Benefits of Crawling for Adults

You found this article because you’re curious about the benefits of crawling.

Good for you!… because crawling (and ground-based movement in general) is one of the most underutilized methods in fitness. And abused.

Abused? Huh? Yes, abused.

Lots of fitness professionals are infatuated with high-intensity approaches to EVERYTHING.

Rushing bear crawls for time has its place, but it lacks the true benefits earned from slowing down a crawl pattern to build movement coordination and build skill.

Crawling is not just for babies. Adults can get pretty significant benefits from practicing crawling patterns on a regular basis.

How to progress crawling patterns beyond the basics is lesser-known, and can completely change your outlook on the activity.

I’ll talk a little more about moving beyond the basics of this article further down.  

Notable benefits of crawling for adults:

• Neural system development (brain-body connection to be able to do more stuff)
• Improvement in coordination, learning, and behavior
• Strengthen the shoulder complex
• Increase proprioceptive feedback, hand strength, and dexterity
• Core developer
• Mobility training for the joints like hips and shoulders
• Excellent transfer from the gym into real-world tasks and activities

A large majority of adults de-evolve with age. 

This is a sad reality.

When we are young, we move frequently. Somewhere along the way, usually, after college ends and careers start, daily movement nose dives.

Non-exercise activity drops, which is concerning because of the undeniable data being published related to daily step count and the relationship to all-cause mortality.

Movement, and our ability to move well, is a use it or lose it situation.  Wolff’s Law at it’s finest. Either keep moving or the ability to move gradually declines.  

So, before you listen to that fitness pro barking out orders to plow through a 60-minute high-intensity crawling workout, please consider taking a more sensible approach.  

Haven’t worked out consistently for a while? Guess what… biologically you’re different now.

Work back into slow, in manageable doses, with adequate rest and recovery separating work sets and workouts throughout the week.

Now, the positive news is that you can get back into fitness, movement, and more specific to this article, CRAWLING, right now. 

Below are some AMAZING introductory drills that’ll reveal how challenging bodyweight, the floor, and a few positional shifts can be.  

[FYI:  Consistency with physical practice is HUGE, one of the deciding factors if you achieve goals.  Not just with exercise, but with anything.  You must continue to practice these exercises to earn the benefits.  Fitness is not an instant gratification game… it’s the opposite.  People who continually show up and put in the work, get the reward. Play the LONG GAME]

If you’re already an avid lifter or engaged in some form of exercise most days of the week, great!  You’ll get plenty of benefit from these drills, and likely find them to be challenging beyond what you anticipated.

Here. We. Go.

Clear a small space.  You don’t need much.  A 6ft x 6ft space free of furniture and other obstructions will work.   

Crawling in small spaces gets the green light from me. You can get a ton of work done inside of an imperfect space.

Reach your arms out, spin around one time. Did you touch anything? No? You’re good… let’s get to work.

Start with Non-Moving Holds

Non-moving, or static, variations are a logical place to acclimate to the demands of crawling.  

The purpose of these drills is to get a feel for what a good body position feels like.  Take a mental note of what you’re feeling in the arms, shoulders, chest, core, and lower body.  Be in the moment, not somewhere else.  

Pro-tip:  Once you’ve locked in body position, imagine balancing a glass of water on your back.  Don’t spill a drop.  Or, place a shoe or other small object on your back for immediate feedback.  

Remain still, stable, and avoid jostling as much as possible!

To start, practice holding these two positions for 3 sets of 30-40 seconds:

Limit the Base of Support from 4-Points to 3-Points

Ok, now, let’s play around with the impact of limiting the base of support does to these exercises.  

Perform 3 sets of 8 shoulder taps (each arm):

During each shoulder tap, your body is doing it’s best to react and re-stabilize itself given the change of floor contacts.  The loaded arm takes on the weight of the upper body, working overdrive.  

Contralateral Lift Offs

Next, let’s play around with limiting the base of support from 3-points, down to 2-points of contact.  

This next series of drills are TOUGH.  

You’re going to lift the opposite arm and leg AT THE SAME TIME and hold that position for 10-15 seconds:

If you want, speed up the tempo.  Pause and hold the 2-point position for 2-3 seconds before moving to the other side.  Keep alternating for time (60 seconds) or for reps (12-15 reps).

Crawl

Set a timer and work each crawling pattern for 3 sets of 30-60 seconds PER EXERCISE.

Move slow, focused, and with control.  

Keep your mind’s eye on body position and make hand/foot contacts quiet.  Soft and quiet floor interactions are closely associated with control. 

Crawling has been an important part of my workouts for a long time.  It’s become an essential component of my warm-ups, workouts, and conditioning circuits.  

If you find any of the drills above to be overwhelming, you’re not alone.  To be honest, even short duration basic variations like the forward/backward crawl was soul-crushing for me in the beginning. 

Anything new generally is.  Your body doesn’t know how to be efficient yet.  Soreness will likely follow in the days ahead.

But, adaptation is a beautiful thing.  I made gradual progress from non-moving variations, to a limited base of support hold and into basic crawling patterns and beyond.  

Today, I’ll engage in more aggressive crawl workouts that last anywhere from 5, 10, 15 minutes without breaks.  But that didn’t happen overnight.  

