#ElvisEnergyExperiment: Primal play

Our Elvis Energy Experiments are continuing into 2021, exploring our energy and how it affects us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We’ve hooked up with a series of experts who’ll set an experiment every month to help us discover a new way of managing our energy. Throughout June we’re going to be exploring the impact movement has on our energy, and look at how moving our bodies brings an enormous energetic return!

Can you conjure up an image in your head if we were to say the word ‘Play’... Usually this results in images of fun, children, sunshine and spontaneity... Now put the word ‘Exercise’ in your head and I wonder if you get the same results, or are you thinking more of chore, pain, punishment and hard work? It’s fair to say that most of us don’t relate exercise to playtime, but Darryl Edwards, leading movement expert, disagrees and says it's about time that we reframe how we view our journey to fitness, focussing more on ‘movement snacks’ and making it fun.

Darryl Edwards is a former Investment Banker Technologist and after almost two decades of becoming increasingly sedentary and sick, he decided to transform his health and designing the Primal Play Method of wellbeing. A back to basics approach with fun, and playful, animal moves at its heart.

“Train Animal to Move Human”— Darryl Edwards

Darryl’s latest book Animal Moves highlights why humans should move like the animals we are and he is a true advocate for having a healthy and playful lifestyle.

Check out his latest TED talk: “Why working out isn’t working out” with over a million views to find out more.

We have a fairly well oiled exercise routine at Elvis HQ, but it does (quite quickly!) get a little repetitive and chore-like, meaning we’re always ready to have a shake up and change!

We’re delighted to welcome Darryl to help us with this and set us this #ElvisEnergyExperiment and feel excited to see how this new way of exercising can impact our energy levels and help us fall in love with movement again.

So, this month's experiment looks like this...

Week 1: Bear Crawl

‍For the first week we are starting here with the Bear Crawl, if you can get a partner involved try this one too: Primal Play Tag.

• Works your upper and lower body, the coordination required also gives the brain quite a workout too!
• Bear crawl strengthens and increases muscular endurance in your arms, back, shoulders, chest and legs (you will especially feel it in the quads) plus you improve your core stability and overall mobility.
• Try this move in bursts of 10-20 seconds for a few minutes each day, use it to break up an activity, reboot concentration and change your energy.

Week 2: Crab Walk

‍This week’s movement is the Crab Walk, with an optional additional partner activity: Crab Foot Tag.

• Great for the brain because it’s contralateral - that is, moving the opposite arm and leg.
• Strengthens the arms, back, shoulders and legs.
• Add this to last week’s move, trying to do each alternating for a few minutes at a minimum of 2 times during your day.

Week 3: Rabbit Walk

This week we are upping the energy with a Rabbit Walk, with the partner activity set as a slightly competitive Tug of War.

• There is more to this playful hop than meets the eye - a whole body workout with particular attention to the core when focussing on a smooth landing…
• Try hopping in different directions and test your level of control (and the feeling of flight) when moving mid-air!
• Add this one to the past two week’s moves, transition between each of them for a few minutes 2/3 times a day, perhaps with 2 or 3 rounds if you feel like it.

Week 4: Kangaroo Jump

This is our last week and we are flying high with a Kangaroo Jump - plus there’s a bonus activity if you are really in the swing of things: Tree Climbing.

• You’ve prepped your abs with last week's Rabbit move and now it's time for a bigger swing to further boost core stability.
• We’ve got a little routine of exercises now, 4 in a sequence, or more if you are also attempting the extras. Try mixing the order up to keep it interesting.
• Keep doing your moves 2/3 times a day, try to repeat your sequences, forwards and backwards and sideways 2/3 times on each occasion.

For more Animal moves check out Darryl’s Fitness Deck - a pack of handy movement cards.

You can follow our progress on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter and share any pics or stories of your own movement experience.Follow Darryl Edwards @fitnessexplorer on Instagram and discover even more Animal Moves, in his latest best-selling book. It’s also well worth reading the article: Top 10 Benefits of Animal Moves Workouts to get you really fired up!

We’d love to know how this Energy Experiment impacts you. How you felt before and what a difference you noticed after taking part, to your energy, focus and mood

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Big Love,

The Upping Your Elvis Team.

Xxx

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Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash