As a coach, i bias to exercises or movements that can be scaled, progressed or regressed. 


There is a messy category of movement that falls into the category of challenging to execute but the benefits are neither linear or obvious. But it’s good fun! And it takes great deal of coordination and strength to make it happen. 

Some obvious drills i can think of are hip rotation drills and of course swinging or brachiation. There are other patterns too. But let’s talk about brachiation. It’s the simple act of swinging from one bar to the next as shown by Sandhya in the clip.

If it looks familiar, you probably did a tonne of it as a kid. You can watch monkeys and apes doing it all the time to cover distance. 

As a biped, it’s not the preferred or most efficient way for humans to move. But there’s value in being able to do it. The coordination is the biggest gain. Learning to swing your hips, shoulders and arms has a tonne of value for joint health. 

There’s no way to scale this. You can vary it by swinging sideways and covering distance. Or swinging forward. Playing around with the grip thickness. Or the height you have to kip and cover to grab a bar or ring. You could also wear a weight vest and pretend to functionally train like a  monkey carrying its child. 

But the value is in the capacity to do it. And just enjoy it. Without deconstruction or worrying about the scaling of it.