Have you ever wanted to become a bear? Ever wanted to access your inner spirit animal? Well, you’re out of luck because I can’t help you with either of those, but I can teach you how to move like a bear, if that makes you feel any better. Let’s discuss a specific movement that’s recently gained tons of interest – the bear crawl. As it says on the tin, it’s no fancy, confusing, overly-complex movement, simply drop down on all fours, crawl, prowl a bit and you’ll be on your way. This, like plenty of other calisthenic exercises, offers TONS of benefits, however, we’re only going to list the ones you really care about, so read on for our Top 5 Reasons to Build a Better Body with Bear Crawls!
1. Build muscle and increase your endurance (and get ripped as hell!)
This exercise epitomises the word “versatile”. You can perform this exercise fast, slow, explosively, for HIIT cardio, for muscle control, or even for the 100m! No matter how you perform this exercise, you’re torching calories, building a stable core, carving yourself rock-hard abs as well as challenging your fitness on multiple levels.
2. Follow Bruce Lee’s training philosophy
Whenever Bruce Lee did any type of resistance training, he always focused on compound movements. Compound movements force multiple muscles to work as one unit. Bear crawls work your ENTIRE body, specifically your core, shoulders, arms and glutes.
3. ABSolutely!
Okay. That was terribly corny, I know. But bear with me, seriously, this exercise torches calories like a furnace. Combined with proper nutrition, a caloric deficit and proper recovery, your abs will pop harder than 4th of July (or 5th November if you’re in the UK) fireworks!
4. Develops iron shoulders
Baby too heavy? Groceries too heavy? Weak bench press? Can’t do handstand pushups? Too weak to overhead press your significant other? None of these have to be a problem if you implement Bear Crawls into your regimen! (NOTE: Keep Fit Kingdom is not responsible for any mishaps or injuries incurred from trying to lift another human being over your head.)
5. Mind-body connection and enhanced mobility
Lastly, with bear crawls you can develop an awesome mind-body connection and improved mobility. Your mind-body connection is simply “being highly aware of your body at all times”. It’s a bit more complex than just “coordination”. Sure, you’ll know how to move your body more efficiently as a result of performing bear crawls, but you’ll also develop more precise control over every muscle used in this exercise. That’s what real mobility is about in the fitness world, the ability to maintain or control joint movement or position.
With all that being said, surely you could “bear” doing this exercise for the sake of your summer abs, right? As stated earlier, you won’t transform into a bear by doing this exercise necessarily, but you could certainly access your inner “beast” and ‘kill’ your workouts with fresh angles of manoeuvrability. So try it, have fun and be sure to challenge yourself as you get fitter and stronger. Love bear crawls? Tell us about it below, join in the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! (While you’re here, why not check out our other exercise & training articles?)
