Why You Need to Crawl Like a Baby to Ride Like a Man (or Woman)
While mountain biking has a lot of positive benefits, one thing it isn’t good for is your core. That’s right, this beautiful sport that we all love is slowly eroding your core function and strength, setting you up for back pain and decreased performance.
Let me explain why this is. First, mountain biking finds a lot of riders in a mostly seated, forward leaning position. When you sit down your core isn’t as engaged and it is hard to not round at the lower back, which means you are creating a lot of fitness on top of a weak, misaligned core.
In addition, pedaling a bike tends to be an ipsa-lateral movement. This means that we use the same side of the body to create the motion, using the right side upper body to anchor down for the right foot to pedal for example.
The problem is that our bodies are made to use contra-lateral movement. This is where you use the opposite sides of the body to create movement. Think running, walking, jumping or throwing for example.
Now, all of this wouldn’t be a huge problem if we didn’t live in a sedentary society and we didn’t specialize so much in our play time. But we do sit around too much already and most riders tend to do little else other than ride their bikes, which adds up to a weakened core and poor basic core function.
Of course, this isn’t really news to a lot of people. There are countless books, articles, and videos geared towards core training for cycling/ mountain biking, which means that a lot of riders already recognize the need to improve their core strength.
However, it takes more than some planks and other “core training” exercises to fix the real problem. In order to really improve your core strength and function there is one thing you need to be doing…
Crawling.
That’s right, getting down on the ground and moving around is one of the best ways to restore core function and strength. The reason that crawling is so good for us is because it 1) re-connects the X patterns in the core and 2) re-establishes your basic core function.
Like I mentioned earlier, your body is made to use contra-lateral movements. When you connect the opposite sides of the body you come up an X pattern. In the world of performance and health improving this X pattern is a main goal of core training.
Most of the crawling variations you can do require you to use these X patterns to move and stabilize the body, which helps to improve their strength. While there are other ways to target these X patterns, crawling is by far one of the easiest and most effective ways to do it.
These X patterns also represent the foundational core strength that all your other movements were built on. As a baby, crawling didn’t just get you around, it was also acting as core training to give you the core strength and function you needed to start standing, walking, running and jumping.
As you get older and become more sedentary this basic core function tends to erode. Now you have an adult who can still do these high-level movements like run or ride a bike but can’t get down on the ground and crawl effectively. This erosion of foundational core strength will start to catch up with you, costing you performance and pain at some point.
The easiest and best way to get started with crawling is to do a series of “marches”, where you stay in place and just focus on the limb movements and core position. While it may not look like much, you’ll be surprised how hard it is to crawl without actually moving anywhere.
After you master the basic crawls in place you can start to add in forward, backward and side to side movements. You can also set up things to move around while crawling, creating a kind of obstacle course to challenge your crawling skills.
And while crawling doesn’t have to be complicated, there are a few coaching cues to keep in mind…
- When crawling it is important that you focus on 1) keeping the shoulder blades tucked into your back pockets and 2) keeping a long spine, looking for length between the top of the head and the tailbone. Any loss of this position means you are not getting what we want out of the movements.
- You also want to keep your elbows locked out when possible to support your weight. Learning how to let your bones hold your weight is one of the keys to efficient crawling.
- Breathe. This may seem obvious but you’ll be surprised how hard it is to remember to breathe when you are in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable position.
A few more things to keep in mind with crawling…
1 - Stick with the ABC’s of crawling. While there are a lot of great crawling variations out there you should start off with the basics, which are the Ape Walk, Baby/ Bear Crawl and Crab Walks. These three represent the basic crawling patterns that everything else is built on and, like everything else in life, mastering the basics is what will make you successful in the long run.
2 - Go slow and aim for balanced, graceful movement. Just getting on the ground and scooting across it is better than nothing but if you really want to enjoy the benefits of crawling then you need to slow down. Speed covers up technique flaws and core instabilities and doesn’t allow you to strengthen your weak links.
3 - Have fun. While you do need to focus on a few things when crawling, it isn’t rocket science. Yes, you will look like a dork at first but that’s alright. Just don’t take yourself too seriously and remember to smile.