What’s cool about crawling is that it can be progressed far beyond the basics described in this article.  

The lizard crawl is a prime example of an advanced, low position crawling pattern that’ll put your strength to the test.  A 15-foot lizard crawl can feel like 50 feet.  

Leveraging the principle of progressive loading and add weight to crawling exercises to further challenge your strength and coordination.  Again, this doesn’t happen overnight, but it’ll give you a glimpse into where you can take this stuff. 

Sometimes my workouts are purely ground-based movement sessions jam-packed with crawling and other unique movements. 

Benefits and results?  

Here’s what I get out of crawling work.  

1.  Skill transfer.  Transitioning from a standing position or walking to the floor is second nature now.  I don’t blink. The transition work is seamless. It’s amazing how often I use crawling in real-world situations with my kids, to complete a task or while in the woods hunting.  

2.  Lean muscle.  Nutrition is king for body composition, but the added time under tension crawling definitely added some muscle and definition to my frame.  I don’t chase aesthetics, but it’s a nice added bonus.  

3.  Gains in other lifts.  Pushing, squatting, deadlift, etc… all felt more organized.  Weight increased, volume increased (reps/sets per workout) and progress was made.  

4.  Fun.  If you’re stuck in a workout rut, it’s time to inject something different into the mix.  Doing the same thing over and over will drive you insane, and can fizzle out your interest in exercise.  Mix in some crawling, it’s both challenging and refreshing.  

Crawling is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s SO MUCH more to explore inside of the ground-based movement category.

Ground-based training is a fantastic supplement to traditional resistance training and mobility work.  

Want to go further down the rabbit hole?

If you want to dive into more ground-based work, I don’t blame you and quite frankly I highly recommend you continue to learn about this stuff.

Check out Animal Flow or Movement20XX.

These are the premier ground-based movement training systems. Both are comprehensive platforms with subtle differences in approach.

Animal Flow integrates different training methodologies: gymnastics, break dancing, Yoga, calisthenics, Capoeria, and various crawling and locomotion variations into movement sequences and flow.

Movement 20XX you to use this article as a stepping to investigate comprehensive training programs like Animal Flow and Vahva Fitness Movement20XX.

I’ve shared these programs with thousands of people and the feedback has been tremendous.

Which program is the best? Tough question to answer, both are great.

Lately, I’ve been guiding people to Movement20XX. Movement20XX creator, Eero Westerberg, shares a similar approach to training as me. Naturally, my compass points toward the Movement20XX curriculum.

At the end of the day, both programs deliver amazing content that’s clearly articulated. Skill level doesn’t matter.

Beginners will get the coaching they need, and so will advanced movers who are seeking mastery and next-level gains.

Animal Flow| Scorpion

Animal Flow is a ground based movement system that leverages multi-planar movements, transitions and various crawling patterns to create an effective form of exercise.  

Scorpion, is a unique exercise with roots in Yoga, yet adapted and modernized by Animal Flow.  

The benefits of practicing exercises like Scorpion on a regular basis are many, and discussed throughout this post.  

Scorpion is a versatile exercise.  We can slip it into warm ups, workouts, movement sequences and improvised flows.   

The aim of this post is to give you information on Scorpion technique, benefits and ideas on how to integrate this great exercise into your current or future workout regimen.  

More information on Animal Flow will be provided at the end of the article.  

Benefits of the Scorpion exercise

• Lengthening of the hamstrings and lats
• Opening up and activating the hips
• Thoracic spine extension and rotation
• Shoulder strength and stability
• Rotational core training
• Uniquely challenging multi-planar movement
• Ground based, bodyweight, equipment free, minimal space requirements

Just one exercise, all of those benefits. 

Ground based movement exposes your movement flaws.

To be blunt, expect to feel stiff and weak.

Newbies to ground based movement training should anticipate getting tripped up for a while.  

The mechanics of the new exercises are foreign, the spatial awareness is new, the timing, tension, breathing, range of motion, etc… is new.  

Consistent practice yields improvement. 

Scorpion Movement Technique

Bottom Position

The bottom position of Scorpion involves trunk flexion and a bit of rotation.  

You can see my spine flexed, core hollowed out.  

Cues:

–  Eyes toward the hands

–  Shoulders over the hands

–  Round the back slightly to make room for the knee coming across

Slide the knee across the midline of the body to the opposite side elbow. 

Once there, “kiss” the knee cap to the elbow.  

Reverse the motion to start the upward phase of Scorpion.

* Tip:  Limit momentum from the cross-body knee touch.  Move slow and with control.  If you cannot touch the knee to the opposite side elbow without compensating, that’s fine!  Work the range of motion that you’re able to control.  

 **Warning: core cramping possible and likely***

Driving the knee across the midline to the opposite side elbow is difficult shit.  

People who practice this type of training regularly (Yogis, etc) make it look easy, but it’s not.  

Cramps and whole body shaking is likely.  

Top Position

At the top of the Scorpion, the body moves into trunk extension and rotation. 

Cues:

–   Ears between the arms

–   Keep anchored leg as straight at the knee, heel down.

–   “Reach” with the elevated foot, squeeze the glute

–   Relax the jaw and neck (breathe)

 

What you should FEEL during Scorpion…

Moving is a multi-sensory experience.  

