Animal Walks Fit for a Beast

Duckwalks: Not Just a Walk in the Park!

According to the fossil record, our evolutionary line has us walking upright since the days of Australopithecus Africanus (say that ten times fast) and Homo Erectus, some several million years ago.  So it comes as no surprise that walking upright on two legs is pretty easy for us modern-day Homo Sapiens.  It should also come as no surprise that choosing a less efficient way of moving around is pretty difficult – and can provide the basis for a great dynamic warmup or a hideously challenging workout.

Animal walks don’t need much in the way of explanation.  You simply get on the ground and try and come up with as many different ways of moving around as possible: on all fours, by using only three limbs; by changing where you centre of gravity is; by hopping; by getting really low to the ground, etc.  The variations will get your blood circulating, help you dynamically stretch, and will challenge your muscles in different ways–ones that they aren’t used to.  Can you say muscle confusion?

Try these before your next workout:

Duck Walks:  Squat down and walk like a duck.  This drill will test your hamstring flexibility, and gets particularly cruel when done for longer distances.  Try speeding up the movement when you have the basic walk mastered.  You don’t have to say “quack-quack” unless you want to.

Bear Crawl: You get down on all fours and move forward, while keeping your arms and legs as straight as possible.  Your butt should be raised higher than your head.  What starts off easy will soon become hellacious.

Crab Walk: Walk on all fours, but face upwards.  A big endurance challenge, especially for your triceps.  Go outside and try doing them on a hill for some extra ‘fun’.  And try moving in different directions: forwards, backwards and even sideways.

Alligator Walk: Get down on the ground (facing down again) and crawl on all fours while keeping your body as close to the ground as possible.  Don’t let any part of your body touch the floor, only the feet and hands (the latter will be in a push-up position, with elbows high).  Move one hand forward, then the leg on the same side, then move the other side.  I guarantee this will pretty much suck.

Chicken Walk: Kind of like a duck walk, except it’s, well, like a chicken.  Squat down like you’re about to do a duck walk, but grab your the back of your right ankle with your right hand (your hand will be between your legs), and grab the back of your left ankle with your left hand.  Walk around.  If you’re having too much fun, try going backwards.

Inchworm: Begin in the standing position.  Bend forward and place both hands on the floor, as close to your body as possible (like you’re touching your toes, except you’re aiming for the floor).   Keep both feet firmly planted on the floor while you ‘walk out’ with your hands to a push-up position.  Next, keep your hands planted while you walk your feet in (back to the bent-over position).  Repeat walking your hands out and your feet in.  To make the drill even more craptacular, when you get into the pushup (or plank) position, try to walk your hands out even further past your shoulders and get your body as low to the ground as possible.

Lame Dog Walk: Walk around on your hands and feet, except in this variation you’ll put one of your hands behind your back.  Make sure you’re putting weight on your hand by stretching your arm forward and raising your butt in the air.  Move around quickly in different directions, and change hands when you fatigue.  If this exercise doesn’t completely blow, you’re not doing it correctly.

Monkey Walk: Bound about on all fours, moving both hands forward, followed by both feet (they should come together inside of your hands).  Think of leaping forward quickly, like a monkey.

Kangaroo Jump: Get into a squatting position and jump in the air, extending the legs as you jump.  Land back into the squat and jump again.  You may feel the urge to head to the nearest billabong.

There are tons of variations on these basics–just try and be creative and come up with some different forms of quadrupedal movements.  They’re great for building strength, coordination, agility, balance and endurance.

Adding some of these movements before your workout will really get the blood flowing!  Or combine them with some other killer bodyweight routines (pushups, pull-ups, squats, situps) or workouts using basic equipment like kettlebells, sandbags or medicine balls.   They may look like children’s games, but these movements are hard-core!

Tags: animal walks, warmups, workouts