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Animal Kingdom Copyright © 2010 Adam Steer & Ryan Murdock. All rights reserved. Important: If you have access to a printer, please PRINT this report (you have our full permission). Youll get a lot more out of it. !
Legal Disclaimer The information presented in this work is by no way intended as medical advice or as a substitute for medical counseling. The information should be used in conjunction with the guidance and care of your physician. Consult your physician before beginning this program as you would with any exercise and nutrition program. If you choose not to obtain the consent of your physician and/ or work with your physician throughout the duration of your time using the recommendations in the program, you are agreeing to accept full responsibility for your actions. By continuing with the program you recognize that despite all precautions on the part of BodyweightCoach.com, BodyweightCoach.com, there are risks of injury or illness which can occur because of your use of the aforementioned information and you expressly assume such risks and waive, relinquish and release any claim which you may have against BodyweightCoach.com and it s representatives, or its affiliates as a result of any future physical injury or illness incurred in connection with, or as a result of, the use or misuse of the program. !
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Welcome to Animal Kingdom! You’ve busted your ass to sculpt that ripped summer body, and the warm weather’s finally here — it’s time to enjoy it! This program is meant to supplement your summer activities, not be a burden that you have to work around. Use this program at the cottage, on vacation, or in the backyard. Do the movements with your friends or your kids. Have fun exploring ranges you probably haven’t moved in since you were a child. You’ve worked hard to build your conditioning over the last few months. Let the freedom of movement be your reward! But don’t be fooled. This program is no joke. The movements are a blast, but when you put them into circuits they’ll tax you to your limits. The challenge is partly due to neural sophistication. Learning new skills is much more calorically expensive than repeating movements your body has already adapted to. This is because the body is naturally wired to return to homeostasis (a resting state). It quickly adapts to new challenges and finds ways to do those things while expending less energy. We see it in an athlete who does amazing things with deceptive ease, the same things that’d leave any of us gasping on the sidelines. As human animals we’ve evolved to be great at cheating. Staying one step ahead of your body’s incredible adaptability means constantly challenging yourself with new skills. This has the added benefit of increasing the number of calories you’ll burn. The movements included in this program will relight your fat burning fire, because chances are you’ve never done anything like them before — and certainly not circuit-style! Animal Kingdom has elements of parkour, free running, and the sort of animalistic natural movement patterns that are our inheritance as bipedal predators. Our approach, however, is based firmly in the latest research on biomechanics, sport-science and flow state performance psychology. The goal is to rewire how you move through space with exercises that reestablish biomechanically efficient movement patterns. Learning to load your structure and take advantage of the natural elasticity of your
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connective tissues teaches you to balance tension and relaxation. Learning to re-integrate your breathing, movement and structure teaches you to move with an athlete's efficiency, and the natural grace you once had as a child. The practice of biomechanical exercise takes the strength and endurance gains you made in the previous programs and teaches your body to express them with precision in the real world. When these neurologically challenging movements are done circuit-style, as in Animal Kingdom, they’ll also give you a hell of a workout in a very short time! And we think that’s perfect for summer, because when the sun’s out you’re busy with the full-time job of having fun.
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Animal Kingdom: Concepts & Principles
Animal Kingdom incorporates some incredibly effective training protocols into one high-powered performance package. Let’s take a quick look at what’s under the hood.
Increasing Sophistication
Increasing movement sophistication is a hallmark of Circular Strength Training®. Fitness 101 tells us that we cause adaptation in the body by introducing novel demands. This is referred to as the SAID principle—“specific adaptation to imposed demands.” There are a number of ways to elicit this desirable adaptation, but most exercise systems manipulate the variables of weight, reps, sets, and duration. You can also compress the rest time between sets to increase the rate at which your body recovers from bursts of effort. CST, while using all of these approaches, is unique in that it focuses on manipulating the variable of movement sophistication. Animal Kingdom uses sophisticated movements to increase the caloric demand of the circuits by exposing your body to skills so new it has to fire on all cylinders in an effort to master them. By staying just ahead of that learning curve, your “workout progress” becomes sustainable and perpetual. Training like this also teaches you to assimilate new skills at an incredible rate, because you’re forced to become much more conscious of each placement of a limb, each recruitment of a muscle, and each coordinated burst of power. Your body becomes capable of executing more complex movements with ease. You develop your attributes (strength, endurance, etc) in all dimensions, and you become more capable of undertaking any endeavour, whether in sport or life.
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Biomechanical Exercise
Animal Kingdom is made up of “biomechanical exercises” designed to teach your body structurally efficient movement patterns, stripping away the debris of years of inefficient movement, muscular tension, Sensory Motor Amnesia (when your body “forgets” how to move in a certain way), and even the social repression that has trapped you in robotic rigidity. The goal of biomechanical exercise is to unbind your movement flow by teaching your body to integrate breathing, movement and structure in everything you do. All human movement requires a coordinated sequence of muscle contractions, changes in joint position, and varying degrees of tension applied to tendons and ligaments. Becoming aware of some of these movement patterns and learning to coordinate them is the first step in reclaiming grace in motion. All of the movements in Animal Kingdom emphasize agility, coordination and balance, teaching you to correctly load your structure (the bones and connective tissues) while making seamless transitions from one motion to the next.
