Sometimes, when we talk about getting strength through physical activity, we are automatically associating it with some complex exercise. This should not always always be the case, since there are certain exercises that are easy to perform and turn out to be very effective for our body.
If we told you that crawling on your hands and knees could make you stronger and increase your balance, would you believe us? If you can’t believe it, then it’s time to improve your strength and balance with 3 ideal crawling exercises to include in your routine.
What is crawling and why should you care?
Crawling exercises are multi-joint movements that involve the whole body, emphasizing the core and shoulder muscles; but they offer much more benefits than just working your abs and shoulders:
1. Increased coordination
The basic form of crawling allows you to train the coordination between your upper and lower body, which is very important for almost all the physical activities you do.
2. Increased proprioceptive capacity
Crawling also trains your central nervous system, in addition to increasing kinesthetic awareness and core control. This is a very valuable benefit, because the nervous system is the body’s master regulator.
3. Improved flexibility and stability of the core
The poor flexibility that some people show is not necessarily due to the stiffness of specific muscle tissues, but rather a stability problem in the core. In other words, as people lack stability at the base, the nervous system limits the range of motion in specific parts of the body (it is a protective mechanism).
By adding crawling motions to your workouts, core stability can be improved, which translates into greater and better articulation of range of motion and flexibility.
The more control you have over your spine and torso, the nervous system will allow you to assume different positions. In other words, exercising with the basic forms of crawling could simultaneously improve the mechanics of movement in any other movement you do, giving you more room to train.
4. Improved walking mechanics
Crawling is also the basis of our gait, which is undoubtedly the functional exercise we do on a daily basis.
Hopefully, you are taking at least 7,500 steps (or more) per day, so it is vital that you have the proper mechanics for walking. Doing crawling exercises can help you identify certain problems with your gait, and at the same time, help you to be more efficient when it comes to walking.
How to start crawling exercises?
Before we start crawling, we are going to start with a basic movement that will teach your body the correct way to stabilize the spine and opposite extremities while moving the Bird Dog.
Bird dog
This movement ensures that you can stabilize the trunk at two points of contact (opposite arm and leg): bring one arm forward and the opposite leg back.
If you want to avoid excess arching of your lower back, focus on using your glutes to extend your hips and bring your leg back. Once you can confidently balance the extension of the arm and the opposite leg, slowly bend the arm and the leg towards the other to touch below you with the elbow. Then, in a controlled way, extend your arm and leg again.
Continue the routine for a few reps on each side. The idea with the Bird Dog is to fight against rotation, in order to keep the hips and shoulders facing the ground at all times.
Once you can do 8 repetitions of Bird Dog with knee touch, without turning too much and with control, you can move on to more advanced crawling exercises .
3 crawling exercises to strengthen the core and gain stability
The following exercises are ordered from beginner to advanced. Start with the most basic model, but if it’s easy for you, you can move on to the more advanced variations.
1. Beginner: baby crawl
This is the basic crawling motion . If you have trouble getting off the floor, mobility restrictions, or experience back pain, you should start here.
Just like it sounds, keep all 4 points of contact with the ground (both hands and knees) as you slowly drag them forward, moving your opposite hand and knee forward at the same time. Keep your spine extended and your core tight during the crawl.
2. Intermission: Bear’s Pass
In this exercise you lean on your hands and feet, thus being one of the best. While it is possible to see different variations of bear crawl , you should keep your spine in a neutral position (flat back) and your hips slightly above your shoulders.
Start with your hands and feet, lifting your knees off the ground. Keep the weight on your shoulders and place your chest forward, while your knees should remain on the ground and slowly crawl forward, moving your opposite arm and leg at the same time.
3. Advanced: Lizard crawling
The lizard crawling is a model of advanced crawling . This variation of crawling requires stability and mobility in the two joints in which many people have an inadequate range of motion, that is, the hips and shoulders.
Start in a position similar to a bear crawl. As you bring your foot forward, lower your hips and chest so they are close to the ground. Instead of moving hands and feet simultaneously, in this exercise you move the foot forward first, and then the hand. Stay low to the ground with your spine extended as you slowly crawl forward.
Conclution
As you have surely noticed, these are extremely simple pulling exercises to perform, so you will not have major complications when it comes to putting them into practice. Likewise, the fact that they are simple to perform does not mean that they are to be underestimated: it starts from the simplest to the most advanced so as not to demand more from your body.
Finally, we advise you to pay special attention to the technique of each movement to ensure its effectiveness.
References
- Nick, 3 Crawling Exercises To Add To Your Workouts. For BuiltLean [Revised April 2016].
