Murfreesboro personal trainer Jim Genet wants to emphasize that wherever people may be, whether they are stuck at home, indoors or out, with or without access to a gym or expensive fitness equipment, they can always move and engage their body.
He says one of his favorite exercises that requires absolutely no equipment is the bear crawl.
“You can really work almost every muscle in the body with the bear crawl,” Genet says.
Slowly moving through the stride, and then playing with slight modifications and variations to the crawl, one can shift weight from shoulders to chest to core to arms to wrists to butt to legs to back.
Start with a traditional bear crawl; get on all fours and start crawling. (But unlike the bear, keep your longer human legs bent at the knee. Hover the knees just above the ground, and push forward with one foot.)
“Keep your tailbone pointed straight back. Don’t sway side to side,” Genet advises. “Engage the core.”
After a few crawls, identify what part of your body nears exhaustion. Vary it up so you can relax those muscles.
With all four hands and feet on the ground, bend at the waist and keep the legs straight. This posture, as close to a pike as possible, can really provide a good stretch to the hamstrings, one client notes.
Try the water skeeter. Hold your arms and legs as far out to the side as possible, making an “X.”
Perform some crawls where you reach a hand as far out in front of the body that you can.
Flip over into a crab position with the back facing the ground and the front of the body aimed towards the sky.
Hold a pose and really stretch the hips, hamstrings or calves. Spin around in a circle on all fours.
Go downhill. Go uphill. Go downhill backwards. Go uphill backwards.
Go low. Go high.
If you are ready for an additional challenge, crawl down a slide, or up a waterfall.
Or do a push-up after each stride.
Pop up into a handstand after a long crawl if you can.
Or bear-crawl with weights, or a small person, on your back.
Go ahead—crawl around a little, try a few modifications, and see if that indeed feels about like a full-body workout in just a few minutes.
What’s your variation? Comment at boropulse.com/bearcrawl or at facebook.com/boropulse.
For more information on movement and personal training options, call or text Jim Genet at 615-427-3406.
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