Why Animal Flow?
Ahead of her upcoming ALT workshop, Pole Dancer and Instructor Katya Allcott explains how she stumbled across, and fell in love with the movement of Animal Flow…
I’m aimlessly scrolling through Instagram stories when I see my friend Jeff-from-the-gym moving like a big cat stalking its prey. Instantly I was mesmerised. I held my thumb on my phone, skipping back and forth to watch what he was doing. He was effortless, weightlessly travelling across the studio floor, moving with ease and intention I’d never seen before.
What he was doing, was Animal Flow.
That was my first introduction to this movement discipline, and soon after that I became hooked. I took a taster session and before I knew it, had signed up to the Level 1 Instructor Workshop in March 2020.
At the time, I was teaching pole dancing in a studio in Glasgow, and was searching for a way to upskill myself and bring a new discipline to offer our students. I was attracted to the way that Animal Flow (AF) was so multifaceted. Moves from AF could be used as part of a cardio workout, the form specific stretches could be used to develop mobility and the flows could be performed with the same rolling-around-on-the-floor joy as the floorwork from a pole dance routine.
Animal Flow was created by Mike Fitch, a fitness professional who found a love of body weight disciplines after having concentrated his career on weightlifting. Having explored gymnastics, parkour and hand balancing, Mike realised that throughout all of these movements there was an element of animal locomotion – along with an irresistible component of flow. If you have ever tried a pole choreo class, (where an instructor takes you through a set routine to a song), you will also understand how to move with flow - that fluid, connected and effortless way that moves are joined together.
Animal Flow is comprised of different elements: form specific stretches, switches and transitions, travelling forms, wrist mobilisations, activations and flows. All of the elements are beneficial if you train an aerial discipline – especially wrist mobilisations and activations. These develop both your core and wrist strength, which are vital for performing inverts, gripping your aerial equipment and co-ordinating your limbs. Like most aerialists, pole dancers can have a preferential ‘side’ or stronger arm with which they perform their moves. I am guilty as charged! It can be hard to be disciplined with yourself, to make sure that you train both sides. As an instructor, however, I would try and encourage my students to be as ambidextrous as possible. Try one hand high this time, then next time the other. Inside hand does this, outside hand does something else. This is also very important once you become inverted – knowing which hand is left or right becomes a major challenge!
So when I began training Animal Flow, and found that all the flows are called out using the format; ‘direction-limb-command’, for example, “Right-Leg-Underswitch” - my brain got a very good workout. In a right leg underswitch, you would then lift the left hand in order to complete the move. Working in opposition, grounding yourself on the floor and connecting your mind and body are the foundations of Animal Flow.
As a Pole Dancer, after such a long time of spinning in the air, it was a welcome change to connect with the floor in this way.
I could go on about the scientific benefits of Animal Flow and the relationship and benefits it has on other forms of physical training, and if you are interested the Animal Flow website has lots of great articles. But for me, the attraction of AF lies in training the ability to flow - to translate that skill to pushing and pulling, reaching and jumping, rolling on the floor flowing. I also love that you can flow anywhere, all you need is your body and the floor. For people who suffer from ‘tech-neck’, who sit hunched at a desk all day, can counteract that position with an ape or crab reach, or a spine stretching, deliciously satisfying wave unload.
Animal Flow is still a very niche discipline in the UK, and because of that it’s hard to communicate the benefits that it offers. But ALT Fitness is hosting a taster session this upcoming workshop week for a reason: because Animal Flow is a discipline which compliments all the training that we do at ALT. And once you’ve got the fundamentals, you’ve got all the tools you need to begin your journey into the flow.
Join me for the Animal Flow Taster session at 6PM on the 29th of March to try something new this workshop week!
#WeInviteYouToMove
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Katya is an experienced pole dance instructor who recently expanded her fitness repertoire to becoming an Animal Flow instructor. She began her teaching journey at the Glasgow University Pole Dancing Club and has since taught in studios in Stirling, Glasgow and Paisley. She loves helping her students discover what they are capable of.
Her passion for Animal Flow began after taking an introductory workshop, and soon led to her signing up to become an instructor. Animal Flow is a ground based movement discipline that improves co-ordination, mobility, strength and stamina. She incorporates Animal Flow in many aspects of her strength and aerial training to improve these skills.
She works in the third sector in her day job, but loves to spend time outside work training hard and playing hard, but most of all spending time with her cat Alfie.