What is the Bear Walk?
The Bear Walk is a cardiovascular exercise that uses and develops strength in the shoulders, quads, and abdominals, requiring you to support your weight on your hands and feet rather than your knees.
What muscles does the Bear Walk target?
The Bear Walk involves all the major muscle groups but is perfect for strengthening and sculpting the shoulders and core. More of your body weight will be put onto your upper body with this exercise, so you will feel a burn in your triceps and shoulders.
Despite your bodyweight being put on your arms and shoulders, the Bear Walk requires you to move your legs, so you will also get a great lower body and core workout as you move across the floor.How do I properly perform the Bear Walk?
To do a Bear Walk, begin on all fours and lift your knees so that they’re at a 90-degree angle and a few inches off of the ground. Crawl forward starting with either hand and the opposite foot, alternate sides to crawl your way across the floor.
To ensure the correct form, aim to keep your back flat, your legs hip-width apart and your arms shoulder-width apart. You should avoid allowing too much rotation of your body as you perform the Bear Walk by engaging your core and keeping the front of your shoulders and hips facing down at all times.
Remember that you can always check the tutorial videos in the Freeletics App to see the Bear Walk demonstrated at full speed, half-speed, and from multiple angles.
Additional things to keep in mind when training
To increase the difficulty of this move, you can incorporate a short resistance band. Either place the band around your wrists to enhance the effects on your shoulders and core or put it around your legs, just above the knees, to fire up your glutes even more as you are crawling.
Perform this exercise on a hill or surface with a slight incline to shift the focus to your legs. If you’re experienced and looking to challenge your upper body, you can also try the Bear Walk on a downhill or surface with a slight decline. Either option is guaranteed to provide a challenge that is sure to get your heart pumping.You might also be interested in:
