Bear Crawl (Forward)

AnimalBW

The classic quadrupedal crawl with knees hovering off the floor and hips higher than in Animal Flow's Beast, moving contralateral hand and foot together. A GMB Fitness and general S&C staple for building crawling strength and coordination.

Demo: Original Strength

Sets

3

Reps

20-40 ft

Rest

45s

Contraindications

Avoid with wrist pain; use fists or push-up handles as a workaround.

Setup

Hands under shoulders, knees under hips, knees lifted an inch off the floor.

Execution

  1. 1Move the right hand and left foot forward together, then left hand and right foot
  2. 2Keep the back flat and hips roughly level with the shoulders
  3. 3Take small controlled steps at first, increasing stride as coordination improves
  4. 4Keep the head up, eyes looking slightly ahead
  5. 5Breathe steadily and avoid holding tension in the neck

Key cues

  • Opposite hand and foot move together
  • Keep the back table-flat, no sagging or piking
  • Small steps first, don't overstride
  • Head up, eyes forward

Common faults

  • Butt too high, turning it into a pike walk
  • Hips sagging toward the floor
  • Same-side hand and foot moving together instead of contralateral
  • Moving too fast and losing control of the pattern

Tweaks

  • Add a lateral or diagonal crawl for variety
  • Increase distance or add hills/inclines
  • Add a weighted vest for loaded crawling

Progressions

Bear Crawl (Backward)Leopard Crawl

Muscles

Primary: Shoulders, Core, Quadriceps

Secondary: Hip Flexors, Forearms, Glutes

Notes

Original Strength notes bear crawl (head down, butt up) is fine for exercise but leopard/spider crawl is preferred for restorative gait-pattern reinforcement.

Sources

Attribution: GMB Fitness / Original Strength