You hear, see and feel with every movement.  

Knowing what to feel can speed up the learning curve with new movements and also give feedback that you’re doing the movement correctly. 

Bottom position of Scorpion

•  Shoulder and chest burn from stabilizing bodyweight in the high plank position.  
•  Intense core burn from the cross body knee to elbow.

Top position of Scorpion:

•  Suspended glute is WORKNG HARD, feel the burn here.  
•  Hip flexor stretch. 
•  Backside stretch running down the anchored leg from glute to the heel.  
•  Side body stretch from the rotation (mainly the lats) 

Personally, my lats (hips to arm pits) get a big stretch while practicing scorpion. 

How to Use Animal Flow Scorpion into Workouts

Scorpion is extremely versatile for workouts.  

Slip it into warm ups, the workout itself or use it as part of a flow.  

Warm Up

Animal flow exercises are ideal to use in warm ups.  

Here’s how: 

Active mobility training

Ground Based Conditioning (Animal Flow)

Resistance Training

Cardio

Cool-down

This is a very simple and effective workout template.  

Spend 15-20 minutes working through foam rolling mobility and movement flow.  Keep it brief and focused.  

Resistance Training

Scorpion is a great filler exercise when paired with lifts (chin ups, squats, deadlifts, lunges, pressing, etc).  

Filler exercises don’t take away from your main lifts while being more productive with rest periods.  It’s active rest.  

Here’s tri-set that uses Scorpion as a filler exercise:

A1)  Chin Up

A2) Squat

A3)  Alternating Scorpion

Chin-ups training upper body pulling, squats for lower body pushing, and Scorpion for a bodyweight based multi-planar movement.  

Cardio-Strength

10 Kettlebell Swings

10 Push Ups

10 Alternating Jumping Split Squats

10 Rows

 Scorpions 5 each leg

Perform 5 rounds of this circuit for a time efficient total body cardio-strength workout.  

Movement Sequences 

For beginners to movement flow, moving beyond isolated exercise practice is best done with movement sequences.

Generally, a movement sequence is 2-3 exercises strung together.  

Sequences introduce another incredible benefit of flow training, transitions.  

Transitioning between exercises requires careful coordination, strength and control, balance, timing and spatial awareness.

The benefits of ironing out transitions between movements until they are seamless cannot be overstated.

Movement Flow

Ready to flow?  Perfect.

Set a timer and go.  

I’ve dabbled with 20-25+ minute improvised flow sessions.

Start with simple crawling exercises integrated with switches and transitions.

Add in traditional exercises like:  push-ups, planks, squats, lunges, hinging, pulling, etc.  

Check out this video

Explore the space.  MOVE!

Multi-Planar Movement Training KICKS ASS

Animal Flow movements are multi-planar, and very unique compared to what most people are doing in daily workouts. 

Exercises like the Scorpion move the entire body through a unique range of motion, challenging the core, hips and shoulders.

Ground based movements condition your body’s spatial awareness, strength, mobility, stability and efficiency.

Lunges, squats, kettlebell swings, over head pressing, push ups and vertical pulling exercises such as pull ups and chin ups are all great exercises, but they lack rotation.

Training your body to move well on a whim, in a wide variety of environments, on different terrain, over/under/through various obstacles or while completing unique tasks amplifies your movement capacity.  

If you’re currently lifting weights and doing cardio, GOOD!  

This article is NOT a call to stop doing those activities.  

Animal Flow style training and a quality resistance/cardio training regimen can and should coexist.  

Combining strength, conditioning and forms of natural movement creates the new gold standard in fitness. 

Scorpion is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ground based movement.  There’s so much more to explore. 

If you really want to received full benefit of flow work and ground based training, I highly recommend checking out Animal Flow.

 

Benefits of the Crab Reach Exercise

The Crab Reach is a great bodyweight exercise with a whole bunch of options of use before, during and after a workout.  

For a simple bodyweight move, this exercise offers a lot of benefits. 

Benefits of the Crab Reach

• Posterior chain activation and hip extension
• Active Thoracic Mobility
• Anterior body stretch (hip flexors, quads, torso)
• Shoulder stability/endurance emphasis in loaded shoulder
• Trunk rotation
• Right and Left Side 
• Low-impact

Combat Sitting 

The Crab Reach is a great exercise to battle/off-set the negative effect of long duration sitting. 

It’s not “the cure”, the only tool or the “best” tool, but it’s a good one to implement on a regular basis.   

Reversing aches and pains caused by primarily long duration sitting requires dedication, discipline, and volume.  There is no quick fix.  

A quick hip flexor stretch, thoracic mobilization, and glute bridge are not going to cancel out 8+ hours of sitting in the same turtle-like, wound up position.  

Body restoration takes time, effort, consistency and volume.  Lots of repetitions, likely lots of time and an aggressive mindset.  Assuming you’re doing everything right, expect improvements over time.

Most people slump like a turtle while sitting.  Sitting like a slouchy turtle for 8-10 hours per day, 5 days per week isn’t good for our bodies.

We become the positions we use most.  

Fill in Gaps with Movement Training

Strength and conditioning built from traditional resistance training can benefit greatly from practicing multi-planar movements like the crab reach.   