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to get down on the ground and give crawling a shot. A strong, functional core is one of the most important things for you to have as a mountain biker and crawling is one of the best ways to develop it. Spend just 5-10 minutes a day working on your crawling skills and in just a few weeks you’ll notice the difference both on and off the bike.
Until next time…
Ride Strong,
James Wilson
MTB Strength Training Systems / @mtbstrengthcoach
James Wilson is the owner of MTB Strength Training Systems and has been helping riders improve their fitness and skills since 2005. As the strength and conditioning coach for World Cup Teams and 4 National Championships his unique approach has been proven at the highest levels. He has also helped thousands of riders around the world through his blog, podcast and online training programs. You can find out more at www.bikejames.com where you can also sign up for the free 30 Day MTB Skills and Fitness Program to get started on the way to riding with more power, endurance and confidence today.
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One addition, we then Slither up to the front door, which unlike riding, engages all upper body strength, whilst the legs remain motionless.
Depending on what side of the door we make it to, we then concentrate on our breathing, often referred to as Snoring ????
Sure makes you a better rider..
Articles like this perpetuate the nonsense pseudoscience behind "exercise guru advice" and create a nocebo fear avoidant culture, the consequences of which are far more damaging than any wild unsubstantiated claims made by people who publish this sort of bovine excrement. Well done and congratulations for taking the field of neuromuskuloskeletal science back a decade, you must be so proud of your hard work.
There are so so many statements in this article that are just complete and utter nonsense, please Pink Bike, filter this sort of thing out, it has no place being published on here.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13608592
Fair comment, every statement should be supported by evidence, including mine, so here is a brief summary. Obviously this is just a snapshot, and there is a significantly larger base of evidence that further supports the notion that core training is not the be all and end all as some fitness 'experts' would have you believe.
Weak trunk muscles, weak abdominals and imbalances between trunk muscles groups are not a pathology just a normal variation.
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The division of the trunk into core and global muscle system is a reductionist fantasy, which serves only to promote core stability.
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Weak or dysfunctional abdominal muscles will not lead to back pain.
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Tensing the trunk muscles is unlikely to provide any protection against back pain or reduce the recurrence of back pain.
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Core stability exercises are no more effective than, and will not prevent injury more than, any other forms of exercise or physical therapy.
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Core stability exercises are no better than other forms of exercise in reducing chronic lower back pain. Any therapeutic influence is related to the exercise effects rather than stability issues.
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There may be potential danger of damaging the spine with continuous tensing of the trunk muscles during daily and sports activities.
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Patients who have been trained to use complex abdominal hollowing and bracing manoeuvres should be discouraged from using them.
For those of you short on time, here's a quick video from Professor Peter O'Sullivan on why 'core stability' training is both unnecessary and unhelpful.
I think it's time for everyone to move on from core stability. Doctors once prescribed cigarettes for chest infections as they believed the smoke would kill the bacteria.....times have changed and healthcare must continue to evolve with the evidence base, and core stability for the prevention of injury / low back pain needs to go the way of the cigarette!!!!
Now for me anyway injury prevention through general mobility has always served me well. Foam rolling, trigger point work, increasing range of motion etc etc . Paying particular attention to my posterior chain and ITB's to prevent back problems on a whole. Ive always noticed when my hamstrings/glutes/ITB's etc are tight or sore my back feels it. Ive certainly never seen any benefit from hitting my core to help with back issues.
But that's my point exactly! Mobility / stretching work and general exercise is the key to maintaining good spinal function. But selling the notion that you'll get problems with your lower back if you don't do core exercises is scaremongering, and has been well and truly disproven in medical research. If anything, creating MORE loading, and therefore MORE compression, through the lumbar spine via unnecessary 'core' activation has been suggested to actually be a contributing factor to increasing the likely chronicity of low back pain. I have no doubts that the author of this piece is an experienced and competent strength and conditioning coach, but that said, I DO have doubts about how appropriate it is to have him advising on such matters as preventing conditions that should really be left to those who work in the field of neuromuskuloskeletal rehabilitation and orthopaedics. There is too much out-dated and misrepresented information being sold to people about how you need to do 'specific core work' or you'll get low back pain, especially in the athletic population who ironically will have sufficiently well developed 'core' conditioning anyway. They are teaching people to mess about with muscles that really should be left to get on with their job free of interference.
