Here is a 20 minute movement flow that I used as a warm up, before more aggressive resistance training.
Movement flow training has become a big part of my workout regimen. I enjoy moving from one exercise to the next without a plan. I find that it challenges my mind and body to communicate at a level that isolated resistance training simply doesn’t.
Movement Flow Breakdown
I begin the movement flow in the 90/90 position working forward leans on each side.
The 90/90 position is a staple base position for a lot of my mobility work. The angles are difficult, and the exercises can be easily scaled based on my progress.
Forward leans, heel clicks and other movements out of this position have proven to be brutally effective for hip flexibility.
Half way through my 90/90 sequence, I spend a few minutes working in the bear position. I’m squeezing essentially squeezing my legs inward against the resistance of my arms, followed reverse the motion outward.
Just after this, comes the most torturous exercise known to man: straddle hip circles. 🤮
Few other exercises make me cringe like straddle hip circles. Great drill, lots of pain.
After a quick change of the music, assisted sissy squats (using a dowel) make their appearance, followed by prone swimmers, an awesome drill for shoulder conditioning. I’ve filmed prone swimmers as part of a larger movement flow, but never in isolation. I’ll have to do that soon.
Sissy squats make a lot of people nervous, but holding onto the dowel makes this exercise much more palatable.
Using the dowel as a guide, lowering your knees down to the floor becomes more manageable due to the added stability and slight decrease in load.
Next in the flow came Cossack squats.
Cossack squats have been a staple movement for me for a number of years.
I’ve experienced consistent progress with this movement, and seen my mobility increase pretty significantly from practicing Cossack squats on a regular basis.
Animal Flow’s Crab Reach has played in both my warm ups and as a filler exercise during strength training for quite some time. It’s one of those exercises that delivers a ton of value and can help to unwind a body that sits for prolonged periods of time.
Hip extension + spinal rotation/extension + active stretch through the quads/hip flexors/anterior body = AWESOME.
Crab Reach is fantastic to incorporate into flow sequences.
This 2 exercise flow sequence is a prime example:
Of course, I’m crawling. Always crawling. Forward, backward, lateral, and with plenty of transition work in between each variation.
Around the 1:45min/sec mark, I inject a little bit of creativity with a few ground based patterns.
I don’t have names for these movements, but I really value the slow tempo, focus on range of motion, control and overall difficulty.
In the last few seconds of this 20 minute flow, I shift my focus to a few natural movement exercises.
Inline lunges are best performed using a 2×4 piece of wood, but you can mimic the inline challenge using your imagination.
Wide stance, stable base of support movements might be preferred, but as we all know, are not always realistic in real world scenarios.
Sometimes you’ve got to demonstrate strength and balance all in one shot.
The Crab Reach is a great bodyweight exercise with a whole bunch of options of use before, during and after a workout.
For a simple bodyweight move, this exercise offers a lot of benefits.
Benefits of the Crab Reach
Posterior chain activation and hip extension
Active Thoracic Mobility
Anterior body stretch (hip flexors, quads, torso)
Shoulder stability/endurance emphasis in loaded shoulder
Trunk rotation
Right and Left Side
Low-impact
Combat Sitting
The Crab Reach is a great exercise to battle/off-set the negative effect of long duration sitting.
It’s not “the cure”, the only tool or the “best” tool, but it’s a good one to implement on a regular basis.
Reversing aches and pains caused by primarily long duration sitting requires dedication, discipline, and volume.There is no quick fix.
A quick hip flexor stretch, thoracic mobilization, and glute bridge are not going to cancel out 8+ hours of sitting in the same turtle-like, wound up position.
Body restoration takes time, effort, consistency and volume.Lots of repetitions, likely lots of time and an aggressive mindset.Assuming you’re doing everything right, expect improvements over time.
Most people slump like a turtle while sitting. Sitting like a slouchy turtle for 8-10 hours per day, 5 days per week isn’t good for our bodies.