Deadlifts are great.  Chin-ups are great.  Rows, push-ups and rotational core training are all great.

These are fundamental movements to build a strong body.  

But there are movement gaps leftover from each of these exercises.  

Once you’re on the floor crawling, transitioning between locomotion exercises, you find out pretty quick there’s a difference between squatting up and down with lots of weight on the bar and moving gracefully through space.  

It’s humbling. 

Exploring bodyweight oriented movement is a key piece of the fitness puzzle that will improve your movement IQ and create a well-functioning body.  

What’s a well-functioning body?

Strong (proportionate to what a person needs to thrive in daily life), mobile, confident in many different postures/positions/patterns, conditioned, free of aches and pains. 

Ground-based conditioning is a great way to backfill any gaps resistance training is not designed to address.  

Free-flowing, multi-planar fitness. 

Practicing postures and movement patterns less common to daily life. 

Improving strength, mobility and stability in uncommon movements make everyday exercises feel easy. 

Rotation

Looking at the average person’s exercise favorites, it’s usually a shortlist made up of linear resistance training and a sprinkling of cardio. 

Break out of the linear matrix. 

Every repetition of Crab Reach moves the body through a multi-planar, active range of motion.  

Through the range of motion, the body will extend and rotate.  

The twist is visible from the hip flexor, moving diagonally through the mid-section to the loaded shoulder.  

How to Use Crab Reach in Workouts

Ground-based bodyweight movement is extremely versatile.   

Keeping it simple, here are a few different options to integrate the crab reach into daily fitness:

•  In the warm-up
•  Filler exercise during a lifting session
•  As part of a flow sequence

Crab Reach can be practiced in isolation or as a combination. 

I recommend practicing new movements in isolation to increase focus on technique. 

Practicing an exercise in isolation is better to understand the mechanics and demands is best. 

Isolating the exercise will give you the opportunity to focus on the mechanics of the movement and spatial awareness.

Warming Up with the Crab Reach

Movement flow exercises are perfect for pre-workout warm-ups. 

These movements are generally dynamic, full range of motion exercises that require movement into and out unique body positions, angles and tempo.  

Crab reach can serve as a valuable movement prep before exercises like deadlifts or kettlebell swings.

Crab Reach as Part of the Workout

Positioning the Crab Reach as part of a Tri-Set is a great way to isolate and practice the exercise while staying active/productive during a strength training session. 

Here’s an example a simple Tri-Set:

Exercise A) Front Squats

Exercise B) Chin-Ups

Exercise C)  Crab Reach

Crab Reach acts as a non-competing exercise with the front squats and chin-ups. 

Flow Training

Crab Reach can be used to create a simple bodyweight flow.

Start with two exercises separated by a switch to keep it simple.  Here’s an example:

The video above is an example of a simple movement sequence.

For an added challenge, increase the number of exercises in the sequence to 4, 5, 6 and beyond. 

Adding more exercises to create longer flows is great for the mind-body connection. 

The ultimate goal of movement training is improvisation, which is essentially moving without a plan.

Improvisational movement is an idea I plucked from Ido Portal’s movement hierarchy, which looks like this:

Isolation —> Integration —>  Improvisation

Read more about Ido Portal Method here.

Reps/Sets/Time 

In the beginning, keep the reps low.  

6-8 reps per side is a good place to start.

Focus on a slow and controlled tempo through the fullest range of motion you can make happen.

After you are feeling good about the mechanics, increase the volume. 

Don’t be shy about bumping up the reps to 15-20 reps per side.  Setting a timer can be a nice option.  

Not interested in counting reps?  

Set a timer and go.  Alternating right and lefts for 2-5 minute timed sets can free’s you up from having to count reps. 

Summary…

• Bodyweight ground-based movements are effective for building strength, mobility, endurance, and movement IQ
• Crab Reach is a versatile exercise that can be performed anywhere and anytime.  
• Benefits of the Crab Reach include posterior chain activation, anterior body lengthening, thoracic mobility, body awareness in space.
• The Crab Reach is great to include in warm-ups, during the workout or as flow training.  
• The Crab Reach is an effective exercise to help mitigate aches/pains from sitting, restore function.

Want to Go Deeper? Check This Out…  

Vahva Fitness has created a fully streamable bodyweight-based movement program called Movement20XX.

The movement curriculum in Movement20XX is progressive, challenging, and scalable for beginners, intermediates and all the way up to people seeking movement mastery.   

Movement training is easily scaled to suit each person’s skill level.

Movement20XX is one of a small number of hand-picked online fitness programs I support. 

 

The Many Ways to Use Animal Flow in Workouts

“Hmmm… Animal Flow looks a bit moving yoga. Then again, it also looks a bit like Capoeira. Well, maybe not. Maybe it looks like gymnastics. Yes, definitely gymnastics. Wait… there’s another yoga exercise, now it looks like yoga again.”

These are exact thoughts I had watching Mike Fitch demonstrating a movement flow several years ago.

Watching Mike flow seamlessly around the empty room captivated me. Even to the untrained eye, it’s unmistakable when you see someone who has complete dominance (aka control) over their body. When you see it, you know it.

I crashed head first into Ido Portal Method and Animal Flow at about the same time. Which makes sense now since they are both rooted deeply in bodyweight based movement. 

