The New Fitness Trend: Krabbeln (Crawling)

Several weeks ago I discovered a number of articles in German magazines reporting a new fitness trend. “Das große Krabbeln” (the big crawling)  “Krabbeln für Erwachsene” (crawling for adults)  “Heute krabbeln wir uns fit” (Today, we are crawling ourselves fit). Believe it or not, Germans are eschewing bipedal exercises for a more nostalgic form of fitness. German trainer and therapist Johannes Randolf developed ‘krabbeln’ (crawling) for dance students. According to him, the activity trains more of the 650 muscles in the human body than any other training or exercise program. In addition, crawling works both sides of the body equally and reduces tension.Well, it does make sense. This trend imitates the crawling movement of babies because they do it so well…. getting around on all fours, that is. They have fun doing it and so it should make us happy too. It keeps babies healthy and it burns calories (important for us). Krabble courses are already offered in the USA, but we are still behind the trend in Canada.The advantages, according to crawling expert Johannes Randolf, are many:

• Develops and trains the entire body

• Strengthens all muscle groups

• Improves agility and coordination

• Strengthens the nervous system

• Mobilizes the spine

• Stimulates the brain

• Learn to listen to your body as it helps you to shield against stress

• Helps you discover the joy of natural movement

How to do it:

• Kneel on the floor

• Bend the elbows

• Tighten the core and stomach muscles

• Lift one arm and opposite leg

• Move forward in small movements

• Duration: 2 minutes

Krabble demonstration

Krabble book cover

References:

Randolf, J. (2017). Krabble: Training für Körper und Gehirn mit den natürlichen Bewegungen der Babys (Crawling: Training for body and brain with the natural movement of babies). Available only from German Amazon at this time.