WANT TO FEEL STRONGER, MORE COORDINATED AND FLEXIBLE? Try Quadruped Training. Quadruped training are exercises that are performed on all fours or starting from all fours. They include: planks, bird/dogs, bear crawls, alligator push ups and crab walks.
BELOW ARE A FEW OF THE MANY BENEFITS OF QUADRUPED TRAINING:
1. IT’S A BETTER CORE WORKOUT THAN TRADITIONAL CRUNCHES. Quadruped movement patterns effectively build the core muscles with less chance of injury compared with traditional crunches. Regular crunches require a lot of flexion which over time can lead to disc injury in the back. Also, when you continually flex the spine in the crunch position you are reinforcing the c-shape often associated with poor posture. In the quadruped position, the pelvis can be held in neutral where the lower back is neither flat or overly curved. Maintaining the neutral alignment through the pelvis while performing quadruped exercises supports stability through the back and abdominals while allowing for mobility through the limbs.
2. QUADRUPED TRAINING MAKES YOU SMARTER! Coordination of all four limbs in a new way has a beneficial impact on cognitive ability. Studies have shown that the coordination and route planning involved in quadruped training improves cognitive function in the frontal lobe. Other frontal lobe functions include problem solving, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, movement initiation, and spatial orientation. (78 M.J. Matthews et al. / Human Movement Science 47 (2016) 70–80).
3. EXCELLENT WEIGHT BEARING FOR JOINT HEALTH! Quadruped movement creates joint stability and mobility through the major joints which prevents injury. Good quadruped movement trains the wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, hips and knees to effectively distribute loads across the whole body while ensuring good blood flow to those same joints.
4. BETTER OVERALL WORKOUT! Moving on all fours, recruits many more muscles than exercies that isolates a smaller group of muscles; such as, bicep curls and leg presses. The more muscles recruited, the harder you have to work and the better the cardiovascular and muscular workout.
CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS ON QUADRUPED TRAINING FOR MORE DETAILS
