A decade ago, in a personal training studio in Miami*, the fledgling idea of Animal Flow was born. In pursuit of enhanced physical embodiment, Mike began to connect the philosophies and approaches of various bodyweight movement disciplines, culminating in the development of the first iteration of Animal Flow.
Over the years, the message of Animal Flow began to gather momentum, attracting an incredible global community united by the vision of a new movement paradigm. Hear Mike’s firsthand account of the successes and the turbulence of the past decade, as well as the hopes and plans for all that is yet to come.
Most trainers will eventually encounter at least one client who suffers from lower back pain, knee pain, or shoulder pain – or some combination of all three! Animal Flow can be an excellent tool for restoring function through pain-free ranges provided thoughtful regressions are carefully applied. Learn about these three most commonly injured areas and discover methods for safely ‘regressing to progress’.
Join Miro in exploring what makes some Flows more interesting than others. While taking you through the process of developing a Flow to perform together, Miro will touch on concepts including: what to pay attention to when creating a Flow, what factors determine the quality of a Flow, how tempo changes affect a Flow, how to change directions in a Flow, and how to manage energy in a Flow.
Social Hang Out Session – Details Coming Soon
Ah, the Tuck Balance. So many people want to perform one; but so many never achieve it. Getting there requires dedicated, purposeful training over a long period of time. How do you achieve it?
Rosh draws upon his extensive gymnastics and acrobatics background to help you plan for achieving your Tuck Balance. He’ll go over assessment protocols for Tuck Balance training, what to plug into your programming, the types of mobility work needed, and the crucial steps to take to progress.
With a mix of lecture and hands-on practice, this session will set you up with the tools you need to start or progress your Tuck Balance training.
You will need a chair and some wall space for this session.
Coaching teams requires just the right mix of improving overall athletic performance, building skills, and creating a cohesive, unified team. Animal Flow can help with all of these. Chris draws upon his long history of coaching high school sports to talk about methods for incorporating Animal Flow into a training program. He’ll provide lots of drills, games, and conditioning activities that you can use with teams of all ages.
If possible, please have a ball and stick (a broomstick will work) handy for this session.
Únete a Freddy en el aprendizaje de un flujo desafiante centrado en movimientos que incorporan “transferencia de peso”, también conocidos como los tipos de movimientos que se extraen o son similares a los que se encuentran en el breakdance. Freddy brindará una breve reseña de cómo realizar los movimientos, con algunos consejos, trucos y sugerencias para agregar un toque personal. Pondrás estos divertidos movimientos en un flujo completo al final de la sesión. Los movimientos cubiertos incluirán Front Sweep, Croc Roll, Pop Switch, Pop-Out y dos movimientos sorpresa extra.
Esta sesión se impartirá íntegramente en español.
“How do I run successful group classes?” is one of the most commonly asked questions by new Animal Flow instructors. Creating great group classes requires more than just the ability to design a cool Flow – you’ll need to know when to introduce new movements, how to structure your class plan, and how to deliver an experience that keeps people coming back. Miro will share his experience in conducting AF classes and leave you with tips and tricks to run your own.
With 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles and 107 ligaments, the human foot is a complex feat of biological architecture that is often overlooked in the mainstream fitness world. Understanding how to make the most of your feet can help you unlock mobility, harness stability, and achieve greater fluidity. Join Freyja as she shares strategies for assessing, preparing, and integrating your feet into your Animal Flow practice.
It’s no mystery that muscles don’t work in isolation, but instead form synergistic relationships to produce movement. It’s Mike’s understanding of these intricate relationships that has underpinned the majority of the “rules” of each Animal Flow move. Join Mike as he introduces the primary Muscular Subsystems, and explains the critical role they have played in the development of our beloved AF moves.
Chances are that you’ve trained, worked with, or at least seen a hypermobile human on the gym floor, with their joints moving in directions that appear to defy all reason. And while you might just find yourself coveting their impressive flexibility, for the hypermobile Flowist, such excessive ranges of motion can place them at increased risk of injury and pain. In this session, Freyja will help you to identify and assess hypermobility, and leave you with a toolbox full of regressions, cues and strategies to improve stability and success in practice for those with hypermobile joints and tissues.
