⚠️ Why Doing “More” Is Slowing Down Your Strength, Skills, and Mobility

Brandon Beauchesne-Hebert

2d • Training 💪

TL;DR

• You can’t train strength, skills, and freedom of movement at full intensity at the same time

• One goal should lead each workout — everything else supports it

• Animal movements are amazing, but where you place them matters

• There are 3 simple ways to add animal movements without sacrificing strength or skills

A question that comes up a lot is whether things like animal movements can replace traditional strength work (for example: push-ups vs lizard walks).

Short answer: it depends on your goal.

Every movement style has pros and cons. The mistake most people make isn’t choosing the “wrong” exercises — it’s trying to do everything at once in the same workout.

The big principle

In every session, one goal leads.

Everything else stays in the background.

If you try to train:

Max strength
Skills
Mobility
Freedom of movement

…all at full intensity in the same workout, progress slows down fast.

Strength days

If the goal is strength, the goal is to get stronger.

That means:

Isolating the movement as much as possible
Accepting that calisthenics already involves a lot of muscles
Not turning the session into a “do everything” workout

Animal movements are great, but they don’t replace focused strength work when strength is the main goal.

Skills: strength vs technique

Not all skills are the same.

Some are strength skills (planche, front lever):

• You’re failing because you’re not strong enough yet

Some are technique skills (handstands):

• It’s more about nervous system, balance, and mind-body connection

This matters because technique skills can be practiced more often, while strength skills need smarter placement alongside strength training.

Mobility & freedom of movement

If your main goal is mobility and freedom of movement, then yes — animal movements can replace a lot of traditional work.

Think of training like sliders that add up to 10:

Strength
Skills
Freedom of movement

You might run:

8/10 movement
1/10 strength
1/10 skills

Parkour athletes are a great example — they get strong by moving, not by lifting first. Strength training becomes important later, not at the beginning.

The 3 best ways to add animal movements

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start here:

1️⃣ As a warm-up

• 5 minutes

• 2–3 movements

• Follow along with a simple animal flow

• No changes to your main workout

2️⃣ As their own session (movement + skills day)

• Alternate strength days with movement/skills days

• No equipment needed

• Can double as cardio

• 10–15 minutes is plenty

3️⃣ As a cool-down or recovery

• End of workouts

• Grease-the-groove style

• Keeps movement quality high without adding stress

You don’t need to build a whole separate program around them unless movement is your primary goal.

Bottom line

You don’t need more exercises — you need clear priorities.

Decide what leads your training right now:

Strength
Skills
Freedom of movement

Then let everything else support that goal instead of competing with it.

🔓 Unlocking More Inside the Community

If you want more structure around this stuff, a lot of it already lives inside the group.

As you level up, you unlock:

• More movement and skill videos

• Full workout structures (including how to separate strength, skills, and movement)

• Masterclass-style breakdowns you can revisit as your goals change

A lot of this information hits differently depending on where you are in your journey — so coming back to it later usually makes it click in a new way.

There are also live calls where you can ask questions directly and even help shape future videos like this one.

No rush, no pressure — just know it’s there if you want to go deeper or want clearer direction.

Question for you 👇

What’s your main training focus right now — strength, skills, or freedom of movement?

(There’s no wrong answer.)

16:06

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