At the time, Ido Portal was growing at breakneck speed, but he had not (and still hasn’t) packaged his movement system into a product. Animal Flow did have a product, which it has now updated into Animal Flow 2.0.

Crawling patterns and primal movement were gaining traction as validated tactics to reset one’s body, improve strength, stability, core integration, body controls, yadda yadda yadda. In reflection, it makes sense Animal Flow caught my eye because Traveling Forms (Ape, Beast, Crab) are crawling locomotion patterns. For branding purposes, Animal Flow refers to these three basic forms as “animal-like” exercises which they are, but they are also crawling patterns.

Piggybacking the opening paragraph of this blog post, the most important point I could make about integrating Animal Flow into your workouts is this: Shape, mold and make it function any way that suits you.

Animal Flow is a hybrid training system constructed from many other movement disciplines, therefore it can serve you any way you need it to.

Cardio conditioning? Move fast, aggressive, lots of transitions, soft but quick floor contacts.

Recovery? Full range of motion, move slow, controlled, breathe deep, hold positions, find the stretch.

Pre-Workout Warm Up? Move through a full range of motion, activate hard at end range looking for expanded range, build the tempo up from slow to fast.

Animal Flow as the workout? Leverage lots of different tempos, explore many positions, make shapes, breathe, bring the heart rate up, lower it back down, improvise, etc.

Ground-based movement can serve an infinite number of purposes. How do you want it to serve your needs? That’s what I’d like you to keep in mind as you read through the rest of this article.

The purpose of this article is two-fold:

1) Share Animal Flow movement tactics with people who aren’t currently familiar.

2) Expand the application of Animal Flow exercises.

In we go…

I won’t pretend like it was love at first sight.

It took me a while to jump into Animal Flow. I was already working yoga steadily on non-workout days. Days when my body needed a rest but craved a sweat, range of motion, slow tempo and breath work. You know, the calming effect yoga is famous for.

Once I finally committed to mixing in Traveling Forms more seriously, I could immediately feel the difference. I felt more connected from my top half through my core to my bottom half. Shoulders opened up and felt more stable. General body awareness in space and control improved also. 

Stepping away from lifting is a major reason my body “opened up” and felt more fluid and connected. Pressing pause on lifting for several days if not several weeks (even months) is something that changed my entire perspective on daily physical activity. I recommend anyone who’s been a die-hard lifter to remove yourself from weight training for an extended period of time. Don’t stop exercising during this time, rather, seek out alternatives.

Animal Flow is a perfect place to start and explore.

Using Animal Flow exercises for Pre-Workout Warm-Up

Initially, I started by using Traveling Forms during my warm-up. Here is how I structured everything…

Pre-Workout Warm-Up (15-20 minutes)
Foam Roll + Thoracic Mobility Peanut Drills
Dynamic Stretching
Activation (using mini bands, wall slides, etc)
Animal Flow Traveling Forms (and maybe some jump rope)
The Workout

Yes, I still foam roll.  

After working through more traditional strength and conditioning stretches, activation and mobility, I’d start crawling for 3-8 minutes, sometimes followed by jumping rope, sometimes not.

In the beginning, 3 minutes of crawling patterns seemed daunting. After a month or so, I was crawling without rest for 8-10 minutes. Challenging? Hell yes, but the body acclimates quickly with consistent practice.

This pre-workout routine provided enough time to explore each of the three Traveling Forms in isolation. Isolating new exercises has always been my strategy. Isolating an exercise allows me to focus on the mechanics of the movement. 

Favoritism and familiarity lead me to practice Beast and Crab first. Beast is a prone crawling pattern (chest to the floor) and Crab is a supine crawling pattern (chest to the ceiling). Beast and Crab are essentially opposites, and therefore complement each other very well. The difference in body position changes the stress on the core and arms, front, back, and side of the body. Each movement also challenges active mobility differently.

Currently, my home gym allows for 12 feet of crawling in any one direction. Working with my training space, I would crawl 12 feet forward, reverse it and crawl 12 feet back. The first couple of workouts I programmed low volume and a much slower tempo crawl.

Beast – Crawl down and back 5 times (120 ft of crawling)
Crab – Crawl down and back 5 times (120 ft of crawling)

Start Workout.

From here, I ramped it up pretty quickly. I get antsy.

Combine Beast and Crab together, crawling down and back 6 times each without rest. This will take about 5-6 minutes to complete with a steady tempo.

Once I started to explore and understand Animal Flow Switches, I integrated them into my little Beast/Crab crawling medley…

Forward Beast + Under-Switch + Reverse Crab

Forward Crab + Under-Switch + Reverse Beast

Start Workout.

Rinse and repeat for time. This combination is simple and effective. Crawl down forward, switch, come back in reverse.

Next, I played around with longer duration for each Traveling Form, ramping it up to 1-minute per exercise before switching to the next…

Cycle 1-Minute per exercise of:
1-minute Beast
1-minute Crab
1-minute Beast
1-minute Crab

Start Workout.

… And so on.

I recommend working these patterns for as long as you like. Don’t overthink it. The risk of overdoing crawling is almost non-existent. Of course, if your plan is resistance training afterward, leave something in the tank for the training session.

Eventually, I introduced Lateral Traveling Ape to the pre-workout routine. Lateral Traveling Ape was my first real exposure to side-to-side locomotion. I struggled. What my mind’s eye thought I was doing was not what the playback on my iPhone camera showed. My technique was brutal. But the pattern was completely foreign.

I practiced Lateral Traveling Ape more incrementally than Beast or Crab, starting with two reps in one direction, two reps back to where I started. Rest and repeat. A smooth flowing Lateral Traveling Ape did not come easily for me.

Fast forward to current day, I’ll rip out pre-workout Traveling Forms almost in any structure I like. Lately, a medley I’ve been enjoying has been:

Cycle 8 minutes of:
Lateral Traveling Ape 16 ft
Switch
Beast Crawl 16 ft
Switch
Crab Crawl 16 ft

Start Workout.

Cycle through each of the 3 Traveling Forms for 8 minutes without rest. You’ll never feel more ready for a workout as you will after this effective little medley.

The badass thing about Animal Flow exercises is that your body will learn the mechanics quickly with diligent practice. Lateral Traveling Ape went from being an exercise I avoided to one of my favorites.

Personally, I think there are a lot of people dabbling with crawling patterns, which is great, but not including enough volume to see desired results. I’m not implying you’ve got crawl for a .5 mile every workout, but if you really want to get benefit from crawling patterns, play around with increasing the volume (without bending on technique).

A Tool for Recovery…

I love many aspects of yoga and typically feel great afterward, but I don’t always enjoy how stationary yoga is. Yoga sessions can feel rather restricting. Stay on the mat, you must never part with your mat.

Animal Flow takes features of yoga and transforms it into a dynamic practice. Essentially, you can move around the room until you’re ready to hold a pose or position.

Transitioning into an animal-like crawl to relocate or continue switching body positions to find the next hold.

Combining movement with elements of yoga creates a comprehensive training session pack with benefits from each.  Here is a simple recovery workout…

Lateral Traveling Ape x10 yards
Beast Crawl x10 yards
Downward Dog x 5 long breaths
Reverse Beast x10 yards
Downward Dog x 5 long breaths
Crab Crawl x 10 yards
Table-Top x 5 long breaths
Reverse Crab Crawl x10 yards
Crab with Reach x3 each side
*** Repeat the cycle for time or rounds***

This simple recovery workout seamlessly fuses yoga with Animal Flow. I’ve worked sequences like this for 20-30 minutes and felt absolutely fantastic afterward.

Or, give this more comprehensive recovery session a try, which includes drills from Kinstretch and Animal Flow.

Start with some basic Kinstretch drills to nourish the joints, finishing with some dynamic Animal Flow exercises to further open up and re-educate the body to cross-crawling patterns, reaching and positional switches.

Kinstretch:
Hip CAR’s x5 each leg
Spinal CAR’s x3
Shoulder CAR’s x5 each arm

… Followed by…

Animal Flow:
Beast Crawl x 10 yards
Reverse Beast Crawl x 10 yards
Crab Crawl x 10 yards
Reverse Crab Crawl x 10 yards
Lateral Traveling Ape x 10 yards
Crab with Reach x 5 each side
Slow Under-Switch x 5 each side
Scorpion Switch x 3 each
Slow Side Kick-Throughs x 3 each side
*** Repeat for 3-4 rounds ***

*** Sidenote: If you aren’t familiar with Kinstretch, check it out. It will change your life.

This will take 30 minutes of your time (or less). Move slowly through each of these exercises in descending order (top to bottom). Breathe deep with control, owning each movement.

This workout has a boatload of natural joint mobility and muscle activation work in it. Crab with Reach alone is a million dollar movement. If you’re activating extending the hips and reaching hard in the high position of each Scorpion Switch, there is likely to be some soreness the next day.

A gentle recovery workout like this helps to open up the joints, turn on important muscles, challenge multi-planar core stability and while getting a sweat without the beaten down feeling.

It might seem off-topic to list sweating as a benefit of a recovery workout, but considering the skin is the largest organ of the human body and sweating helps eliminate toxins from the body, support proper immune function and fight out toxin-related diseases.

Animal Flow and Kettlebells for Cardio

Virtually any exercise or series of exercises can be adjusted to create a cardio training effect.

Limiting rest, increasing the tempo and exercise complexity are all fantastic ways to further tax the cardiovascular system.

The recipe is simple: global bodyweight movements recruit more muscles plus higher intensity tempo with little or no rest in between elevates heart rate and respiration. Across time and with enough intensity, the body will head straight into oxygen debt. Huffing and puffing begin.

Ground-based movements are a total body experience. Combining various Traveling Forms (ape, beast, crab, lizard crawl variations, etc) and Switches creates a potent multi-planar training effect. 

Kick-Throughs…
Kick-Throughs are an excellent ground-based cardio exercise. Kick-Throughs, similar to any other Animal Flow exercise, can be scaled to suit any skill or fitness level. The explosive nature of faster tempo Kick-Through’s makes them ideal for cardio.

There are two primary variations: Forward and Side Kick-Throughs.

Many people will find Side Kick-Throughs to be a great entry into higher tempo ground-based movement.

