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Funky looking animal-like movements are not just for show or silliness. When done properly, these type of exercises are not only a pronounced expression of one’s mobility and strength, but are remarkably beneficial for proprioception and promoting neurological stimulation, and can provide one hell of a strength/endurance/cardiovascular/and mobility workout.



The Scorpion Push Up – This is one of my all time favorite push up variations ( I am a scorpio so perhaps I’m a bit biased), as it requires an plentiful amount of mobility, stability, and upper body strength to perform properly. It has a strong T-spine rotational component and blends in extension and hip mobility for boot. It can be performed as a standalone movement or you can work in some locomotion andstart  slunking around with it. I like that work – “slunking”. A prime illustration of one exercise that blends strength, mobility, stability, balance, and grace.



Hops – Hops an expedient and convenient method to train power production and reduction, and as you will see in the video below, we spend a lot of time in the bottom squat position – which can be rather therapeutical for the low back and knees. Just be aware of knee position, keeping an eye out particularly for any sort of valgus (inward bowing) force on the knee. As you land, check your knee position. Are you stable? Or are your knees bowing wildly? Knee stability is a requisite for this movement.



Duck Walks – These will pump your quads up to the size of a graf zeppelin, especially if performed with a weighted vest. Again, great for opening up the hips and developing stability in the ankle, but as with the hops, always be sure to maintain proper knee positioning.



Monkey Work – Pull ups. What needs to be said that hasn’t already been said about pull ups?  Just be sure that you begin each pull up with forceful scapula retraction and depression (pulling the shoulder blades back together and down), strong glute and core engagement, and forcefully trying to externally rotate the shoulders (think you are trying to bend the pull up bar in half). I promise these tips will immediately amplify your pull up strength. We worked some Gi pull up variations for grip strength as well as some heavy weighted pull ups. It was a good day.

These are but a few of the nearly endless selection of animal inspired bodyweight movements. I encourage you to experiment with these, as I believe you be pleasantly surprised with the carry-over they provide, especially for the improvements in mobility and body awareness.

The kettlebell swing isn’t immune from boredom anymore than any other exercise out there. But the kettlebell swing is superior for cardiovascular conditioning, power production, and proprioception than many other exercises out there, so it’s worth keeping the swing around for as long as possible.

But sometimes things just get boring. And the tough and determined will trudge through regardless. But why should you have to when there are a million ways to cook and season the swing to keep things interesting.

Last week we showed you all our roundabout method. Today, we present “race up swing mountain”.

The premise is simple:

You will need a partner (or get creative with an imaginary one)

One partner works at a time (the old “I go, you go” routine)

Start with one rep each. Then perform two reps each. Then three, and four, and so on and so forth.

See how “high up” the mountain you can get within a certain amount of time.

Som and I put ten minutes on the clock and got up to sixteen swings each with a 28kg kettlebell. If it were a video game, I’d say we got to level sixteen, which doesn’t sound half bad. But then again what would I know, except that it was a fantastic way to get in our swing conditioning for the day, and yielded not a boring second. For more routines like these and full programs, check out our eBook bundle package.

I encourage you all to share your favorite ways to cook the swing in the comment section below!