We become the positions we use most.
Fill in Gaps with Movement Training
Strength and conditioning built from traditional resistance training can benefit greatly from practicing multi-planar movements like the crab reach.
Deadlifts are great. Chin-ups are great. Rows, push-ups and rotational core training are all great.
These are fundamental movements to build a strong body.
But there are movement gaps leftover from each of these exercises.
Once you’re on the floor crawling, transitioning between locomotion exercises, you find out pretty quick there’s a difference between squatting up and down with lots of weight on the bar and moving gracefully through space.
It’s humbling.
Exploring bodyweight oriented movement is a key piece of the fitness puzzle that will improve your movement IQ and create a well-functioning body.
What’s a well-functioning body?
Strong (proportionate to what a person needs to thrive in daily life), mobile, confident in many different postures/positions/patterns, conditioned, free of aches and pains.
Ground-based conditioning is a great way to backfill any gaps resistance training is not designed to address.
Free-flowing, multi-planar fitness.
Practicing postures and movement patterns less common to daily life.
Improving strength, mobility and stability in uncommon movements make everyday exercises feel easy.
Rotation
Looking at the average person’s exercise favorites, it’s usually a shortlist made up of linear resistance training and a sprinkling of cardio.
Break out of the linear matrix.
Every repetition of Crab Reach moves the body through a multi-planar, active range of motion.
Through the range of motion, the body will extend and rotate.
The twist is visible from the hip flexor, moving diagonally through the mid-section to the loaded shoulder.
How to Use Crab Reach in Workouts
Ground-based bodyweight movement is extremely versatile.
Keeping it simple, here are a few different options to integrate the crab reach into daily fitness:
In the warm-up
Filler exercise during a lifting session
As part of a flow sequence
Crab Reach can be practiced in isolation or as a combination.
I recommend practicing new movements in isolation to increase focus on technique.
Practicing an exercise in isolation is better to understand the mechanics and demands is best.
Isolating the exercise will give you the opportunity to focus on the mechanics of the movement and spatial awareness.
Warming Up with the Crab Reach
Movement flow exercises are perfect for pre-workout warm-ups.
These movements are generally dynamic, full range of motion exercises that require movement into and out unique body positions, angles and tempo.
Crab reach can serve as a valuable movement prep before exercises like deadlifts or kettlebell swings.
Crab Reach as Part of the Workout
Positioning the Crab Reach as part of a Tri-Set is a great way to isolate and practice the exercise while staying active/productive during a strength training session.
Here’s an example a simple Tri-Set:
Exercise A) Front Squats
Exercise B) Chin-Ups
Exercise C)Crab Reach
Crab Reach acts as a non-competing exercise with the front squats and chin-ups.
Focus on a slow and controlled tempo through the fullest range of motion you can make happen.
After you are feeling good about the mechanics, increase the volume.
Don’t be shy about bumping up the reps to 15-20 reps per side. Setting a timer can be a nice option.
Not interested in counting reps?
Set a timer and go. Alternating right and lefts for 2-5 minute timed sets can free’s you up from having to count reps.
Summary…
Bodyweight ground-based movements are effective for building strength, mobility, endurance, and movement IQ
Crab Reach is a versatile exercise that can be performed anywhere and anytime.
Benefits of the Crab Reach include posterior chain activation, anterior body lengthening, thoracic mobility, body awareness in space.
The Crab Reach is great to include in warm-ups, during the workout or as flow training.
The Crab Reach is an effective exercise to help mitigate aches/pains from sitting, restore function.
Want to Go Deeper? Check This Out…
Vahva Fitness has created a fully streamable bodyweight-based movement program called Movement20XX.
The movement curriculum in Movement20XX is progressive, challenging, and scalable for beginners, intermediates and all the way up to people seeking movement mastery.
Movement training is easily scaled to suit each person’s skill level.
Movement20XX is one of a small number of hand-picked online fitness programs I support.
M(eaux)tion Fitness 