As someone who considers themselves relatively fit and strong, animal-style exercise is shockingly and humiliatingly hard. 

Jake Dearden, a trainer, influencer and fitness racer is taking me through some floor moves and instantly I’m reduced to a puce-faced beginner. In my head, I’m aiming for the fluid motion of a cat or the contained power of a primate but instead, I’m a retiree who’s lost their reading glasses under the sofa.

‘Animal’ or ‘primal’ movement is having a moment. Chris Hemsworth has been seen making his way across the floor on his hands and feet. Conor McGregor, an MMA fighter, trained in this way many years ago and now social media is abuzz (440,000 Instagram posts on the animal flow hashtag). 

Dearden is a keen advocate: “You don’t need any kind of weights, you can do the moves anywhere, they are full body and they require mobility. If you do conventional resistance machine workouts, you’re not engaging the core, you’re not having to think about the movement.”

You can probably feel that you’re working your heart when you walk up a hill. Your heart beats faster and you might feel out of breath, but you might not appreciate the full extent of the benefits.

Any exercise that works your heart and lungs will strengthen the heart muscle, helping to prevent high blood pressure and the “bad” kind of cholesterol that can clog up our arteries. All of this is great for your health span and will reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke. While any kind of cardio, whether it’s walking or running, is good for heart health for maximum heart benefits, you need to mix up your training sessions.

First, you’ll need some longer, low- to medium-intensity training sessions (known as “zone two” training), ideally three a week. Second, you need a couple of medium- to high-intensity interval training (also known as HIIT) sessions each week. Finally, sports training, or anything that mimics it, is also great for developing cardiovascular fitness and heart strength. So how do you go about working these into your training?

Walking

While walking in general is good for you, to truly boost your heart health your pace needs to be quick, or the terrain will need to be highly varied so that you are working hard enough. You’ll need to reach around 65-70 per cent of your maximum heart rate and for most people this is not your average stroll, it means walking at a pace with some real intent and it should feel as though you can have a conversation with someone but it’s also slightly strained. The heart and lungs thrive on this, but they need 40 minutes-plus to make it truly effective and the same is true when it comes to fat burning.   

Aim for three days per week of at least 40 mins, at a brisk pace.

Running

For most people running is a real effort. Even when you reach a good level your heart rate will still be higher than walking at the fastest pace, so for the majority this is not your go-to exercise for longer training sessions. Instead, either opt for a short 20- to 40-minute run to increase your heart strength, or switch between short bouts of 30-90 seconds at a fast pace and 90 seconds’ recovery and make this one of your interval sessions. 

Aim for two sessions a week of 20-40 mins, either at a steady pace or interval training, switching between a fast and slow pace.

Swimming 

The effect of the cool water and the pressure of water on your body makes your heart rate slightly slower when swimming than when exercising on dry land. This makes swimming very effective as a long, constant-pace session as you will have a low to medium heart rate for that 30-40-minute duration with no breaks. However, this only holds if you’re a strong swimmer. If your swimming is not so good but you want to use it in your training it’s a perfect interval session. Good swimmers can also use it for interval sessions, as it’s frankly a tough full body exercise. 

It is difficult to hang from the ceiling in an inverted position, because your focus shifts, and there is a blood rush in the head. But, the Bigg Boss 15 winner managed to do it!

Tejasswi Prakash, just like many other celebrities, loves to sweat it out at the gym. But, instead of working out with dumbbells, kettlebell, weight plates and other gym paraphernalia, she loves to challenge herself with a yoga asana or two in order to stay fit and in shape. The Bigg Boss 15 winner loves to collaborate with celebrity yoga and holistic wellness expert Anshuka Parwani from time-to-time, and she was once again seen exercising at her yoga studio. The actor performed inverted aerial yoga first, which was followed by splits. Take a look at her session here.

Tejasswi made it look effortless, as she hung upside down from the ceiling, while performing inverted aerial yoga. While keeping her feet together, she locked her hands behind her head. Then, she folded her upper body in a way to bring her head closer to the knees. It is a great exercise for those who want to strengthen and shape their core.

Benefits Of Doing Inverted Aerial Yoga

Any kind of core routine requires a lot of practice. Doing it while hanging from the ceiling in an inverted position is all the more difficult because your focus shifts, and there is a blood rush in the head. But, inverted aerial yoga is extremely beneficial. When you exercise upside down, you allow your body and mind to release all the stress. It is extremely beneficial for people who may be suffering from anxiety issues, or even mood swings. According to aerialyogacademy.com, inverting can reduce tension in the muscles and enable you to sleep better at night. Additionally, aerial yoga allows your body to release happy hormones like endorphins and serotonin, which can fight stress and depression.

It also strengthens your core muscles, improves flexibility, and improves your focus.

Advertisement

Benefits Of Doing Splits

Tejasswi, 30, was also seen acing splits that require a lot of practice and come with many health benefits. Not only does it activate key muscle areas in the body, especially around the thighs, a split exercise can do wonders for your joints and flexibility. It enables one to become more focused and balanced, by forging a connection between the mind and the body.

While there are two different types of splits — side splits and front splits — Tejasswi was seen doing the latter. She did take the support of a pillow that was placed beneath her front leg, so as to avoid injuries. You may also do it in the presence of a fitness expert, who can guide you through it.

Tagging the actor, Parwani appreciated her efforts. She wrote in the caption that her client is ‘levelling up her core game and nailing those splits’.

Advertisement

Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!

Subscribe Now