Do the bear crawl like THIS and bulletproof your body

Published: Dec 02, 2024

When you think of the bear crawl, you might think of someone in a difficult fitness class sweating profusely and looking like they are about to collapse from exhaustion.

The bear crawl has value as an endurance exercise but it’s so much more than that.

It builds flexibility, coordination, strength and movement capacity. It’s one of those whole-body movements that help your body move better globally.

Just like with any movement or exercise, it’s all about how you do it. If you do the bear crawl mindlessly just to break a sweat, you won’t get all of these awesome benefits.

But if you slow down, be mindful and put your attention on the right things, you will build a more resilient and capable body.

In this article, I will show you how to do this step-by-step.

What are bear crawls?

Bear crawl is an exercise that mimics crawling. There are many different bear crawl modifications out there.

The way in which you perform the bear crawl should be aligned with what goal you’re trying to accomplish.

The first cue to think about in the bear crawl is the contralateral movement pattern. All this means in simple terms is when your leg moves forward, the opposite arm moves forward as well.

This is how humans crawl, walk and run. The easiest way to practice this fundamental movement pattern is through crawling because you have four points of support.

Programming a bear crawl workout

The above recommendations are what kind of thoughts you can keep in your mind as you perform the movement.

When programming your workouts, I recommend you experiment with all the different cues I mentioned but also with no cues at all.