Bear Crawl Exercise Guide: How to Master Bear Crawls

The bear crawl is a bodyweight mobility exercise that can increase your heart rate, burn calories, and build your core strength. To do the bear crawl, place your hands and feet on the floor shoulder-width apart with your body facedown. Crawl forward with an alternating movement pattern, moving your right leg as you move your left arm and your left leg as you move your right arm. With proper form and regular practice, bear crawls can build your upper- and lower-body strength.

Although the bear crawl and crab walk are both total-body workouts involving a cardio movement, they differ from each other in a few ways.

1. 1. Movement pattern: You perform the bear crawl exercise facedown with your hands in front of your body. By contrast, you practice the crab walk faceup with your hands behind your body.
2. 2. Muscles worked: Bear crawls and crab walks work many of the same muscle groups, including the serratus anterior on the sides of your chest as well as your deltoids. However, they prioritize different areas of the body. The bear crawl puts more emphasis on the front of your body—specifically on muscles like the pecs and quads—while the crab walk focuses on backside muscles like your glutes, triceps, and lower back muscles.
3. 3. Difficulty level: With a less functional movement pattern and less stabilization, crab walks are generally a more difficult exercise than bear crawls. If you decide to practice either exercise, consider doing a warm-up with other lower-body exercises like squats or lunges.

For bear crawls, begin by performing 2–3 sets of 10–30 yards or 8–10 repetitions on each side. Choose your distance or number of repetitions based on your ability to maintain good technique throughout all sets and repetitions.

1. 1. Get into the all-fours position with your knees and toes flexed and in contact with the floor. Your hips should be over your knees, and your hands should be directly under your shoulders.
2. 2. Grip the ground with your hands and rotate your shoulders outward to engage your lats. Your pelvis should be slightly tucked and your ribs should be down. Pre-tension your shoulders and engage your core. Your chin should remain tucked throughout the movement, as if you were holding an egg under your chin.
3. 3. Push through your hands and toes to bring your knees 1–2 inches off the ground. All repetitions should begin from this position.
4. 4. While maintaining your alignment and staying low to the ground, move your right hand and left foot forward, then move your left hand and right foot forward.
5. 5. Continue moving forward while alternating sides for the desired distance or number of repetitions.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program, but you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have full control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

In order to see continual progress and build body strength, incorporate proper warm-ups, rest, and nutrition into your exercise program. Your results will ultimately be based on your ability to adequately recover from your workouts. Rest for 24 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups to allow sufficient recovery.

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