Animal movements are a great way to “trick” your child into exercising, building strength, improving mobility, and getting a great workout. The key is that instead of forced exercise, kids can have fun waddling, or instead of doing box jumps, they can do frog jumps.
However, we are not quadrupeds or amphibians or water birds: we are humans with completely different anatomies from those of the animals we imitate. Therefore, the movements of our animals are not exactly the same as the animals that actually perform them. They may even look different if you’re an adult who practices animal movements for mobility and strength. For the children, here are my Ten Favorite Animal Moves.
duck walk
To perform the duck walk, sit in a full squat with your heels down and your feet at an 8-15% angle. While squatting, walk. A cue to maintaining proper technique is to make sure your head doesn’t move up and down. Try to keep your head level while walking crouched. This is a great exercise for quadriceps strength and hip mobility.
bear crawl
Tracking a bear is simple. Start on all fours and move forward on your hands and feet, keeping your back straight and parallel to the floor. Next, crawl contralaterally, which means moving your right arm with your left foot and your left arm with your right foot; the opposite arm and leg move together. As you get comfortable, try crawling forward, backward, right, and left. Challenge yourself further by crawling up and down or uphill, both forward and backward. This movement is an ideal general warm-up for a day of exercise, as it activates the shoulders and engages the core. One thing to consider is doing five minutes of bear walking a day around your house. Simply accumulate five minutes a day and you’ll feel more agile than you ever thought possible.
bunny jumps
Squat down on your heels and place your hands lightly on the floor in front of you for balance. Jump one or two feet forward without standing up completely, always maintaining that squat position. Let your hands touch the ground, more as a reference point than as a base of support. Use this exercise to build strength in the bottom position of the squat.
gorilla walk
Start in a position similar to the bunny hop, but with your feet a little wider and more weight on your hands. To move on the gorilla walk, place most of the weight on your arms and catapult your lower body forward. Imagine being a silverback gorilla jumping through the jungle with your huge knuckles.
kangaroo jump
This is similar to the bunny hop, but does not involve the arm. These are the quadriceps and the legs. Keep your torso more upright and jump. You can also achieve a little more hip extension in the jump, making it feel more like a jump.
Drag snakes backwards
Lie on your back and cross your arms. Move your hips and push with your feet to crawl backwards, pulling with your shoulder blades. This movement faithfully imitates the crawling of a snake. The key is to minimize the use of your extremities and rely primarily on twisting your torso.
Alligator drag
For the alligator crawl, start in a low plank position, as if you were at the bottom of a push-up, with the weight on your hands and toes. Keep your belly and chest just above the floor and crawl. Start slowly, then try to speed up as you get the hang of it. This crawl can be one of the most challenging and is excellent for developing isometric arm strength, triceps, and core tension.
frog jump
The leapfrog begins with a full squat. From there, jump as high and far as you can, landing back in a squat, then repeat. Ensure technical integrity is maintained; It’s not a race. Each jump must represent maximum performance with perfect technique. If you start to feel tired and notice sloppy technique, stop the exercise. This jump is excellent for maximum power production. If you continue leapfrogging into your 40s, 50s, or even beyond, you’ll be in a good position for long-term fitness.
Monkey bars (two ways)
There are a couple of ways to make the bars.
- Bent Arms: You can power your way up, keeping your arms flexed/bent as you move from bar to bar. This is the fastest way to get through the bars, but it’s also very hard on your arms. A great biceps workout.
- Straight arms: You can also swing with straight arms, using the momentum of your swinging legs and torso to carry you from bar to bar. It’s not about arm strength, but about being in rhythm and having a strong enough grip and a stable shoulder girdle to support you over the distance.
crab walk
Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. From that position, place your hands and feet flat on the floor and stand up so that your body is no longer touching. Keeping your hips elevated, walk forward, backward, and sideways. Always move contralaterally. Right hand, left foot. Left hand, right foot.
How to use animal movements
Kids can use animal movements at any time of the day, but if you’re wondering when it’s best to incorporate them, check out the following suggestions:
- A morning routine: Every morning, do 30 seconds to a minute of each of the animal’s movements. It’s a great way to start the day and get the movement and blood flowing.
- Microworkouts: Approximately every two hours, perform one to two minutes of animal movements. Use them for lounging while sitting on the couch for extended periods of time or, better yet, encourage them while the kids watch TV.
- Warm ups: Animal movements are great for warming up before more intense activity. If your child plays soccer, he walks with ducks, walks with alligators, and jumps with frogs. If you play a racquet sport, try bear crawls or extended arm bars. The goal of a warm-up is to increase body temperature, raise heart rate, and mobilize specific muscles and joints. Animal movements are great for all that.
Animal moves are a great way to have fun, build strength and mobility, and increase athleticism. Plus, they’re not just for kids, they’re also great exercises for kids. Thanks for reading everyone. Take care.
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