Regain and Build Your Original Strength Through Crawling

Tim Anderson


Strength Training, Bodyweight Exercise, Corrective Exercise

In the last three years, there has been a lot of attention given to crawling within the fitness industry. Crawling, the developmental movement pattern that we were all given the ability to perform, is being touted as a rehabilitative, restorative, and even a performance-enhancing movement. Some people are even calling crawling one of the best strength training exercises a person can perform. It is really quite laughable when you think about it: "Crawling, like a baby, can help your body heal and make you stronger and more resilient." It would even be hysterical, if it weren't for the fact that is true.


Yes, crawling, a seemingly childish and foolish "exercise," could be the one thing that improves your health, your strength, your mobility, and your performance in any athletic area. It could even improve your ability to think, focus, and reason.





The Benefits of Crawling



tim anderson, crawling, original strength, crawling workouts, how to crawl




Imagine that your body was one big "X." It is in the center of your "X" that your body transfers the forces that you generate from one side to the other, from the bottom of you to the top of you. In other words, the center of your body is where the powerful forces you generate intersect and cross over. The more solid your center, the better the forces that you generate, or forces that you encounter, can be transferred. If your center is not solid, those forces could end up going into areas you don't want them to go and this could lead to injury. The more solid your "X,” the more resilient and capable you are. Having your reflexive strength is having a solid center, and having a solid center is having a body that is strong and mobile - a body without limits.


Yeah, but how does crawling tie your body together?


The Foundation of Your Gait





Crawling is also a reset for your central nervous system. It restores your central nervous system, lowers your stress levels, and allows you to recover faster from the rigors of your training or your day-to-day life.





Babies Crawl, Adults Walk








Regaining Your Original Strength



Test this out for yourself and see what crawling can do for you. Yes, it is childish, but the ways of a child are much simpler and wiser than our ways today. Children develop and build strength the right way - on a solid foundation. It is like building a house on rock. It will last. As adults, we try to add strength to a faulty, eroded foundation. It is like trying to build a house on sand. It doesn't work too well. To be as strong as we were meant to be, we need a very solid foundation.




If you embark on this program over the next four weeks, pay attention to how you feel and don't be surprised if you hit personal records in lifts or activities that you've never reached before. Resetting the nervous system and restoring reflexive strength doesn't have to take a long time before the benefits come calling. The more you crawl, the more you establish, restore, and cement your reflexive strength. Owning your reflexive strength is like takes the brakes off your body. In the beginning, we will start out easy and establish our crawling pattern. In the end, if you make it to the end, you will be strong enough to do almost anything.


Again, crawling improves and integrates the whole person, the whole you. What do you think? Are you up for the challenge? Don't let the simplicity keep you away.


If you would like to get an idea of how crawling works and what it should look like, check out this video:



Click Here to Start Tim Anderson's Free 4-Week Crawling Program


1. Carla Hannaford, Smart Moves (Salt Lake City: Great River Books, 2005), P. 131.
2. Carla Hannaford, Smart Moves (Salt Lake City: Great River Books, 2005), P. 112.



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