, I have found that they are bored with the weight room and bored with training.  Today’s youth are use to constantly being mentally stimulated.  Animal Flow is not only effective it is also extremely FUN.  All the youth we work with get excited when we do our Flow part of training. It is something that they find interesting and challenging. Fun is the secret ingredient that keeps our athletes coming back and excited for every training session.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taking the NEXT STEP

Taking the NEXT STEP!! Im sure we have all reached a  point in our lives where we know its time to take that next step, next level, begin the next chapter in our life. It is by far  one of the scariest times for all of us. The point where we realize everything we have ever done has led us to THIS! This is our moment to shine and like Eminem says, " You only get one shot, do not miss your chance blow. Opportunity comes once in a life.".  The one scary thing is, you know after THIS moment, nothing will ever be the same.  Once you cross THIS line, you can not go back.  THIS is it and the pressure is on. They say, "Pressure bust pipes, but It can also make diamonds.", only you can decide what it does to you.  We all get to THIS moment, but few rise to the occasion. Few feel the fear and keep walking forward.  You can either step into greatness or step back into comfort.  Many will choose to step down and let THIS moment pass them by. Once they do that, the rest of t...
6 comments
Read more

Quad & Hip Flexor Mobility & Flexibility

Why is it important to include mobility work for the quads and hip flexors? Tight muscles in the anterior compartment of the leg can cause a number of problems, two of which I will discuss in this blog. 1.     Tight quadriceps and hip flexors can put you at an increased risk for a hamstring injury. When people say that a muscle is “tight,” they are essentially saying that the muscle is chronically shortened. Without getting too much into the anatomical specifics, when the hip flexors are “tight,” or shortened, they pull on the lumbar spine. This pull on the lumbar spine increases the curve of the lumbar spine (excessive lordosis) and in turn causes an anterior pelvic tilt.  When the pelvis tilts anteriorly, the hamstrings (attached to the ischial tuberosity) can become excessively stretched/lengthened, which can lead to a strain. Therefore, by keeping the hip flexors and quadriceps at proper length, we can keep our ...
3 comments
Read more

TOP 2 Mistakes most young fitness pros make with their programming

TOP 2 Mistakes most young fitness pros make with their programming                   After 3 years of running a mentor program for fitness pros, 6 years of being an adjunct professor at a college for Athletic Training majors, 6 years of being a preceptor for 3 colleges Athletic Training programs, and 16 years in the fitness industry; I have seen my fair share of programming.   There are many mistakes that beginner fitness pros make, as they should because they are new, and with this blog I would like to talk about the top 2 that I see all the time. 1)       Planes of Motion.   I cannot stress enough how important it is the train your athletes/clients in ALL three planes of motion. When I give my college students an assignment to write a program for an athlete, I always get the same exercises ; squat, bench press, leg press, shoulder press, clean, sit ups. ...
3 comments
Read more