Multidirectional bear crawl

Category: Agility

Level: 1

Full comprehensive video coming soon

Carla van den Berg

Crawl forward, backward and sideways while maintaining good bear crawl form:

  • Neutral head/neck position throughout the exercise
  • Shoulders engaged; look for a flat t-shirt sitting across the shoulder blades
  • Flat, level back
  • Move opposing arm & leg together in forward and backward directions
  • When moving sideways, arms & legs can move together in opposition or from same side
  • Head/neck moving out of neutral line. Watch for wrinkles near the base of the neck
    • Cue "Long, strong neck"
    • Cue "Imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling it forward"
  • Rounded upper-back
    • Cue "Pinch the shoulder blades down and back"
  • Sagging lower-back
    • Cue "Pull belly-button up towards ribs"
    • Cue "Bring the hips higher"
  • Knees too far back from hips
    • Cue "Step the feet forward"
  • Hips dipping side-to-side
    • Cue “Hips square towards floor”
  • Rugby-specific position (e.g. scrum)
  • Reinforces safe, neutral neck position
  • Activates trunk muscles
  • Activates shoulder muscles
  • Challenges trunk stability