Side Kick-Throughs how-to:
• Start in the quadruped position (static Beast), hands and feet on the floor, knees hovering an inch above the floor.
• Lift and slide one leg underneath your body as you pivot on the supporting foot.
• Reach with the sliding leg and open up the chest.
• Return to the quadruped position and perform the same action on the opposite side.

Gradually increase the speed of the kick-through to the point where technique remains intact but on the verge of “out of control”. 15-20 repetitions per side of Side Kick-Throughs will get the heart rate going. Another measurement of work is time. Anywhere from 30-45 seconds of exertion is a great place to start.

Kick-Throughs pair very well with kettlebells, as you’ll see below.

Select two kettlebell exercises and one variation of kick-throughs. Here are two great examples.

Workout A
Kettlebell Swings x8-10
Side Kick-Throughs x8 each side
Kettlebell Overhead Press x8 each arm
*Repeat for 6-8 rounds, rest for 45-70 seconds between each round.

Or…

Workout B
Kettlebell Gorilla Row x8 each arm
Forward Kick-Throughs x5 each side
Kettlebell Deadlift x10
*Repeat for 6-8 rounds, rest for 45-70 seconds between each round.

Or…

Mix and Match: Alternate Workout A and Workout B
Round 1: Workout A
Rest 60 seconds
Round 2: Workout B
Rest 60 seconds
Round 3: Workout A
Rest 60 seconds
Round 4: Workout B
*** Repeat for 8 rounds ***

Each round you’re performing 3 completely different exercises, using the same tool (kettlebells). If you’re tight on space, limited on equipment or looking to keep training simple and effective, this is a fantastic option.

Improvised Workouts Ground Based Conditioning Plus Animal Flow…

This is my favorite part of this article.

Animal Flow is a flexible movement discipline that can serve as little or big of a role in your training as you need to. In this section, I’ll talk about using Animal Flow as the workout, not just part of the workout.

Practicing many of the Animal Flow elements in isolation leads to stringing together longer pre-planned sequences, which eventually leads to the total improvisation of a workout or freestyle. This is the “flow” part of Animal Flow.

Flowing between various exercises for several minutes changed the game for me. It’s liberating to move around an open space without having a plan, just an understanding of knowing you can move in and out of many different positions, making shapes, increasing tempo, slowing tempo, etc. You’re in control of the session, your mind-body connection is communicating the way it was designed.

Very poetic.

Improvised flow is the highest form of training. It’s essentially movement play and exploration. I touched on this in my popular Ido Portal Method post.

I have no recommendations for improvised workouts, as they are improvised.  You make it up as you go.  Take what you know about Animal Flow: locomotion patterns, switches, transitions, etc… and build a sequence.  

There is no wrong way to flow, just start moving.  

Workouts like this can last as long as you’d like. I’ve improvised for 20-30 minutes, increasing the speed of movement sporadically throughout the session but constantly moving and changing positions.

Closing Personal Commentary…

Equipment free, ground-based conditioning has expanded my conditioning in incredible ways. I am a huge advocate of rowing ergs, airbikes, skiergs and the like, but conditioning on an open floor is entirely different than machine-based conditioning.

I’m not anti-machine.

I still use my Assault Bike and Concept2 Rowing Erg 2-3 times per week. Not for extended periods, but long enough to matter.

Taking a break from machine-based cardio will make you realize how mindless it is. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s difficult but mindless. The gears and levers of a cardio machine move through a fixed pattern/range of motion. How hard you push yourself on the machine is entirely up to you. It’s a mind game. It’s willpower.

The amount of energy required to crawl, bend, twist, lunge, reach, roll, sprawl, rotate, squat, press around an open floor intensely for an extended period of time is mind-blowing.  Especially if you are new to it.

—>  More details about Animal Flow 2.0

 

 

Cheers, 

Kyle

Benefits of Movement 20XX| Ground-Based Locomotion Training

Movement 20XX is an innovative, gap bridging movement system built around fundamental bodyweight exercise, organized in a readymade package.  

The movement system is comprised of a wide range of exercise progressions to get a beginner flowing in their first workout, leading up to advanced movement mastery.

Movement 20XX exercises and workouts are designed to help people improve strength, flexibility, body control and coordination.

The most impressive aspect of Movement 20XX is how well the movements and transitions fit together to create an artistic, fluid practice. 

Ground-based conditioning is a missing element in a lot of workout regimens and can help reboot the body’s natural ability to move well.

It’s just you and some empty space on the floor, which is both daunting and liberating.  

The brilliance of Movement 20XX is it’s a collection of many different movement disciplines.  

Instead of being pigeon-holed to training with one movement methodology, Movement 20XX  teaches key elements from yoga, martial arts, parkour, break dancing and gymnastics to name a few.

The emphasis on teaching locomotion patterns like the lizard crawl is awesome.

Expanding movement capacity and improving movement I.Q. through natural ground-based movements is as functional as it gets. 

Locomotion patterns make up 1 of 6 components in the Animal Flow training system. 

What is Locomotion?

Locomotion exercises often mimic the movements of animals. Basic crawling variations are an example.  Crawling is a full-body conditioning pattern. 

Each moving form has an emphasis on contralateral movement, which means the movement occurs across the body’s midline.

