DaoNamics™: A Kettlebell and Calisthenics Fusion
What is DaoNamics™?
DaoNamics™ is a fitness training protocol which addresses internal and external components of fitness through a fusion of calisthenics, resistance training (kettlebell), and Chinese Internal arts.
In essence, DaoNamics™ offers a methodical approach to conditioning the body through repetitive practice of fundamental patterns of movement that transfer to activities of daily living, such as walking, jogging, running, sprinting, jumping, lifting, pushing, pulling, bending, twisting, turning, standing, starting, stopping, climbing and lunging.
In other words, DaoNamics™ is about functional fitness and internal energetics.
What is total fitness?
Total fitness is generally classified in two branches: health and performance.
| Health Related | Performance Related |
|---|---|
| Cardiovascular Endurance | Speed & Quickness |
| Muscular Strength | Power |
| Muscular Endurance | Agility |
| Flexibility | Balance |
| Body Composition | Coordination |
DaoNamics™ training places equal emphasis to both branches on the table 1. Often, performance fitness is linked to athletic activities such as football or track. It is sports oriented. DaoNamics™ seeks a cross-fertilization of ideas between sports performance and daily activities under the premise that every adult, regardless of age or gender, is an athlete who competes in life’s arena.
Total fitness, however, is not limited to the muscle-skeletal framework of our bodies. There is the internal energetic component which is trained through breath work, meditation, and martial arts. This aspect of fitness is addressed through the practice of Qi Gong, Xing-Yi and Tai Chi Chuan.
How does it work?
DaoNamics™ exercise routines are based on principles of biomechanics and kinesiology. Built on the understanding that the body moves through a system of levers and the brain, which controls muscular movement, thinks in terms of whole motions, not individual muscles. It could be said, then, that DaoNamics™ focuses on training “movement” instead of muscle.
Movement, then, is the synchronized effort that groups of muscles exert on skeletal joints in a tri-planar field (frontal, sagittal and transverse).
To illustrate, consider the use of a leg extension machine to exercise the quads (muscles on the front top of the legs), and the use of a step box (taking alternating steps on a platform around 6 to 12 inches in height). While both will strengthen the quadriceps, the former does not transfer to functional strength because it is an isolation exercise and its primary motion is on one plane, sagittal.
The steps up exercise, however, resembles walking up or down stairs; getting in and out of car or getting out of tub. It includes the use of assistant muscles besides the quadriceps, and movement takes place on all planes of motion, including frontal and transverse movement of the hips while moving the body in a sagittal plane (back and forth or up and down).
The value of a “single-joint” exercise such as on the leg extension machine, is that it can play a role in helping to strengthen a -weak link- in the kinetic chain. But it should only be used as an assistant training tool.
Work out description
DaoNamics™ training is a blend of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and bodyweight exercises. By combining HIIT with bodyweight and kettlebell exercises, DaoNamics™ addresses both aerobic/cardio and strength/endurance training. All HIIT routines conform to the protocol scientist Izumi Tabata, Ph.D, developed for Japanese athletes . His high intensity interval method, improved the athletes overall aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.
Where to train
DaoNamics™ training is taught on a one-to-one setting with a personal trainer, or in a group environment. If training in a group setting, it is highly recommended to take an introductory class with our personal trainer in order to learn proper body mechanics of the exercises such as the squat, lunges, curls, etc.
The video below is just an example of what a DaoNamics™ session is like. No two classes are the same. The idea is to confuse the body by changing routines and thus avoiding plateaus. If interested in DaoNamics™ training please call: 904-806-2874
