Cross Crawl pattern as baby’s left upper extremity goes forward, so too does the right lower extremity
As DBAM starts moving into education on the topic everything youth sports, it’s important to consider our most primitive movement patterns. This is where it all starts.
Babies start their true ability to move around by crawling. It involves the left upper extremity moving forward while the right lower extremity also moves forward. Then vice versa. The cross crawl is not just a thing kids do before they get upright. The crawling movement is an essential action to proper development of the brain. This is why those parents who try to have their kids walk as soon as possible are, can we say, Meatheads?
Developing a child crawl pattern for a long time before working up to walking is essential. Before we can walk, we have to crawl. Literally. It’s not and should never be a contest to get a child to walk early. One only needs only to look online to find a large amount of writing about the importance of the cross crawl pattern. It affects most everything about us!
In a nutshell, what does crawling do for us? Well, first, it helps develop the essential cross crawl pattern. This accompanies us for the rest of our lives. Second, it helps further establish the cervical lordosis and most certainly the lumbar lordosis. This is essential for spinal curves that we need for the rest of our lives. Thirdly, it works to wire our brain so that it will work for more complex input later on. Here’s some more information on crawling patterns and exercise from CNN.
We need to be careful with our movements whether we’re in the gym or performing an activity of any kind. If we move and do not follow the cross crawl pattern, we will actually confuse the brain. By this, I mean we always have to consider the importance of cross crawl patterning. If you are upright as you exercise, you must take into consideration what your particular exercise should look if you utilize the muscles as they move as per the cross crawl pattern. This applies to anything we do.
As alluded to above, the way we walk is developed through crawling. When the right leg goes forward, so too does the left arm. And vice versa. Try walking quickly with the right arm going forward while the right leg goes forward and see how unnatural it feels. It feels this way because it goes against the way our brains works. Anything we do incorrectly will create that same confusion.
Let’s look at a few examples just from the gym environment.
Notice the left arm biceps curl with the right leg forward. SCORE! This is not just a coincidence!
The first one is something as simple as a biceps exercise (see left). When performed standing, to integrate proper cross crawl patterning, you would need to have the opposite leg forward as you conduct the other arm biceps curl. This, in essence, mimics how you walk. Left lower extremity goes forward as the right upper extremity goes forward. This pattern must be in effect for any activity we perform. The biceps is a shoulder flexor.
Ahh…left triceps (extensor) movement with left lower extremity flexor movement. SCORE! This is proper cross crawl patterning!
How about triceps extensions (see right)? Yeah, the same leg would need to be forward. The right lower extremity goes forward as the right upper extremity goes backward (in this case, referencing the triceps). Again, our brain moves our muscles, when upright, as if we are ambulating. The triceps is a shoulder extensor.
Okay, I’m going to do a single arm row standing and just leaning a bit on something. Regardless of the leaning, the same leg needs to be forward as the arm performing the pull. The back muscles are extensor muscles. So, as they pull back, the same side lower extremity would be moving forward, as if I were walking. Too many people perform a single arm row with the same leg forward. They are not following the cross crawl patterning. The lats and rhomboids are upper extremity extensors.
Left arm pulling back, left leg back…WRONG! Doing the exercise this way prevents maximal muscle contraction due to confusing your brain!
Although going against this pattern also leads to less balance and lower access to strength, what really matters is how you are confusing the brain.
I remember years ago when I was a member of any area fitness facility, they had an elliptical machine that had arm movement. The problem was that the arm movement was backward from what it should’ve been. Meaning, as the right lower extremity went forward, so too did right right upper extremity. I was amazed at how a machine such as this could be built. Certainly, nobody at the company had any idea of what they were doing. It was literally built to go against the cross crawl pattern.
I used to be mildly amused watching people train hard on this machine only to stumble almost every time they came off. Oftentimes, I wondered if they thought it was odd they were stumbling coming off this machine but not when they were on a treadmill or a properly configured elliptical machine. I knew why they were stumbling, but I’m willing to bet they had no idea. It’s all about cross crawl patterning. Either follow it, or confuse your neurological system. Period. Long term, who knows what effects this could have. I, for one, would not want to find out!
To conclude, when we exercise, we have to consider what our brain is expecting us to do. Movements are patterned. If our movement patterns align with the cross crawl pattern, we are performing the exercise properly. There is zero reason to do anything other than what the brain is programmed to do. Train smart and don’t confuse your brain. Don’t Be a Meathead!