Please don't mistake my interest as another keyboard expert rant. All the points I am making are freely available to read in scientific literature if you look beyond the realms of magazine science. I am only offering an alternative view for those who may otherwise feel that not complying with the sort of advice offered in this article will lead them to potential harm. They are adults, and at the end of the day must make their own minds up based on the information available to them, but that availability should include more than one viewpoint.
I'm interested to know what they mean about not using breathing or bracing techniques. I've noticed a common trend across my athletes that suffer lower back pain are commonly also the ones who struggle to breath into their diaphragm or perform deep abdominal breathing.
Sometimes, we're so stuck in an accepted "wisdom" that we do things which are bad for us, notwithstanding our good intentions.
Would @pinkbike care to comment or provide a rebuttal?
Write your own f*cking blog.
Thank you for your response. I don't think it is an aggressive view; I think it is wrong to accuse someone of being aggressive when they are actually passionate about change. I think this is often mistaken, and leads to an arguementitive environment rather than a developmental one.
To respond to your point, may I make the following proposal, as you interestingly chose to mention Dr. McGill.
Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics and chair of the kinesiology department at the University of Waterloo Ontario (last time I read his work atleast, don't shoot me if he is no longer in this position), and a pioneer researcher in the area, now believes that strengthening transverse abdominus muscles can WORSEN back pain and REDUCE back stability.
Other experts are dubious about our ability to override the neuromuscular system and teach muscles when to switch on and off. Trying to control the actions of specific muscles is in opposition to the nervous systems role in ensuring that movement is executed with minimal stress to the body. We should not attempt to directly control muscle recruitment for movement or exercise. It should be the thought of an act that initiates our total muscle response.
If I may offer an explanation to those kind enough to have commented on their experiences of successful treatment of back pain via core training - firstly I am glad you found something that worked for you, but I propose that it was due to the training effects of general movement and graded progressive exercise habits more so than anything specific relating to the core or attending to its 'proper' functioning.
I think we have digressed a little from what the original article was proposing, that mtbing will lead to a deconditioning effect and therefore, via a weak core, will leave one susceptible to low back pain - this I feel is entirely inaccurate. Core stability training isn't tailored to most sports!!! In other words, it doesn't replicate the activities involved in said sports. The message from the research is: don't worry about your core muscles and train in the activity you enjoy. And most importantly, there is little or no good quality evidence to show that core training has a link to managing low back pain, but a wealth of good quality evidence to suggest that it can either be a waste of time or even harmful, or worst of all....both.
Anyway, I think I've hijacked this thread enough, so I'll leave you wonderful people to inform yourselves and make your own mind up, and remember, keep shredding the gnar!!!!
Thank you for your kind comments and insightful opinion.
It would certainly be interesting to here from the Pink Bike editorial team about their rationale for deciding to publish this article, and discover whether they feel it is an unbiased, evidence-based piece, or simply a choice based on previously publishing work from this source, or worse still, based on some financial arrangement for publicity and/or marketing motivations.
@pinkbike can you offer any insight?
The idea that sport training causes imbalances in the body is also not new, there is an old saying that "where good sport begins, good health ends". There is a difference between "fitness" and "health" and using training as a way to restore balance to the body is something good coaches have been doing for a long time. Even the ancient Greeks recognized the need for this - Socrates used to have his throwers practice with both hands as a way to keep balance in the body.
This article is base on my own experience working with riders at every level of the game (how many WC pro riders have you trained?) and what I have learned from coaches like Dan John, Stuart McGill, Gray Cook, Mike Boyle and Tim Anderson to name a few. If you look into it you will see that crawling is being used by a lot of high level coaches and teams to help keep their athletes healthy and performing well.
I could be wrong but it seems like you never read the article itself and instead saw the words "core training" and went off on your anti-core training talking points. Nothing you wrote has anything to do with what I wrote and so there is nothing for me to respond to other than to point out that you missed the entire point of the article.
