Recently I shared an Instagram video of me doing the Lizard crawl as part of my warm up routine.
A video posted by Dave Hedges (@dave_hedges) on Jul 29, 2015 at 8:46am PDT
This has generated a good bit of feedback across social media, including people asking how to work up to doing this movement.
What I’m going to show you is the teaching progressions I received from Ido Portal last year.
If you haven’t heard of Ido, he’s probably the most well known person in the “movement” field at the moment. The guy is both a physical phenomenon and a wealth of knowledge.
But then Ireland’s own Conor McGregor started sharing videos of him training and moving and in one of his clips he’s doing the Lizard crawl.
People suddenly got interested.
So what is it?
It’s a quadrupedal crawling pattern, unlike most the lizard crawl is performed low to the floor with the limbs out to the side like a lizard.
What’s it good for?
The movement challenges coordination, strength and mobility. The limiting factors for people are usually in the shoulders, particularly the rotator cuff/scapulae. If not there, then it’s mobility. Mobility of the hip, spine and shoulder girdle is challenged as you flow through the movement.
If you achieve a smooth low crawl it’s fair to say you have a high level of strength, mobility and body awareness.
This is a movement that will show you your weaknesses.
So how to do it?
Watch this:
Now take your time, like all movement drills, this is part exercise and part skill, so it rewards patience above all else.
Stay within your limits on this or it will bite you. Short, frequent practice sessions are ideal for this, and when you get it, add it to your warm ups, put it in your conditioning circuits and chase your kids around with it!
On holidays with my lads up in Donegal I use this and other quadrupedal movements to traverse the rocks, the kids mimicking me as they follow. It’s great craic and challenges the body in a whole new way.
Now go crawl.
Regards
Dave Hedges www.WG-Fit.com
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