3 Animal Flow Techniques to Build Strength and Endurance

Animal Flow is a bodyweight-based movement system that incorporates ground-based movements to improve mobility, strength, endurance and coordination.

Created by fitness educator Mike Fitch, Animal Flow takes inspiration from quadrupedal movement patterns found in animals, incorporating elements from disciplines such as gymnastics, parkour and breakdancing. Research suggests that bodyweight-based quadrupedal movement improves muscular endurance, proprioception and neuromuscular efficiency (Behm et al., 2015).

1. Beast Crawl

How It Works

The Beast Crawl is a fundamental Animal Flow movement that enhances core strength, shoulder stability and overall endurance. It involves maintaining a quadrupedal position with knees hovering just above the ground and moving forward, backward or laterally while maintaining control and stability.

Benefits for Strength and Endurance

The Beast Crawl engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously, particularly the core, shoulders and legs. Studies on quadrupedal movement patterns indicate increased activation of the rectus abdominis, external obliques and transverse abdominis compared to traditional core exercises (Comfort et al., 2018). Additionally, research suggests that closed-chain movements, like crawling, improve joint stability and reduce injury risk (Kibele et al., 2014).

Execution Tips

• Keep the knees hovering just above the floor to maximise core engagement.
• Maintain a neutral spine to protect the lower back.
• Move slowly and with control to enhance muscle activation.

2. Scorpion Reach

How It Works

The Scorpion Reach is a dynamic movement that enhances spinal mobility, hip flexibility and upper body strength. The movement starts in a Beast position and involves extending one leg behind the body while rotating through the thoracic spine and opening the hips.

Benefits for Strength and Endurance

This movement recruits the glutes, obliques, shoulders and deep core stabilisers. A study by Kubo et al. (2019) demonstrated that rotational movements improve core engagement and spinal mobility, reducing the likelihood of lower back injuries. Furthermore, the Scorpion Reach enhances single-leg stability, an essential component for improving athletic performance and overall endurance (Zebis et al., 2016).

Execution Tips

• Engage the core throughout the movement to maintain balance.
• Move through a controlled range of motion to avoid compensatory patterns.
• Synchronise breathing with movement for better endurance.

3. Ape Squat to Underswitch

How It Works

The Ape Squat to Underswitch is a transition-based movement that develops lower body strength, agility and endurance. It begins in a deep squat (Ape position), followed by an explosive lateral shift and an underswitch, which involves rotating the body into a quadrupedal position before returning to standing.

Benefits for Strength and Endurance

Deep squat-based movements improve lower limb strength and hip mobility (Stuart et al., 2014). The addition of the underswitch introduces rotational strength, which has been shown to improve athletic performance and injury prevention (Myer et al., 2015). The dynamic nature of this movement also improves cardiovascular endurance by increasing heart rate and oxygen consumption (Esco et al., 2018).

Execution Tips

• Keep the heels flat in the squat position to maximise mobility.
• Use controlled rotation during the underswitch to protect the lower back.
• Perform the movement with fluidity to enhance neuromuscular coordination.

Conclusion

Incorporating Animal Flow movements into a training programme provides a unique approach to building strength and endurance while enhancing mobility and coordination. The Beast Crawl develops core and shoulder stability, the Scorpion Reach improves rotational strength and spinal mobility and the Ape Squat to Underswitch enhances lower body power and cardiovascular endurance.

These movements are backed by scientific evidence demonstrating their effectiveness in improving overall fitness.

Key Takeaways