Workouts Gone Wild
Share
Anyone who knows me understands that I hate working out. I like activities with purpose, such as archery or martial arts. I hate walking into a gym and working out on a machine or running on a treadmill. For that reason, I’m always on the lookout for ways I can work out without feeling like its work. More like a fun-out.
And what’s more appealing than tapping your inner wild beast? That’s why the primal workout caught my attention. Panther. Gorilla. Flamingo. Each of the movements is focused on duplicating the movement of a wild animal and it’s part of an overall return to basic health philosophy. Want the best body? Duplicate the movement of those with the best bodies – and as it turns out, wild animals are in the best shape of any of us.
Fitness expert Kira Stokes designed her Stoked Primal class around the concept of using your own body weight for strength building and utilizes movements based on the panther and other beasts. Fitness expert Mike Fitch, creator of Animal Flow, focuses his moves on flamingos and bullfrogs, as well as others.
It’s a concept that many forms of martial arts styles are reliant upon, particularly Budokon and Shaolin moves like ba gua zhang (combines the tiger, monkey and eagle movements), liu her chuen (combines the dragon, crane, rabit, tiger, monkey and eagle), hsing-i (combines the dragon, tiger, monkey, horse, turtle, chicken, hawk, swallow, snake, owl, eagle and bear), and the very popular tai chi (which focuses on the snake and crane).
The exercises are designed to increase flexibility and endurance while building strength and power. Since the exercises are so intensive, each workout lasts less than 30 minutes.
So, if you’re looking for a way to increase stamina, build strength and become as agile as a panther, this is a workout you may want to look into. I don’t know if I could mimic a jungle cat, but it’s a certainty that I would have more fun with this type of workout than one which mimics a mouse on a treadmill! Check out this amazing video of the workout being done in real time.
[bt_youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9andR3liLA0″ width=”600″ height=”400″ responsive=”yes” autoplay=”no”][/bt_youtube]
