This no equipment animal flow workout is a great form of cardio as it pumps your heart, helps you tone and increases your stamina.
Have you ever tried to mimic various animal walks? In the wide range of body contortion exercises, many yoga asanas are named after animals. There are also a lot of workouts inspired by animal walks as they require full body strength.
The bear crawl, crab walk, dog walk, cat walk, duck walk, kangaroo jumps, gorilla walk, frog jump, firefly pose, eagle pose, bull or monkey walk and many others work to give you core strength, coordination, balance, flexibility, and mobility.
There are umpteen benefits that include building endurance and lean muscle tissue. It becomes a fun form of workout, if you do this in a group or with a partner. The best part is that you can do these anywhere and you don’t need any equipment.
All you need is sheer willpower and stamina. There are over over 20 animal asanas that don’t target a specific body part and don’t isolate muscles. When one muscle moves, it takes help from its neighbouring muscle friends. You can burn more calories if you do more repetitions. Instead of counting the steps, try covering a certain distance of your room. Here are four power yoga steps for a lean and fit body.
— The writer is an actor and a yoga enthusiast.
Frog jump
Begin in a standing position, keeping your feet shoulder width apart. Get into a low squat and place your hands on the floor. Now leap from this squat, jump and reach your hands over your head to land on the ground, again with your hands falling flat on the floor. Make sure you don’t jerk and do this exercise in a smooth fashion. It works on every muscle of your body and is fun when done with a friend.
Frog jump
Duck walk
Squat like a duck. These power yoga asanas help increase your flexibility. How low you can bend will be determined by your flexibility levels. Walk ahead taking small steps, beginning with the right leg and then left, staying in that low position during the entire walk. As it gets harder, come up a little higher. The thigh muscles will be strengthened along with your core. It also works on your abs as you suck in and strain your ab muscles to make it tight.
Duck walk
Gorilla walk
Squat with your feet flat on the floor, placing your hands on the floor in front and reaching hands as far forward as you can. Next, pull yourself towards your hands and repeat the movement for as long as you can. For extra momentum, you can walk on your knuckles like an actual gorilla and aim towards the floor as you walk with your shoulders.
Gorilla walk
Kangaroo jump
Start with keeping a shoulder width stance. Push your hips back and bend your knees slightly, swinging both your arms behind you.
Kangaroo jump
While doing this movement, you must pull your hips, knees and arms forward and jump as far as you can, landing softly on both your feet. Repeat the movement, jumping as far as you can with each repetition.