But, of course you won't admit this and will instead write another few hundred (thousand?) words missing the point and trying to put words in my mouth so it isn't really you I'm trying to convince but the people reading this who might be mislead by your multitude of words that mean nothing in reference to this article.
Thanks for the reply, I always welcome healthy debate.
The issue I take with your article is in the very first line (and yes, I did read the whole article for the sake of completeness and to get a true flavour for what you were proposing), and the idea that participating in a sporting activity can cause you to become deconditioned and susceptible to developing low back pain is, I'm afraid to repeat, a total falsity. I am happy with my level of current understanding of the subject of managing low back pain disorders in my day-to-day professional life to stand by that statement. If you read through the comments on here you will see that I make reference to you no doubtably being a very experienced and competent strength and conditioning coach, and no I have never worked with WC riders, but that is not my field.
But I can't help but continue to hold the belief that perpetuating previously held ideas based on the fact that they have been historically popular rather than based in current evidence-based practice is not healthy for your/mine/our/the profession of healthcare in general. If you are writing an article on the benefits of crawling as an exercise to develop the necessary conditioning for mtbing or any other intense sport etc, then make that clear, and avoid crossing over into causing readers to believe that they may be at risk of harm by not following your teachings.
It is good to know that you are using such reputable authors in your explanation, but I can't help but feel that you may be misrepresenting there findings. The posts I have added to the discussion on here clearly outline my rationale, and I don't feel it is necessary to repeat them. I invite you to read through them, and hopefully understand the viewpoint that I am coming from, but please understand that it is just a response to an article that I feel may be misleading to those who do not possess the background knowledge to make a judgement on its accuracy.
To quantify my so-called anti-core training comments, and at the risk of sounding like I'm trying to score points, my experience comes from over 18 years of work in the field of neuromusculoskeletal therapy, including a BSc Hons in Sports Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention and a Masters in Rehabilitation Sciences, and I currently work as a physiotherapist with a specialist clinical interest in the management of low back pain disorders, so please don't assume that I am just trying to mislead your readers. And as I already mentioned, no, I don't work with WC riders, but I think that may be a mute point.
Thank you again for your reply, and regardless of the difference in opinion I commend you nonetheless on taking a proactive approach to empowering others to a healthier and more active lifestyle.
So yeah in that light I agree that if you always ride with the proper posture and technique you'll train the proper muscles. This ideal. But from that same rethorics follows that if someone doesn't ride properly as mentioned, they'll train the wrong muscles and avoid the right ones. You can yell at someone what they should do and how, but if they're physically not able to then I suppose it is best to do some focussed training on what is being ommitted.
I get what you are trying to say, albeit with some technical issues, and to a certain extent I agree with the point you are trying to make, albeit it slightly away from the original critique I opened with myself.
My concern stems from the opening statement of "this beautiful sport that we all love is slowly eroding your core function and strength, setting you up for back pain and decreased performance".
This simply is not true, and is the kind of statement that, when used in the manner in which it is here, can perpetuate misleading ideas that have no grounding in science or research, but rather are based on what an individual thinks is correct or assumes to be the case because it appears to be common sense of sorts. That simply isn't good enough, and constitutes nothing more than personal opinion and heresay. I've personally seen this kind of rationale used at the highest levels of sport, including professional and even Olympic circles, and it will unfortunately remain an issue in healthcare vs conditioning until we all agree to work from the scientific research model.
Please don't mistake my comments for a personal attack on the authors abilities or competency. It is not. Rather, it is an attempt to highlight an erroneous assumption that appears to be based on nothing more than a theory of 'that's what I've always been taught and what I believe, so it must be true'.
Like I said earlier, people need to be aware of high quality peer-reviewed research that has been critically evaluated, objectively repeated, and found to be robust, and only then should they begin to form an opinion and decide for themselves which is the appropriate belief system to work from.
To be clear, I agree with you regarding core training. My comment regarding aggression was referring to your initial comment calling the article 'Total Rubbish', 'excrement', 'nonsense' and 'congratulations on taking neuromuscular science back a decade, you must be so proud of your hard work'. That sort of response probably doesn't set the foundation for healthy debate but rather that argumentative environment you refer to. Just my thoughts.
