Tuesday 24 October 2006: ANIMAL CONDITIONING

ANIMAL CONDITIONING

Today's workout mimics various animal movements to facilitate cardio-strength conditioning.

  • 30/30's - 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, repeat
  • 15/45's - 15 seconds work, 45 seconds rest, repeat

Advanced:

  • 5 x 30/30 Tiger Prowl (3x forward, 2x backward)
    (Bend forward to walk on your hands and feet as in a Bear Crawl. Bend your arms to ninety degrees and lower your body so that it hovers 3-6 inches above the ground. Walk in this position keeping your body low.)
  • 5 x 30/30 Crab Crawl (3x forward, 2x backward)
    (Sit on the ground with your feet on the ground, knees bent, and your palms on the ground resting slightly behind your hips. Lift your pelvis so that your bodyweight is supported on your hands and feet. Walk on your hands and feet with your stomach pointed toward the sky.)
  • 5 x 30/30 Kangaroo Jumps
    (Perform a Half-Squat. From the crounched position, swing your arms and leap forward with both feet. Continue for reps.)
  • 5 x 15/45 Sprints
    (Okay, so this isn't exactly an animal movement. Pretend like you're sprinting for your life away from the Tigers, Bears, Crabs, and Kangaroos you have been imitating.)

Intermediate and Basic:

  • 5 x 30/30 Bear Crawl (3x forward, 2x backward)
    (Bend forward and walk on your hands and feet.)
  • 5 x 30/30 Crab Crawl (3x forward, 2x backward)
    (Sit on the ground with your feet on the ground, knees bent, and your palms on the ground resting slightly behind your hips. Lift your pelvis so that your bodyweight is supported on your hands and feet. Walk on your hands and feet with your stomach pointed toward the sky.)
  • 5 x 30/30 Kangaroo Jumps
    (Perform a Half-Squat. From the crounched position, swing your arms and leap forward with both feet. Continue for reps.)
  • 5 x 15/45 Sprints
    (Okay, so this isn't exactly an animal movement. Pretend like you're sprinting for your life away from the Tigers, Bears, Crabs, and Kangaroos you have been imitating.)

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Admittedly, i didn't do these when they came up before, I didn't think they would put up much of a fight. But,I couldn't make it through the crab walks for all 5 30-second rounds without stopping for breath. I did 5 20-hop kangaroo rounds (I could have done more but I haven't jump for a long time since my knees started hurting) and ended with 5 15/45 cycles of jump rope. These were much harder than I thought.

JME said...

Aahh yes. The deceptively challenging animal moves. They are not all as difficult as some of the other WOD we do, but they provide a nice physical and mental break while still stimulating good strength and cardio benefits. Of course, there are some animal movement drills that are every bit as tough as anything else we do around here.

In fact, if I could only do two exercises to stay in shape, I would probably choose:
1) High Volume PU and Pullups
2) High Volume PU and Squats
3) Bear Crawls and Crab Crawls

Due to a lingering foot injury, sprinting was out for me today. I did Bear Crawls, Crab Crawls, Kangaroo Power Hops (going for distance each jump), and Alligator Walks with my feet on a Frisbee. I knew I was substituting the Alligator Walks for the Sprinting which is one reason I opted for Bear Crawls today instead of Tiger Prowls.

Finished up with a 3 minute Aerobic Isometric Wall Squat.

Joel

Anonymous said...

It was too dark, cold, wet etc. by the time I got round to training.
Instead of animal conditioning I did 30/30 circuits of:

DB Swings 15 15 15 15 15
Half squats 21 22 22 22 22
Mountain climbers 23 23 25 25 25
Half squats 22 22 22 22 22

Had a great workout even though it was so late!!!