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| Luiz Pagano working out Primatological Fitness, inspired by monkeys and Ranxerox |
Since we, Humans share
a common ancestor with modern African apes, we sometimes envy our simian
cousins because of their strength, dexterity and lightness. The way they swing
from branch to branch, among the trees, as talented as Olympic gymnasts. We
envy them because they find great pleasure in such activities and the mere act
of imitating his gestures bring us great pleasure and fun.
With this in mind I
created during the 1980s the bases of Primatological Gymnastics, Ape Fit, Monkey Fitness,
Ape Academy, or any other name of the same effect.
I remember when I was
a high school student, just to have fun, running back home, racing with friends
using the gestures of chimpanzees, doing monkey movements or mimicking an ape. During
the eighties, we were reading the graphic novels such as Ranxerox, a science
fiction about a robotic monster, Frankenstein type, punk, futuristic, created by
Italian artists Stefano Tamburini and Tanino Liberatore. In escape situations,
Ranx used to run mimicking the gestures of a monkey and reached enormous speed,
I remember of getting mesmerized with that.
Here comes the Primatological
Fitness
The (late) emergence of
Primatological Fitness (or APE FIT) was simply inevitable. Sooner or later, someone would
create such a series of movements and would study its dynamics and its
beneficial effects to humans.
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| Comparative Anatomy - of apes and man, it's incredible how we work the the most unusual muscles during those sessions of 'Primatological Fitness' |
We have many
similarities with apes; we do some instinctive movements very much like they
make, especially when we are babies.
Who better than a
Brazilian fitness aficionado, to study apes (self-bullying - lol).
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Ad of the "New APE FIT RUNNER X2 - best way to discover nature" -(both brand APE FIT and the APE FIT RUNNER X2 handset are fictitious, were created by Luiz Pagano just to illustrate this article)
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The mere reflex to
grab the finger of the father is one of many innate acts of a baby. Put your
finger on the palm of a baby, he will instinctively tighten with their small
and powerful fingers. Is worth mentioning that, the handgrip of a newborn is so
strong that it can easily support its own weight for a while.
Why do babies do this?
Because it is an instinctive practice related to the survival of primates.
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| Luiz Pagano - creator of Primatological Fitness (Ape Fit) |
Watch a mother monkey
in nature; soon after birth little monkeys cling to the fur of the mother
monkey who goes from side to side, taking her young. The babies who do not
cling to mothers get loose on the lawn, and become easy victims of predators.
Base exercises -
Construction of strength in the hands
The flow of Primatological
Fitness follows the following order:
Primates must first
increase their strength on the hands and paws (fits), then forearms and calves
and ultimately the connections between members with the torso. This dynamic had
to be corrected to make sense in the human race.
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| Ab workouts upside down - perfect to oxygenate the brain and provide a different angle to observe nature. |
Since evolutionary
changes drew off the prensil feature of the human’s feet, we must compensate
for this loss with strong exercises for the feet and calves.
In this logic we know
that the muscles located in forearms control the fingers. The forearm flexor
muscles control the closing of the hand, while the opening of the hand is
controlled by the extensors of the forearm. The exercises should be designed to
control both movements.
When you build your
hand strength you also build and thickens these muscles, giving the forearms a
strong and powerful appearance.
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| If you do not have the appropriate arms extenders, you can do these exercises on stairs supporting your body on the handrails between a leap and another |
Doctors theorize that
the hands operate as great supporters the the work of the heart - when we
exercise our hands, we pumped the blood from the extremities and improve our blood
circulation.
The principal form of
strengthen the hands is through exercises like chin-ups and the 'pulley'.
Designed to stiffen up the huge and strong back muscles, these exercises fully
trust the movements of the large muscles in the mere ability of your hands to
hold such weight.
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| these arms extenders were based on the hand-piece used by British actor Andy Serkis during the footage of King Kong |
Another way to
increase strength of the hands would be to use Crushing Grip, COC (Captain of
Crush). These exercises are not recommended for Primatological series of
Fitness because it does not bring fun.
The Primatological
Gymnastics is a serie of exercises for mind and body. Important part of the exercise is
to have fun with the movements, if the series does not bring you any pleasure,
then you are doing something wrong.
Monkey see, monkey do
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| To make the move 'swing between branches' correctly, it is very important that the loose arm make a move of a full circle, and act as a pendulum - thus propels the body forward - it takes a lot of strength and confidence in the hand to make this move. |
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| The most fun part of this movement is to swing the body with the goal of putting the heels on the front bar |