You got any link to Dr McGill's new evidence regarding TA and back pain? Cheers.
My understanding is that the core as referred to by most respected trainers is basically the body if you were to cut off the arms and legs.
Exercises like the ones suggested here impact upper and lower back, abs, chest etc - "the core". I don't see how working all those things can be anything but positive.
I then had her read over Eastbournemtber statements and she nodded in agreement, said he was legit.
I also asked if she wanted to get frisky and she told me to piss off.
Just an FYI - Stretching is key for my lower back pain..
On reflection you are completely right, some of my initial comments were less than gracious, but I stand by my frustrations at this sort of misinformation, which stem from spending a considerable amount of my professional life trying to correct this type of thinking in an otherwise mislead patient population.
My comment about regressing the industry ten years, on the other hand, I will stand by, as it is an accurate time scale to describe the shift in thinking when it comes to the link between core training and the management / prevention of low back pain.
I'm afraid I am typing all of this in my phone, so I can't provide robust references at this time, but if you are interested in this topic then please allow me to direct you towards some of the work coming out of Keele University (StartBack programme), Oxford University (Back Skills Training), and any of the work being done by Prof. Peter O'Sullivan et al. The field of pain management is also becoming increasing involved, and people such as Butler and Mike Smith et al are proposing some fascinating theories relating to this area.
Thanks for the healthy discussion, and good luck with your searches.
You are spot on in your comment that there is a lot of confusion relating to exactly what is meant by the core.
From a strength and conditioning viewpoint I accept your anatomical description as sound, but from the viewpoint of dealing with low back pain there is a disconnect.
You are right, training the muscle groups you mentioned is important, and if the author had had said "hey, here's a great exercise to add to your gym routine for mountain biking" then that's fine, but he didn't. He opened with a necebo scaremongering comment relating to risk of injury if you didn't start doing it.
I think it is safe to say that both you as well as James (and Dr. Jordan Hamson-Utley) are more proficient in the field than I am. I have some basic understanding of how the body works and that's where it stops. If the experts disagree, I'm confused. Which is obviously better than simply adopting what a single source says. So, thanks for taking the time for posting all this, much appreciated. But please don't write all that on a cellphone. You know it is bad for your neck!
I think the point is clear - if you're logging big miles and not taking care of your core, you're potentially injuring your back. Then the big miles aren't happening. Keep your core strong and ride longer (miles and years).
Never met a (non racing) BMXer who's ever done core exercises or complained of a sore back from riding. On the whole MTBers are complete pussies in comparison to those guys
BMX solves the ipsa-lateral issue as well. but probably not the poor spelling.
No Pro is coming to Pinkbike looking for training tips
And on that note, a non racer bmxer.... www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/ryan-nyquist-how-to-train-like-a-bmx-champ-20131007
Of course the litmus shouldn't be who we've met.
I said "on the whole" not "the whole"
now toddle off and find some other link to make you feel special for winning the internetz
Move along, this is the internet, nobody is impressed. Welcome to pinkbike, kiddo.
And yeah, when you're banging out the pedal strokes, the opposite arm is stabilizing the pedal stroke. Otherwise we'd all fall over
;-)
Just my personal (i.e. anecdotal) experience.
Some interesting stuff, but alas I still feel the first comment is the best, so off the pub I will go to train my core ( I recon 12-14 reps of Guinness followed by extra large Kebab should suffice )
I must remember to do the complete workout!!
DVD $19.99 ( snow not included, must be 18 or older to order).
James, just a spelling detail: ipsilateral, not ipsalateral...
So, you take your time and you pick and choose any idea or exercise that is useful to all those semi literate mountain bikers who don't like to struggle through anything that is not written on some kind of LCD screen. I guess, in a selfish way, it's very nice of you.
But there should be credit where credit is due.
"We appreciate that you assemble so many techniques developed by many others, including Tim and Geoff, and share them with us on this mtb site"
I don't care that Jim didn't invent crawling, but I do appreciate his effort to inform.