Those are just a couple of the unique training principles hardwired into our Animal Kingdom bodyweight exercise program. Next, we’ll talk about how your 4 week training cycle fits together…
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Programming Animal Kingdom
This one’s simple. Animal Kingdom is meant to be trained 3 times per week for 4 weeks. You can program it MondayWednesday-Friday, or you can choose three days that fit your current schedule. Just make sure you leave at least one recovery day in between. This program is meant to be a supplement to your summer activities, not a burden that you have to work around during the busy holiday and outdoor recreation season. Use this program at the cottage, on vacation, or in the backyard. And most of all, have fun with it!
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The Animal Kingdom Program
Objectives Animal Kingdom is a fun program that takes advantage of warm summer weather by introducing you to exciting new movements you can practice outside. You’ll keep the fat off by training as little as three times per week, and you’ll increase your overall athleticism by training biomechanically efficient movement patterns. Animal Kingdom’s 1 Minute / 2 Minute protocol pairs movements together in a way that forces you to perform continuous work while learning how to recover in motion. The circuits alternate 1 minute bursts of “cardio” intensive exercises with 2 minute intervals of movements that are more biomechanically challenging. Your task during the 1 minute phase is to perform continuous work, taxing both your muscular endurance and your “wind” to the limit. You will then immediately switch to complex biomechanical exercises for the 2 minute intervals, during which you’ll recover for the next 1 minute burst. You’ll do this in two ways. Focusing on integrating your breathing with the movement of the biomechanical exercise will help bring your breath back under control, because you’re learning to “be breathed” by the motion rather than working to breathe. By correctly loading your structure — transferring gravity’s load to your bones and connective tissues in the most efficient way possible — you’ll give your muscles a break, recovering sufficiently from the muscular endurance drain to get through the next round. We said it would be fun, but we didn’t say it would be easy. Now let’s get to the work…
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Animal Kingdom
This Master Program Charts outline each phase of your 4 week program.
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thurs
Fri
Week 1
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Week 2
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Week 3
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Week 4
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Animal Kingdom 2-3 sets
Sat
Instructional Videos • • •
Warm Up / Mobility (For recovery on Off days, and warm up on Animal Kingdom days) Cool Down / Compensation (For recovery on Off days, and cool down on Animal Kingdom days) Animal Kingdom Workout
We’ve also included a Follow-Along video of the Animal Kingdom circuit. Simply cue it up on repeat and follow along with Ryan for 2 to 3 rounds.
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The How-To
The Master Program Chart on the previous page provides an overview of the entire program. Here’s what to do when you reach each of the two “days”:
Off Days:
On any of your off days, you may perform two sets of the joint mobility session for active recovery. Reference the Warm Up / Mobility video. Follow this with one to two slow, deep sets of the compensation series. Reference the Cool Down / Compensation video. You don’t have to hit this on every off day, but the more often you do it the better you’ll feel!
Animal Kingdom Days:
Warm up with one set of the joint mobility progression. Reference the Warm Up / Mobility video.
Warm Up
Neck Tilts Shoulder Figure 8 s !
Spinal Wave
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Warm Up
Hip Sways Chest Pistons Hip Figure 8
Complete 2 to 3 rounds of the following circuit (depending on your level of conditioning):
The Kong
1 minute
The Road Gator
2 minutes
Bear Step
1 minute
Shin Roll
2 minutes
Ape Step
1 minute
Dung Beetle
2 minutes
Frogger
1 minute
Armadillo
2 minutes
Squat Creep
1 minute
Centipede
2 minutes
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The Kong
1 minute
The Road Gator
2 minutes
Bear Step
1 minute
Shin Roll
2 minutes
Ape Step
1 minute
Dung Beetle
2 minutes
Frogger
1 minute
Armadillo
2 minutes
Squat Creep
1 minute
Centipede
2 minutes
Begin with the first exercise and complete 1 minute of work. Then move immediately on to the next exercise, and so on down the list. One time through all 10 exercises is 1 round. Rest for 1 to 2 minutes before beginning the next round. Reference the Animal Kingdom Follow-Along video. End your session with one slow, deep set of the compensation series. Reference the Cool Down / Compensation video.
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Exercise Description The following photos are a reminder of the directions presented in the detailed instructional videos. Study the videos carefully before you begin Animal Kingdom.
Animal Kingdom Circuit The Kong
Begin in a flat foot squat. Place both hands on the ground in front of you, with arms between your knees. As your weight shifts forward and comes over your hands, pull with your palms. This frees up your legs at the same time as building a great deal of stored elastic energy in the connective tissues. As you pull with the hands, allow your legs to slingshot forward, landing again in the flat foot squat. Pull yourself across the ground in this way, using the buoyancy of your legs to move forward.
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The Road Gator
Begin in pigeon pose, with one leg bent and the other extended behind you. Spine is straight, chin down and crown tall. Shift your weight onto the hip of the bent leg, and swoop the rear leg forward with knee locked until it is pointing straight ahead. Next, fix the ankle of the long leg in place and allow the knee to bend as you pull yourself forward, hinging at the knee and coming into pigeon pose on the opposite side. Your body should move around the front knee in an ellipse (rather than lever up and over), and the knee and shin stay in contact with the ground throughout. Glide forward across the ground in this way, moving in ellipses from side to side.
