My clients love when we cycle through Bear Crawls on their upper body days. Even when they think they don't have enough space...they do. You need 10-15 feet at most, although 20 yards works great too.
So what are bear crawls?
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6wBYJdc1HA&feature=youtu.be]
Notice the locomotion of it - opposite arm and foot move together. The reason being stability- same reason we don't rush through these.
So why would anyone be excited about these?
To be honest no one is. But they're great, and here are three reasons to add them into your program...
1. They're a great warm up. They immediately get your heart rate up, and increase blood flow to your upper body- two good things before getting under a barbell.
2. Shoulder health - these are prescribed by PTs because they're a safe way (closed chain) to build up rotator cuff strength and stability.
3. Conditioning - I often get asked what do you do for cardio or how can I incorporate conditioning into my programming? Use these as finishers on your upper body days. Start with 30 seconds of work - don't care how far you go. Take it slow and under control. If 30 seconds isn't enough, make it 3x60seconds and keep building from there.
