Enter the Animal
Did you know that out of the major predators in the animal kingdom, humans are the weakest? Funny, isn’t it? Why are humans the weakest of all animals? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know this. The animals are obviously doing something right to have that immense strength. So why don’t we train like animals do? What is it that animals do to train exactly? Well, they walk, they run, they hunt, and they kill. That’s what. What are we going to do? We’re going to perform movements that some of the pound-for-pound strongest animals do on a daily basis. Prepare yourself for the most intense workout session you will ever have in your life, my friends.
To describe animal training with a word will be senseless, because there is no word in the languages of man to describe the ferociousness, the intensity, the sheer PAIN of animal training. I will list the moves, and tell you how to do them. After that, you are on your own.
Novices should ATTEMPT to perform each animal walk for 1 minute rounds with 1 minute rest. Intermediates should do 2 minutes with 1 minute rest. Advanced athletes will do 3 minutes with 1 minute rest, and elite athletes will walk for 4 minutes, with 30 seconds rest. These ARE ABSOLUTELY NOT for the faint at heart. This is some serious hardcore shit we’re getting into here, so get ready. Here we go folks.
Alligator Walks
Chest as close to floor as possible. Elbows high. Move forward moving your left arm and left leg simultaneously, then follow with your right arm and right leg, just like an alligator walks.
Bear Crawls
Bend over like a bear and walk the same way as with the alligator walks. Left leg and left arm, right leg and right arm.
Crab Walks
This one is one of my favorites. You get down on all fours except backwards so it looks like you’re almost like a chair, stomach facing upwards, then you move left leg and left arm, and then right leg and right arm. Walk forward, backwards, and sideways. Hard to explain in words, easier with a picture.
Cricket Walks
Squat down with your arms between your legs grabbing your ankles. Start walking. Walk forward, backwards, and side-to-side.
Duck Walks
I love these because they are great for conditioning the legs for boxing. Put your hands behind your head like you’re getting arrested, squat down, and start walking like a duck.
Frog Jump
Get down with your hands on your ankles on the outsides of your legs. Jump forward staying as low to the ground as possible. Your goal is to jump as far as you can.
Inchworm
A tremendous abdominal exercise and general body strengthener. No way to describe how to do it in words. Look at the picture.
After you finish extending your body out, walk back up to the starting position with your legs only, not moving your upper body, and repeat the process by walking out again with your arms. This is a favorite of mine.
Kangaroo Hop
Assume a half squat position and jump like there’s no tomorrow. The goal is to jump as high and as far as you can. When you land, land in the half squat position and repeat.
Monkey walk
Walk around on your feet with only one hand. Alternate hands only when the walking hand gets fatigued.
Seal Crawl
Lay down on the floor on your stomach and lift your feet off the ground. Pull yourself around the floor with only your hands.
These are the best animal walks out there in my opinion. There are dozens more; just walk like any animal you think is strong. These are the ones that will condition you the best. With the exception of the seal crawl, all of these animal walks should be done on a track with the timing that was given in the opening paragraphs. Well, guys, that’s all there is to it. Be careful when starting these. And remember, once you start, you’ll never be able to stop. And also remember, don’t worry about looking like an idiot. You’ll be able to take care of any problems that assholes try to give you because you’ll be an ANIMAL!
Sources: Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness by Ross Enamait
October 13th, 2007 at 12:46 am
Presently I’m doing circuit workouts in my park, using the equipments available like sit-up boards, chin-up bars, dipping bars, jumping ladder, monkey ramps, logs for shoulders and also doing burpees. It helps me aerobically and strengthens me, but I would like to do animal workouts like what u taught and see whether it will improve me further. By the way, the circuit workouts I mentioned above are done 10reps X 2/3sets with 10mins interval. Thank u.
June 11th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
awesome-this is the best strength training for your body it works every part of the body-when you do this type of workout,you will know the different-your muscle will feel sore all over-I have try it and wow does it hurt,it really strenghten you.great stuff,thank you very much for putting it on this site,have be looking for something like this for awhile there are more type of animal movement workout you can do-hope you show more of the animal movement-because they do work-keep up the good work
June 13th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
What a workout… I only made it through half of your suggestions and am shattered and I thought I exercised regularly… anyway, will follow the routine and work my way up! Thanks for the information.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Bodyweight exercises are so often overlooked. A word of warning for the cricket walks and duck walks though – ensure your knees are well warmed up and stretched, as too many of these can cause excess strain on the knee joints. Like bunny hops, they are generally best avoided now.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Just wanted to follow up on my earlier comment to say that I have been doing this for a month now and its really impressive what it has done with a decent diet. You really get into it! Thanks again.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
This looks pretty cool, and it makes sense. One of the things I ve been doing recenlty is everlast boxing classes at 24 hour. What really kills is when we do the push ups, and drills over the punching. Man, when you need to use your whole body, and support your weight with your arms, that kills!
August 29th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
This is great workout , i have incorporated some of these workouts for quite some time , literally time saving workouts great for muscle building and fat loss. feel more energetic and fitter
September 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Those are some pretty sick work outs. I didn’t believe you telling us how hard it was… When I got to the Kangaroo one OMG, I thought my damn legs were going to collapse =p. I’m only at novice now because I haven’t worked out for quite some time, but these are some pretty fun things you can do to keep your body working. Thanks for showing us these man, like em a lot!
December 26th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Wow I never really stopped to think about how much exercise animals do everyday, very interesting. I bet if we were to do all that every day we would be as strong as a bear, however I don’t think my boyfriend would like me being stronger then he is.
February 7th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Will these get me ripped?
February 16th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Great exercises. Gonna have to try these out. Thanks
December 11th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
[...] of lunges, monkey walks, caterpillar walks, etc to warm [...]
January 30th, 2010 at 9:18 am
You’ve shown us some great exercises there! I will certainly add these to my multi-joint exercises which by the way has massively helped me to shred fat…previously i was just jogging and doing single joint muscles and it lost me weight, but i couldnt lose my last 10 pounds. Since doing high intensity stuff and multi-joint exercises it’s been really easy to shred.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I use a training system that incorporates all of this style of training. We call these types of moves integration moves because they incorporate all the joints of the body in coordinated movements, as opposed to isolated strength training. We do them on the ground, also on balance beams. We jump fences, climb walls, do stairs, do handstands on boxes or stumps, lunge walk, duck walk, bear crawl, inchworm, crab walk, forwards, backwards, sideways, over, under, always changing the demands on the body, just like an animal would need to do in nature. The result is an extremely high level of efficiency in the muscular system to be able to move in any direction with strength and power. Running becomes effortless and injury-free. Check out the runwithpower.com blog for a ton more information on this style of training.
June 10th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Beginners should be doing 1 minute rounds with 1 minute rest, sure, but how many 1-and-1 should they be shooting for? 5? 10?