Dumbell
Crawling - An INSANELY EFFECTIVE Abdominal Exercise That Will
Leave You Crawling On The Floor... Literally!
I have to say, this is one of
THE strangest abdominal exercises you'll ever see...but also
one of THE most effective!
You're not going to be doing any
crunching or twisting or squeezing. There are no machines involved...no
need to even focus on contracting the core muscles.
Because
once you start doing this exercise, your body will have NO CHOICE
but to fire the abs HARD in order to do it!
For this exercise, all you need
is a pair of dumbells and a floor. That's it!
The dumbells should be a moderate
weight - something you'd use for sets of 5 reps on dumbell curls,
perhaps. In the demo, I'm using 65 lb dumbells and those were
a good weight for me.
This exercise is going to teach
you what core strength and stability are REALLY all about! First,
I'm going to explain how to do it, then I'll give you the full
rundown on why it's so good.
How To Do It:
You'll need some open floor space
for this exercise - preferably where you have about 10 to 15
feet of unobstructed space to move. Set the dumbells on the
floor then get down in what looks like the top of a close-grip
push-up position. Your hands will be on the handles of the dumbells
and you'll be up on your toes (not kneeling). Try to visualize
the "start" position that sprinters are in when they're
about to take off out of the blocks - THIS is what the position
looks like.
Now you're
going to CRAWL forward in that position...move the
LEFT dumbell forward a few inches and step your RIGHT foot forward
a few inches.
It's definitely easier to "get"
this one when you see it done on video (which, of course, I'll
be posting below).
Basically, you're going to be
crawling on the floor with your hands weighted by the dumbells.
Crawl forward about 10 feet like this then stop and crawl BACKWARDS.
Sound easy? Think again...
Here's the start position
- you've got the dumbells on the floor and you're in what
looks almost like a sprinters "start" position.
Now you move one dumbell
forward and step your opposite foot forward. The first
time you do it, it'll take a little getting used to.
Now step the other dumbell
forward and the other foot forward.
Keep going.
When you go forward about
10 feet or so, stop then start moving yourself backward.
This is actually a lot tougher than going forward! Go
forward and backward until you can't hold yourself up
or can't move the dumbells anymore.
Dumbell crawling is a VERY effective
core exercise because of the uneven tension you get through
your core with every step forward you take.
Think of it this way...when you're
lifting up your left hand (with the dumbell) and the right foot,
what is supporting your body? The support is coming from your
OTHER hand and foot. Your core is, in an instant, going from
4-point support to 2-point support and all the tension is going
diagonally through your core. It doesn't seem like much when
you're crawling without weight, but add a dumbell to the mix?
You'll be singing a different tune...
In addition, while crawling, you're
also supporting your bodyweight in a pike position, working
the entire abdominal area isometrically (which means without
movement - just acting to stabilize and brace your body position).
It's a two-pronged attack on your core that will pay off BIG.
One of the great things about
this exercise is that the strength
you develop is EXTREMELY functional. Forget standing
on a BOSU ball on one leg and catching a beanbag...THIS exercise
will build functional power through the core.
The diagonal tension of crawling
exactly mimics the natural diagonal tension that goes through
the core when walking, running and jumping. Think of it as "force
transfer" strength, meaning you'll be better able to transfer
force through your core when moving (i.e. running, jumping,
etc.).
Increasing strength in this very
targeted way will have an IMMEDIATE and powerful carryover to
sports performance.
And when you start moving BACKWARDS...you'll
be in for a shock! It's actually quite a bit tougher moving
backwards. The co-ordination can be a bit tricky but with practice,
you should do fine.
When you're doing this exercise,
start with a light to moderate weight but don't be afraid to
increase the weight here. You may not feel it so much in the
abs until you move up in weight. THAT is where the real benefits
of the exercise will be felt.
Conclusion:
If core strength and performance
are important goals in your training, DEFINITELY give this exercise
a try. As strange as it may look, it's actually EXTREMELY effective
for working the core. In a nutshell, it's going to TRASH your
abs!
I hope you enjoyed this exercise!!
Got plenty more on the way :)
Best regards,
Nick Nilsson
Author of "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard
Of"
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