Traveling Forms tend to be an underutilized component of many people’s Animal Flow practice. There is so much more to them than just warming up with your Beast Travels! Kathy loves the Traveling Forms, and she’ll show you how to incorporate travels into your Flow in a manner that looks cool, feels fluid, and, of course, is useful. You’ll review how to perform select Traveling Forms (including travels from L2 and AFD); learn smooth transitions into and out of them; and create some Flows using Traveling Forms.
Participe en esta sesión informal que se llevará a cabo íntegramente en español, con los Maestros Instructores Rafa y Freddy. Venga a conocer a otros instructores que hablan español de Centroamérica , Sudamérica , España y otros lugares del mundo. Podrás saludar, intercambiar historias y salir con nuevos amigos con quienes fluir.
Let’s face it, Animal Flow looks cool. The highly visual nature of the program puts you a step ahead when you set out to capture your Flow with photos or video. But following a few simple rules will elevate your content from the “just okay” to the “truly awesome.” Karen will provide an overview of what to think about with light, framing, sound, content, and editing, in addition to offering insights on specific angles to aim for, and to avoid, with Animal Flow movements.
Make sure to have a camera (your phone camera will work great!) handy for this session.
No matter how long you’ve been an Animal Flowist, there’s always room for improvement – and revisiting the Level 1 movements is a great way to sharpen your practice. Join Rosh as he reviews the important details and common errors to be aware of when going back-to-basics. Check your form, identify areas where you may have developed bad habits, and make sure your L1 movements are fully on point. Learn how to lose yourself in the magic of performing the foundational moves with perfection.
Cada cuerpo humano es único. Al mismo tiempo, todavía existen principios universales que se aplican a casi todos los cuerpos. Comprender algunos conceptos básicos sobre la forma y la función puede ayudarle a adaptar su programa de entrenamiento Animal Flow para lograr el máximo impacto con sus clientes. Utilizando ejemplos específicos del programa Animal Flow, Freddy cubrirá conceptos tales como forma y cierre de fuerza, control motor y mentalidad. Examine qué componentes fisiológicos pueden tener un efecto profundo en la capacidad de las personas para aprender y realizar Animal Flow. Explore los matices que se encuentran en los detalles de los movimientos de AF. Espere aprender herramientas prácticas y conocimientos para mejorar su enfoque, programación y habilidades de comunicación.
Followers, fans, likes, comments, clicks, engagement – there are an awful lot of numbers that go into your social media presence. What matters and what doesn’t? How does someone new start to build their fitness professional brand? How does someone not-so-new continue to stay fresh and relevant? Mike shares his insights to building your own brand, with some tips and tricks specific to Animal Flow. He’ll also talk a bit about what to do with the haters and trolls that are sure to show up as your influence grows. This session will not focus much on the technical aspects of using various platforms, but rather will help you think about what you want your social media brand to look like.
Despite the countless possible ways to combine Animal Flow’s extensive library of movements, it can be easy to fall into the trap of repeating Flows that look and feel similar.
In this session, you’ll learn Alisha’s approach to building visually-appealing sequences and leave with a playbook of techniques for unlocking the visual magic of your own Flow design.
Let’s have an epic time learning and performing a giant Flow together! Mike Fitch will lead everyone through a giant group Flow. It doesn’t matter if you are L1 or L2 – everyone is going to have fun with this one. Just make some room in your living room or wherever you are logged in from, and get ready to move!
Being a great Animal Flow instructor requires much more than just mastering the movements. You need to be able to coach, inspire, and lead your clients. Chris Flores has developed his own “flo-osophy” system focusing on leadership and mindset, and he’ll be sharing it all with you in this session.
Learn tips and skills to help you get past a limiting belief system and develop the mindset of a leader. Explore the 7 principles of “Mental Mobility.” Discover the road to mastery and enjoy the stories of self-discovery along the way.
Join Kelie in this crazy fun and physically demanding workout! She’ll take you through a variety of interval drills using Animal Flow movements, showing you how to create a workout that is cardio-intensive and easy-to-follow for any level student. See for yourself how it is possible to meet the needs of students looking for a high-intensity class while still using your AF movements.
Kelie will lead this interval class in Chinese, but as long as you know the names of your AF movements, you’ll be able to follow along just fine!