The opposite hand and foot are going to move together. Contralateral movements are great for building body awareness and coordination.

Locomotion, in laymen’s terms, means moving from one place to another. Walking, skipping, running, pushing a heavy sled, farmer walks are all variations of locomotion.

A large majority of locomotion patterns are performed in a quadrupedal position, with hands pressed against the floor supporting body weight under the shoulder, knees flexed near 90 degrees and only the balls of the feet supporting the lower body. 

Benefits of Movement 20XX locomotion exercises?

Humans are bipedal creatures.

We move most efficiently in an upright position using our legs to propel us through space.

Practicing locomotion patterns with the body and head in unique positions other than upright walking position (head on shoulders, eyes forward, arms hanging at the sides, etc) challenges the body to re-orient itself to those uncommon positions.

Quadrupedal, animal-like movement patterns expand our movement capacities, making our body a more complete piece of machinery.

Sure, one could argue that life happens on two-feet and that’s partially true.

However, there are many moments in life where we must be able to move into (and out of) positions outside of normal vertical standing

Supplementing a training regimen with ground-based conditioning trains a person to be more capable of handling known and unknown tasks.  

It’s hard to predict when you’ll need to be strong in a quadruped position, right?

When you need it, you need it.

A great goal of any fitness program should be to create a higher level of movement efficiency across a broader range of positions.  

Locomotion movements provide a gentle loading for the upper extremities and demand the core musculature sort out new stimuli (cross-crawling).  

Yes, locomotion work is going to light up your core.

Other benefits of locomotion training:

• Establish neuromuscular links throughout the kinetic exercise chain.
• Movements are multi-planar, preparing the body for different planes of motion.
  • Up and down
  • Side to Side
  • Transverse (rotational)
• Flexibility through movement and the opening of fascial lines and slings.
• Full articulation of joints to reinforce mobility.
• Reconnecting the brain-body activity with contra-lateral movements.
• Exposure of asymmetries and energy leaks as you move closer to the ground (versus standing).

Ground flow drills are not boring, which is a really unscientific yet powerful reason to start exploring the practice.

If your current workout regimen has you bored out of your mind, you better switch it up quickly.  People who get bored often stop exercising all together.  It’s very predictable.   

Let’s take look at each of the three basic forms taught in Animal Flow…

Side-to-Side Locomotion

Side-to-side (lateral) locomotion is a challenge technique-wise.

Timing, force absorption, core compression, and flexibility are all equally important 

This same pattern can be executed forward and backward.

Quadrupedal Crawling

Crawling is a fantastic activity for the pre-workout warm-up, or as a main component of the workout.

This dynamic quadrupedal activity reinforces and builds reflexive strength along with connecting the left side of the brain with the right side.

Small space? No worries.

Crawling is an adaptable exercise that can fit whatever size space you are training in.

In my old basement gym, I had less than 10 feet in any one direction.  Adapt to small spaces by making more trips down and back.  For folks who are stuck in hotel rooms while traveling, crawling is PERFECT.

8-10 feet of space is all you need to crawl.

Crawling can be modified to suit a wide variety of training stimuli and goals. Ramp up the tempo to elicit a cardio training effect or slow it down for movement control.

Beginners should practice crawling slow and controlled to establish a familiarization with technique. 

Crawling can be performed in high and low positions, forward and backward, side to side.

Supine Crab Crawl

Supine crawling, sometimes referred to as the “Crab Crawl” positions the front of the body toward the ceiling with arms supporting behind the back and inches in front of the glutes.

This crawling variation engages the backside muscles of the legs to a higher degree while challenging shoulder extension.

The Crab Crawl is a unique exercise because of the way it engages the lats, traps and external shoulder rotators, opens up the anterior chain while simultaneously activating.  

How to Add Locomotion Drills to Your Workout

Locomotion exercises can be used as warm-up drills, recovery from the previous day’s training stress, included in a circuit or practiced as part of a long duration flow.

Natural bodyweight movement can be practiced anytime, in virtually any environment. 

Personally, I prefer a “less but better” training philosophy.

Starting out, I practiced basic locomotion patterns for 10-15 minutes before any resistance training or cardio work, using brutally slow tempos to gain an understanding of mechanics and build motor control and timing.

 

Slow movement training reveals movement deficits.

As mentioned earlier in this post, crawling can be used for cardio conditioning.  Increase the tempo and intensity.  Move faster.  Or, crawl for a longer duration.  Maintain quality of movement, however.  

Change of direction, body position, loading the upper extremities, tension, crawling, sprawling will jack up your heart rate as fast as any other form of cardio. All without any equipment.

Movement 20XX

Movement 20XX is the program I recommend for those who want to begin exploring ground-based training.

Eero Westerberg has done a fantastic job creating a comprehensive movement platform that really delivers significant benefits to customers.

Movement 20XX is packed with basic (similar to what I shared today) and advanced exercises and technique tutorials for those exercises, leading to flow training.

Flow training is highly challenging and fun.

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Make sure to subscribe to this blog to receive updates on future posts.  I will never spam you, it’s not my style.

YouTube and Instagram are also great resources for constantly updated exercise progressions and variations, flow training and how I’m integrating techniques to create hybrid workouts.  

 

Cheers, 

Kyle