How To Bear Crawl…Like a Baby

We are born with better movement patterns than most of us have now as adults…Just kidding…sort of…

But babies, that can’t even walk yet, can most certainly do certain things better. They definitely squat better AND crawl better than most adults do.

Babies do rock bottom squats like it is nothing. While trying to get an adult to do just a squat to 90 degrees can sometimes be a painful, long process.

Same goes for crawling.

Babies motor around like it is nothing. They crawl over grass, concrete and carpet, barely even noticing the change in texture.

But when adults are asked to crawl, they barely make it five steps before they are out of breath (or complaining about their hands on the turf)…and that is even if they can first understand the coordination of crawling.

It makes me sad how much we lose some natural movement patterns. It makes me sad that we lose such a great mind-body connection.

And I don’t think it has to be this way!

Everyone should be able to crawl, whether or not it is a table top crawl or a basic bear crawl. We should all be able to do it!

So here is a little breakdown of the basic forward bear crawl and proper form.

Now you are probably thinking…Why the heck would I ever want to crawl when I can walk?

Because crawling is GREAT exercise! (And it is kind of fun too!)

Crawling works your entire body, from your shoulders to your knees. It is a great core strengthener AND it is great cardio.

Plus crawling works on your coordination and agility.

And honestly, the older we get and the more we lose that mind-body connection (our coordination and balance), the more we need to crawl.

People just accept that as they age they won’t have the same coordination or balance that they once had. And while, yes, our body does change with age, that doesn’t mean we have to accept that falling or feeling uncoordinated is just a part of life.

Getting our body and mind to continue to connect and work together is key. And movements like the bear crawl help us work on that connection.

So now the question really is…Why aren’t you crawling!?!

Try it today! Set a timer for 5 minutes and see how long you last crawling around. You can even mix in backward and sideways crawls once you master the forward bear crawl.