You want to pass your Level 1 Test Out on the first submission, and WE want you to pass on the first submission, too. So what makes for a great Test Out? Kathy will review the Top 10 mistakes people make in their test, providing tips for what to pay most attention to and what to double check before you submit. Becky will provide insights into our internal test review process and provide tips for making sure your submission is ready for review. Let’s get you all certified!
For most Flowists, the ground is a place of comfort, familiarity, and reward. Through our connection with it, we discover better connection with ourselves, unlocking a host of physical capabilities in the process. Yet for many older people, the ground can be an unsafe and much feared environment.
Chaddy covers the importance of movement skills for older adults, how to safely introduce your older clients to the ground, and ways of bringing the floor up to meet them.
Wondering if, and how, you can use Animal Flow with women who are pregnant? The mobility, stability, and strength components can be useful for pregnant women. However, understanding the changes experienced during pregnancy, including in particular the function of the pelvic floor throughout this period, will be essential to helping you incorporate AF training.
Kelie will review the types of physical and mental changes experienced during the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. She’ll focus on the pelvic floor and which movements may cause pressure in this area. Rather than discussing “how to Flow while pregnant,” she’ll discuss how to regress movements to make them safe and comfortable.
There’s no denying that all of the movements in the Animal Flow practice require consistency and determination. However, the Tuck Balance is one of the most elusive and highly prized due to its demanding and unfamiliar nature, and its unpredictable pathway of progress.
Join Chris as he shares the story of his Tuck Balance journey, and learn some of his favorite drills and tips for improving your hand balancing ability. He’ll focus on ground-based preparation, as well as drills for increasing strength and mobility. This session is mostly hands-on movement, with just a bit of lecture.
You’ll need a band (super or mini) for this session.
First and foremost, I’m a coach. I guide those around me to their success. I worked as a membership sales representative after graduating from the University of Portland in 2008. Shortly after, I was the very first member of the Onnit Gym in Austin, TX. In 2014, I was hired at Onnit as employee number 42. I oversaw operations of the fitness certifications, coordinated 3-5 national events a month, and taught over 100 workshops and certifications. I also brought in partnerships with EXOS, Equinox, Gold’s Gym, and UCLA.
In 2019 I moved to Boulder, CO, and started at TrueCoach as the Vice President of Brand and employee number 9. I built the content and brand strategy, and in our first year, we grew 82%. After the TrueCoach’s acquisition, I stepped into the world of entrepreneurship and launched the Be Less Un-Fit program, a practical fitness program for everyday adults. When I’m not working, I’m all about new experiences, from bungee jumping to cooking classes.
The mass lockdowns of 2020 have single-handedly had the biggest impact on the rise of online training that we’ve ever witnessed – and now it’s here to stay.
Our resident online training experts, Dev and Swetha, are joined by industry veteran, Sam Pogue, as they address the opportunities, challenges and future direction of online fitness training.
Whether you want to make the shift from offline to online, create an additional source of revenue, or tighten up your existing online business, you won’t want to miss this Q&A session.
Kids’ fitness is growing globally yet many fitness professionals feel unprepared and uninitiated when it comes to catering to these mini clients. While encouraging kids to eagerly engage in physical activity can be a real challenge in today’s world, coaching kids can be fun and rewarding when you’re armed with the right knowledge and skills. Animal Flow’s playful nature and experimental feel is the perfect way to get kids moving — developing both their fundamental movement skills and your fitness business offerings in the process. Whether you’re already training kids or you’re contemplating branching out, this session will help you use Animal Flow as a tool for inspiring a love of movement exploration that will last a lifetime.
Every human body is unique. At the same time, there are universal principles that apply to almost all bodies. Understanding the basics about form and function can help you tailor your Animal Flow training program for maximum impact with your clients. Using specific examples from the Animal Flow program, Freddy will cover concepts such as form and force closure, motor control and mindset. Examine which physiological components can have a profound effect on individuals’ ability to learn and perform Animal Flow. Explore nuances found in the details of AF movements. Expect to learn practical tools and knowledge to enhance your approach, programming and communication skills.
We all know that the best way to keep someone coming back to your training program is to make sure they enjoy it. But how do you program things people want to keep doing? Chaddy would say it all comes down to fear and love. Join him as he explores concepts such as the long term effects of the hormones generated by fight or flight syndrome, how to address emotional well being in your training programs, and how to use play and fun to get your clients ready to learn.
