Core · Bodyweight
Bear Crawl
How to do the bear crawl, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Timed hold
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Begin on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Lift your knees a few inches off the floor so only your hands and toes support your weight. Keep your back flat and hips low. Move forward by simultaneously stepping your right hand and left foot forward, followed by your left hand and right foot. Continue crawling forward, keeping your core engaged and your movements controlled. You can reverse the crawl to move backward.
- 1Feel your shoulders, core, and legs working as you crawl on all fours with knees off the ground
- 2Keep your hips low and back flat
- 3Move opposite hand and foot in sync for coordination
Common mistakes
- Avoid lifting your hips too high or letting them sag
- Don't rush; maintain control and keep steps small
- Avoid locking your elbows; keep a soft bend
Muscles worked
The bear crawl mainly works the upper abs, lower abs, and obliques.
- Upper AbsPrimary
- Lower AbsPrimary
- ObliquesPrimary
- QuadsMinor
Kovo programs the bear crawl for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More abs & core exercises
- How to do the ab wheel rollout
- How to do the ankle tap plank
- How to do the ankle taps
- How to do the resistance band dead bugs
- How to do the resistance band pallof press
- How to do the rollout
Last reviewed April 2026.