So I’ve mentioned in my “laws of fitness post” the importance of groundwork and crawling. I hear many people calling what they are doing a bear crawl, but what I see is many different variations.
The names vary so you may see these movements called something else, but I’m going to show you my favourite crawling exercises and the names I give them.
The bear crawl
I would class this your standard bear crawl, bum in the air taking some of the pressure off the trunk.
You may find this the easiest variation, so is a good starting point for any client. Crawling is, in itself quite taxing on the body. My clients are constantly telling me “that’s harder than it looks”. And it is, your core has to contract hard, your shoulders have to stabilise and your heart rate hits the roof! So start simple, start with the bear crawl.
The pike walk
This one starts from standing, you walk out your hands until you are in a press up position. From here you “shuffle” in the feet, keeping your legs relatively straight.
Now walk your hands out again, and repeat the process of shuffling the feet in, and walking the hands out. This isn’t strictly a crawl but I like it. It works well for people with limited mobility and flexibility as it forces a stretch to the posterior chain. Try and challenge the client by telling them to reach a little higher with their ass each time.
The lizard crawl
This one is a great progression from the bear crawl, it’s pretty similar except you drop your ass down to the floor. Try not to hyperextend the low spine, so keep your abs squeezed tight! This will protect your back.
The reason I love this variation is because it is basically a moving plank. Not that I have anything against the plank as an exercise, but the core isn’t really designed to be contracted isometrically for long periods of time. Therefore we could class the lizard crawl as a dynamic plank which would be much more beneficial to our training and mobility.
With all the variations, make sure you go backward too, it’ll light up your shoulders nicely and challenge your coordination.
Don’t worry too much about distance, just find a distance that’s good for you. Speed with all the variations doesn’t need to be too fast, in fact, slower may even be more beneficial. Try them out, maybe as part of your warm-up, or as part of a circuit.