Join Jeseung as he takes you through one of his 60-minute Animal Flow mobility-focused classes. He will focus on improving the function of each joint to help with your overall AF practice. During the class he’ll cover the concept of flexibility versus mobility; he’ll demonstrate various methods of mobilizing your joints; and he’ll teach you a joint mobility-specific sequence.
This class will be taught in Korean, but you’ll be able to follow along no matter what language you speak.
Animal Flow’s six components can be mixed and matched to suit the needs and goals of a range of clients, yet how do you know that you’re choosing the right tool for the right body, at the right time? Discover how our individual biology shapes the way we experience the stress of physical exercise, and how we can individualize the application of Animal Flow for optimal benefit.
Strong, healthy shoulders are built on the exploration of multiple joint angles: from elevation to depression, retraction to protraction, and everywhere in between. But simply spending time in protraction doesn’t automatically mean that you’re strong there. The ability to create strong protraction can aid significant improvements in upper body strength while also helping you to become a better mover. In this session, Dev helps you tap into the strength available through scapular protraction in order to get better at moves like Forward Traveling Ape, Beast Unload, Beast Reach, and more!
More than just a ‘workout’, Animal Flow has gained a reputation for being an intelligent movement practice with the capacity to provide valuable rehabilitation benefits. In this session, Rafa covers the way that Animal Flow movements can form the basis for tissue regeneration and articular conditioning, demonstrating once again the vast applicability of your favourite bodyweight movements.
(This session will be repeated in Spanish in another time slot).
Resistance bands are great for those who want to exercise at home or who like to take their workouts with them when they travel. There are many benefits to these simple exercise tools, including versatility, convenience, safety, and effectiveness. And yes, we can get creative in integrating bands into Animal Flow movements.
Follow along as Swetha demonstrates a variety of drills using bands with Animal Flow. Learn to activate different muscles from the resistance created by the bands, and see how they can be used to regress and/or progress different AF moves.
The grappling, ground-fighting, and submission holds of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu demand impressive strength, mobility, resilience, and coordination. For the martial artist and combat sports athlete, the ability to skillfully and strategically overpower your opponent is enhanced by becoming a more intuitive, and physically capable, mover. In this session, Sascha shares insights on the application of Animal Flow for BJJ players, giving you the tools to command your own body in order to overcome others.
Join Jin as he teaches you some of his favorite Flows, while covering some basic Japanese terms along the way. He’ll start out teaching you Japanese greetings in formal, normal, and slang, and will then teach you some introductory Call Out language such as direction and limb. After practicing some mini-Flows to make sure you understand your new language, you’ll learn a complete flow to perform with Jin.
We’ll continue our sessions on achieving the elusive Tuck Balance, this time with Jin providing some specific exercises and guidance on various aspects of preparation and training. He’ll focus on:
- developing a strong base of support (finger grip)
- opening the shoulder (shoulder elevation and internal rotation); and
- core engagement (knee tuck and closing the cage).
Jin will begin with stretching and mobility work (fingers and back), moving on to Movement Preparation (core engagement, upper body isometric pressing, and fingertip pressing engagement) and ending with the actual Tuck Balance practice. You’ll be able to try all these preparation exercises and drills with him, and then give your Tuck Balance a try. Jin will be able to provide you specific feedback on questions you have for your own progress.
Jin will have a translator to help him teach this session in English.
You’ll need a towel and/or a stick to participate in this session.
When performed with fluidity and control, rotational movements (such as the Scorpion Sweep, Front Sweep, and Rotating Ape) can heighten the visual impressiveness of your Level 2 Flows.
Discover Rafa’s favourite drills and techniques to smooth out your Sweeps and re-invent your rotations. You’ll learn the details, progressions and regressions for mastering these iconic movements.
If you’ve been lucky enough to join Chaddy at a mentorship, you’ll know what a highlight it is to listen as he regales everyone with stories from his years in the fitness industry. Re-create mentorship Happy Hour as Chaddy recounts the Drunk History of Fitness: a total and utter lie with some (questionable) facts thrown in!
Bring a drink of choice and a comfortable seat.
