6 Types of Bear Crawl Exercises for Fat Loss

Bear crawl is one of the best bodyweight exercises. It's essentially a full body movement, but it focuses on the lower body, as that's what most people want to work on during strength training.

Bear Crawls do a lot more than just help you build big quads and hamstrings—they are an overall killer exercise for nearly every muscle in the body.

It's a difficult exercise that can help increase your endurance and metabolism while also allowing you to practice balance and joint stability. When done properly and with the right timing, it's a very challenging exercise.

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Bear Crawl Exercises for Fat Loss

Here's a look at six bear crawl exercises for fat loss:

1) Single Leg Bear Crawl Hold

If you're looking for fat loss exercise, this bear crawl variation will give your entire body a good workout. It helps in developing lumbopelvic stability, shoulder and scapular controlled mobility, and stability.

Here's how you do this workout:

• Lie down on the ground, placing your hands directly beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
• Keep your back straight but not rigid, and look straight ahead.
• Lift one hand and one knee off the ground at the same time, holding the position for a few seconds before returning to your starting position.
• Repeat with the opposite limb.
• Try to keep your movements smooth, and even as you make these moves, breathe regularly throughout this exercise.

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2) Reverse Bear Crawl

The Reverse Bear Crawl is a full body workout that trains you to move through the world, head first. You'll get stronger, more coordinated and more stable on your feet.

To do this exercise:

• Crawl on your hands and feet, moving one arm and one leg at a time.
• Walk backward for the desired distance, keeping your butt down and back parallel to the floor.
• Keep your abs tight.

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3) Dumbbell Bear Crawl

The DB bear crawl, also called the weighted bear crawl, is a great exercise for working your chest, back, glutes, hamstrings and core.

Here's how you do this exercise:

• Go down on all fours, knees an inch off the ground and dumbbells in each hand.
• Start by doing a traditional bear crawl while holding the dumbbells by your sides.
• If you add an extra weight, the exercise will become more demanding and intense, which can help build even more strength.

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4) Lateral Bear Crawl

If performed correctly, this move activates your entire core and strengthens your shoulders, quads and hamstrings.

Here's how you do it:

• If you're new to the lateral bear crawl, you'll lift your knees a few inches off the ground so that you’re balancing on the balls of your feet and palms.
• Once you've gotten comfortable, walk a few paces to your right and then to your left.
• When you're moving right to left, you may feel as if your left arm and leg are moving slightly faster than your right.
• That's because one side of your body is slightly heavier than the other.

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5) Bear Crawl

To strengthen your core while minimising low back pain and maximising performance, you need to include plank variations in your fitness routine. Bear Plank is an exercise that focuses on strengthening the muscles that stabilise your spine.

Here's how you do it:

• The bear crawl is a dynamic variation of the standard bear plank. It’s pretty simple: you start in the regular plank position. but crawl forward.
• When you put your right foot forward, lift your left hand off the ground, and place it forward from its original position.
• Repeat this exercise using your left leg and right hand, switching sides each time.

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6) Jumping Bear Crawl

It's best to start with the basic bear crawl and then move on to some of the other variations of the exercise. This version is a little more difficult.

To do this exercise:

• Stand with your arms extended to your sides and legs straight.
• Lift one hand and one foot at the same time, and move them forward several inches.
• Lift the other hand and foot in the same way.
• That'll help you develop core strength as well as balance by placing more emphasis on keeping one foot or hand on the ground at all times.

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Takeaway

Physiologically, there're a lot of positives by doing bear crawl exercises. They're effective and efficient in targeting the mobility and stability in the body. In essence, the bear crawl targets multiple muscles in the back, chest, legs, shoulders and arms, challenging your stability and endurance.

The bear crawl can help you adapt to more challenging exercises in your workout while building more muscle and strength.