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Bear Step
Begin on all fours, with your hands and feet in contact with the ground. The forward motion is driven by slinging your weight from one hip to the next. As you shift your weight forward over your hands, loading one leg, the opposite leg is free to pivot and step. As the weight shifts to that new load bearing leg, the other leg is free to pivot and step. Legs remain straight, with knees as close to locked as possible and your weight balanced lightly on the balls of both feet. The hands “walk” across the ground to keep up, but the movement is driven by the buoyancy of the legs.
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Shin Roll
Begin in a flat foot squat. Shift your weight to one leg, and allow the inside of the opposite (non load bearing) knee to drop so that your shin is in contact with the ground. The ankle is flat, toes are pulled towards the shin, heel is in contact with the ground, and the hip pushes the knee slightly forward. Spine is straight, chin down, and crown up. Shift your weight in an arc and allow your butt to come into contact with the foot of the grounded leg. As you do so, point the toes of the grounded foot (this is very important), bringing your instep into contact with the ground. As your butt swings across and contacts your heel, the instep of the grounded leg presses down and the shin rolls over. Come to rest sitting on the grounded heel, with spine straight and crown up. Reverse the movement to return to the flat foot squat, and repeat to the opposite side.
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Ape Step
Begin in a flat foot squat. Shift your weight to one leg and allow the inside of the opposite (non load bearing) knee to drop so that your shin is in contact with the ground. The ankle is flat, toes are pulled towards the shin, and heel is in contact with the ground. Continue that lateral motion by reaching your hands past the load-bearing leg and planting your palms on the ground. They should be planted in a line, and beyond your foot. Next, shift your weight over your hands, freeing up the rear leg. As the weight shifts to the hands allow your legs to slingshot forward, establishing a new position. The movement should feel buoyant and should be driven by the stored elastic energy of your connective tissues. Shift your weight over the forward leg again, drop the knee of the free rear leg, and repeat. Change sides every other round, or Ape Step your way up and back within a fixed space.
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Dung Beetle
Begin in a seated position with both legs out in front and your hands on your knees. Engage the ground to one side by screwing down with your arm as you bring the same knee into contact with the ground. Move the opposite leg around your near foot in an arc (maintaining contact with the ground) as you tuck your head in underneath, coming to rest in the plow position. Your weight should be on your shoulders, never on your neck. Continue the motion to roll across the plane of your shoulders. Thread the far knee underneath (again maintaining contact with the ground), come out of the tuck, and roll through to the seated starting position. You can continue rolling laterally in one direction for distance (changing direction each round), or you can roll back and forth from seated position to seated position if you have less training space.
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Frogger
Begin in a low Ball-of-Foot Squat with palms on the floor. Splay your feet out towards the back at 45 degrees as you lower your chest towards the ground. Your face is turned to the side, shoulders pulled away from your ears, and elbows pointed 45° to the back. Your butt should stick up slightly to prevent your pelvis from slamming into the floor. Press through your palm heels to arch up, locking out your arms while keeping your shoulders pulled down and back. Slightly contract your butt muscles to protect the low back. Exhale hard and snap your hips toward the sky in one powerful movement to return your feet to the starting position.
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Armadillo (Long Leg Roll)
Begin kneeling on the ground with hands on knees and belly on thighs. Extend one leg with pointed toes, making a small cylinder as you bring your hips softly to the ground. Roll your top shoulder back as you swoop the long leg around, coming to rest on your back with both knees up and feet touching the ground. Continue in the same direction, drawing the opposite knee to your chest as you extend the opposite leg. Use the momentum gained from the pumping of your leg to roll yourself on top of the bent leg. Draw the long leg in to arrive at the start position. Work this back and forth, rolling from kneeling position to kneeling position as fluidly as possible.
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Squat Creep
Begin in a ball of foot squat. Shift your weight to one foot to free the opposite leg. Your weight should be balanced in a line from your crown to the weight bearing ball of foot. Step forward with the free leg just far enough to place the foot flat on the ground. Shift your weight onto the forward leg by moving in an arc and pivoting on the feet. The pivot creates the forward weight transfer. When your weight is balanced on the forward leg, step (don’t swing) forward with the free leg just far enough to place the foot flat on the ground, and repeat, moving forward by pivoting your weight over your structure. The movement should be driven by the loading and unloading of your tendons and ligaments, and not by muscularly exhausting your thighs.
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Centipede (Tank Track)
Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent. Remove one shoulder from the ground, roll it up and back, and plant it to establish a new position slightly higher on the ground than it was before. Next, roll the opposite shoulder up and back to establish a new position slightly higher than the first shoulder. Your torso and hips remain in a straight line throughout. Resist the urge to kick your hips out to the side. Track your way across the ground this way, driven entirely by the rolling and planting of your shoulders. Your feet “walk” to keep up with your shoulders — they do not drive you across the ground by pushing.