Level 1’s Form Specific Stretches category is filled with subtle yet powerful movements. By understanding the intricate details and focusing on their intent, we can learn to exploit their full potential in order to create better movement range. In this session, Parveez takes you on a deep dive into the Form Specific Stretches and provides valuable insight into all of the gems that lay hidden inside each.
The connection between Animal Flow and musical rhythm is strong, regardless of whether you are just putting on some tunes to amp up your practice, or choreographing a Flow with your favorite song.
How do you approach adding music to your Flow? Ago will first take you through a theoretical approach to thinking through your BPMs (beats per minute), musical phrasing, and overall vibe. Then he’ll take you through the process of building a Flow based on musical rhythm, ending with something beautiful that you’ll all perform together.
Más que un simple “entrenamiento”, Animal Flow se ha ganado la reputación de ser una práctica de movimiento inteligente con la capacidad de proporcionar valiosos beneficios de rehabilitación. En esta sesión, Rafa cubre la forma en que los movimientos Animal Flow pueden formar la base para la regeneración de tejidos y el acondicionamiento articular, demostrando una vez más la amplia aplicabilidad de tus movimientos favoritos con el peso corporal.
If you’ve been lucky enough to join Chaddy at a mentorship, you’ll know what a highlight it is to listen as he regales everyone with stories from his years in the fitness industry. Re-create mentorship Happy Hour as Chaddy recounts the Drunk History of Fitness: a total and utter lie with some (questionable) facts thrown in!
Bring a drink of choice and a comfortable seat.
To be physically mobile is to be physically free. Improved mobility helps us to develop our capacity for new movements and skills, while reducing our injury risk. But is there such a thing as ‘too much of a good thing’? Join Sascha as he broadens your perspective on mobility-how it’s affected, how to improve it, and how to identify the right amount of mobility for you.
Eve brings both power and grace to her Flows, drawing upon her background as a competitive acrobat and a professional dancer. In this session she’ll take you through a challenging but fun Flow class. She’ll teach you some tricky, but achievable, transitions, and you’ll all perform the Flow together at the end of the session.
Just like any workout, the structure and organization of your Animal Flow practice will dictate the results you can expect. Whilst training can be organized across longer-term cycles, the breakdown of individual practice sessions should not be taken lightly if you want to max-out your AF gainz! Join Rich as he takes a close look at optimizing your AF in-session structure, and walk away with some cool ideas that you can immediately put into action for yourself and with your clients.
Join Parveez for this 60-minute class focused on using Animal Flow for improved mobility and joint health. While taking you through a series of movements designed to increase your joint range and movement competency, Parveez will talk through the purpose of each selected movement. This class is aimed at helping you gain access to your mobility, while truly understanding the steps necessary to gain and retain joint range of motion. You’ll learn how to own your movement, and to maintain it through a lifetime of movement practice (and, of course, how to communicate this to your own students).
Cuando se realizan con fluidez y control, los movimientos de rotación (como el Barrido de escorpión, el Barrido frontal y el Simio giratorio) pueden aumentar la impactancia visual de sus Flujos de nivel 2. Descubre los ejercicios y técnicas favoritos de Rafa para suavizar tus barridos y reinventar tus rotaciones. Aprenderá los detalles, progresiones y regresiones para dominar estos movimientos icónicos.
Developing a successful Animal Flow class requires a lot of steps, from developing the class structure and promoting it to potential students, to teaching it effectively and encouraging your students to come back. Eve has been running successful group classes in Russia for more than a year, and her students are happy, loyal attendees.
In this session, Eve will share her experiences in running successful ‘series’ style group classes, from preparation to final class.
Executing your Animal Flow moves with precision creates an unrivalled aesthetic but FLOATING over the ground as you move is a game-changer! Join Rich as he guides you through the creation of a Flow that focuses on three-dimensional energy transfer – so smooth that even running water cannot match this for fluidity!
COMMUNITY is a central component of Animal Flow and thus we’ll end our summit with a celebration of our global community. Mike and the MI Team will lead all the attendees in one of our biggest Add-On Flows ever. With each MI calling out their own addition to the Flow in their own language, we’ll build a flow that is big, challenging, fun, and engaging for everyone. We’ll laugh, we’ll sweat, we’ll Flow as only the Animal Flow community can.
