Animal Athletics

Chapter 3

Background knowledge

Biomechanics and performance in animals and humans

This chapter introduces selected biomechanical fundamentals of performance and looks at both, the human being as well as representatives from the animal kingdom. The inquisitors among you have the opportunity to explore some of the larger context before we go deeper into practical training with the Animal Moves.

After reading this chapter, you will have a better understanding of the why: why are certain species capable of extraordinary accomplishments, and why is it worthwhile to look at them to increase our own athletic abilities. For this purpose, we will look at three selected animal species.

After having looked at animal top performances, we will take a closer look at the advantages of our own species. The development towards the upright walk, the hands and the highly complex brain are three specific features that distinguish us from all other species. We display how Animal Moves help in playfully using these strengths.

Finally, we risk a quick glance at the current development of species, as the adaptation to changing living conditions never ends - on the contrary, we are in the middle of some exciting change processes.

The fastest hunter ashore

The performance feature of speed is based on different biomechanics. It is the cheetah that has a particularly effective form. It is the born sprinter and achieves top speeds up to 110 km/h, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just three seconds. The reason for their fast running ability is their physique. The predator owes its speed and agility to its streamlined body; the flexibility of its spine and the shoulder girdle, but especially to its long, slender and muscular legs with strong thighs. Additionally, the claws ensure best ground adhesion, like spikes. Comparing its performance with human exceptional sprinters, the cheetah largely outperforms its human counterparts.

In a direct running duel, the Jamaican Sprint World Champion Usain Bolt would look bad. He takes about 10 seconds on 100 m, the cheetah manages this distance in 6 seconds.

But there is a strength that connects both sprinters.

Step length, a feature of outstanding sprinter

The long, muscular legs of both the cheetah and Usain Bolt catch the eye instantly. They are the basis for speed because they increase the length of each step and thus allow a greater distance between two ground contacts. And as each ground contact has a braking effect, this is an advantage for a sprinter. For Bolt, the average step length is 2.43 m, which means that, in order to cross the finish line, he needs about three or four steps less on 100 m, compared to his competitors. Bolt's large feet (size 47) reinforce this effect. In combination with his long legs, they create an enormous leverage - almost as if the sprinter is being catapulted forward.

Use Animal Athletics to optimize speed

You can also increase your speed with a regular training of Animal Moves. The key to this lies in improving the flexibility and mobility of your lower extremities. Due to a greater mobility in the course of the run, the foot can remain on the ground longer and a sharp angle between the ankle and lower leg occurs. Tendons and muscles are pre-tensed, many receptors in the surrounding tissue (fascia and joint capsules) are released and these, in turn, initiate a faster and stronger contraction of the muscle. They are then able to push off the ground more forcefully and automatically increase your step length. With the Animal Moves, you also train mobility in the thoracic spine and shoulders, which contributes to your speed, too. It is not only the legs that are responsible for speed development.

Think of the phase of fast running where both legs are in the air at the same time. In this exact moment, it's the arms that give the boost for the forward move. The freer and more powerful the deployment of the arm, the stronger the transmission of the force from the trunk down to the legs. If your core still remains strong - another focus of the Animal Athletics - there is nothing more preventing the optimization of your running speed.

In contrast to us humans, many good runners from the animal kingdom are so-called digitigrade. Imagine this like a natural leg extension, automatically increasing the step length. With Animal Athletics, we imitate this special feature by going to the tip of our toes from time to time. That way, we create a longer lever and train unusual patterns, mobilize our toes and at the same time train balance and sensorimotor control.

Is the length of the step really that important?

We would not do justice to the versatility of nature, if we focused on the living organisms with large step length only. Of course there are other ways to increase speed. Pigs, for instance, increase the step rate. Anyone who has ever seen a wild boar in the barrel knows that an impressive pace can be produced in this way. Fast sea mammals like the orcas owe their speed to the streamlined body. And then there is one very special species, setting great distances by powerful jumps. We are talking about the world champions in jumping from the animal kingdom - the kangaroos.

The best long jumper

The jumping power of the kangaroos is enormous. Depending on the type, they reach an average range of 9 meters, the peak being 13.5 meters. They adapt their mode of movement to the external conditions. In the slow progress, they use all four limbs and additionally their over-proportionally long tail. At high speeds, only the hind legs are used and the extremely long tail compared to the rest of the body ensures the balance.

An anatomical feature of most kangaroos is that they have significantly longer and stronger hind legs than front legs and an impressively long Achilles tendon, which serves as an energy store to enable big jumps. With their highly elastic muscle bands, they move fast forward without great energy effort, which is an advantage in a very dry climate and often very low food supply.

Natural elastic springs in the leg: the Load to Explode principle

The kangaroos' leg tendons and muscles act like elastic springs. Before each jump, they are preloaded to the maximum - just like a rubber band. This stored kinetic energy discharges explosively in the following jump. This is referred to as the catapult effect or the Load to Explode principle. Even when landing on the ground, muscles and tendons store energy again, which is then available for upcoming jumps on demand. A highly efficient principle, which makes the kangaroo one of the most outstanding long jumpers on earth. The efficiency values of kangaroos have also been verified in tests. On the treadmill, we observed that with increasing stress, kangaroos did not consume more but less and less energy and oxygen, which is solely explained by its ingenious elastic spring-storage system.

Optimize power delivery with Animal Athletics

The Load to Explode principle can be seen in many of the animal training exercises. With springier jumps and soft landings, you work on your plyometric abilities (= a form of speed), you achieve more elasticity in the Achilles tendon making your gait softer, more resilient, and more efficient.

The practice of Load to Explode, combined with mobility training (e.g., shoulder, hip, thoracic spine), will help you develop your performance in various sports. Just think of the swing-out move at tennis or playing golf. The better you preload, the more effective the subsequent power deployment and power transmission onto the ball.

An imposing muscleman

Chimpanzees as well as orangutans and gorillas belong to the human monkeys (Hominidae). We share 99 % of our genetic material and accordingly many properties with them. They are able to stoop and use the long front limbs with flexible thumbs not only for swinging from branch to branch but also for the usage of tools; as for instance cracking nuts with stones.

Twice as strong per kilogram of body weight

The pronounced upper body strength of apes such as the chimpanzee is striking. Per each kilogram of body weight, it is twice as strong as a human being. It is therefore not advisable to participate in an arm wrestling competition with an equally heavy specimen. The monkey has a strong leverage effect through his long arms and can push some kind of "on/off switch" in the power deployment, which further strengthens its power. Us human beings, on the other hand, are by the structure of our brain designed to fine-tune our motor skills rather than unload them in raw force.

The power of the chimpanzee reaches back to their longer muscle fibers, which allow for a stronger contraction. Add to this the daily training: chimpanzees move forward along branches with a considerable body weight, so their shoulder, chest and arm muscles are very pronounced. When walking four-footed on the ground, the chimpanzees shift a major portion of their weight to the front extremities which challenges their supporting force torso stability of the monkey.

Power in the upper body with Animal Athletics

The numerous variations of the Monkey Move mostly imitate the four-footed movement style of our closest relatives. You build up strength in your upper body and arms and train your coordination. Playing with different tempi is a wonderful way to train endurance in faster mode, or to optimize core control in slow mode. Stronger shoulders, arms and chest muscles have yet another advantage because they relieve...