How crawling can help you increase whole-body strength

Fun plays a crucial role in the way EVO looks at exercise. We seek to combine effectiveness with this playful side. Crawling is a type of activity that checks all the above boxes since it is a fun yet challenging movement that will work almost every muscle in the body.

Here are a few things to know if you’re considering including it in your workout routine.

WHAT

Crawling is a fun yet challenging movement that will work almost every muscle in the body.
This movement is often seen as part of a warm-up, but due to the high demands it places on the body, it can also be used as a standalone exercise, or as part of active recovery during loaded movements.

HOW

Begin in a kneeling position with your hands on the floor in front of you. Engage the core and set the shoulders.
Keeping the torso horizontal, lift the knees a few inches off the floor — this is your start position. You will feel the muscles in your core engage.
Start crawling forward-moving opposite hand and foot in a smooth, coordinated manner. Try to keep the back horizontal as you move.
Continue for time, reps or distance.

WHY

Every healthy human crawled at some point in their early life. During this time, crawling was one of the pre-adaptations for upward movement, helping to strengthen the hips and shoulders. It also helped develop cross-body (opposing) movements of the arms and legs.
As adults, we usually have no challenges with standing, walking and running; however, crawling movements can still help develop coordination and whole-body strength that is useful for overall health and fitness. It’s also fun!
Aside from better coordination, crawling is an excellent corrective and strengthening exercise for the entire shoulder. The shoulder girdle is designed to be a stable structure – and this stability should be developed naturally. Crawling provides natural compressive forces to the shoulder, allowing it to create natural, authentic stability.
Another benefit of crawling is the development of midline stability. This refers to stability through the centre of the body. Being strong and balanced through the midline while exercising or playing sport will keep the body balanced and improves efficiency
You can vary your crawling by moving in different directions, e.g. backwards, sideways. The bear crawl is also a popular variation where you straighten the arms and legs – this puts the hips in a high position and increases the load on the upper body.