7 Days of Daily 9-Minute Gorilla Walks: Surprising Outcomes

The Impact of Engaging in Gorilla Walk Exercises

Have you ever wondered what walking like a gorilla could do for your fitness routine? As an unusual but popular animal-themed exercise in gym classes, calisthenics, and animal flow classes, the gorilla walk demands whole body locomotion in a fun and engaging way. Not for the self-conscious, it’s typically done in private, with an average session lasting about nine minutes daily for one week.

Discover the intense full-body workout this exercise offers and understand its possible benefits to your routine. Equip yourself with comfortable yoga mats and get ready for a productive session.

Understanding the Gorilla Walk Exercise

There are multiple variations of the gorilla walk, meaning you can adjust it to suit your comfort and level of physical fitness. The two most common variations rely on quadrupedalism, which involves weight-bearing on all four limbs.

Performing the Lateral Gorilla Walk

Here’s how you can do the lateral gorilla walk:

• Begin in a low squat position with your heels planted wider than shoulder-width apart, knees tracking in the same direction as your big toes.
• Maintain a neutral spine, engage your core, and gently sway from side to side.
• Swing your hands to your right and then plant your right and then left hand down.
• Use your core to guide your legs to follow, jumping your feet over to land your right foot, then left foot.
• Continue this process in one direction and then go back in the other direction.

The forward-moving variation is similar, but involves making fists with both hands and placing them on the ground in front of you. Squeeze your forearms, then jump both feet forward to the outside of your hands and continue moving forward.

The Effects of a 9-Minute Gorilla Walk Exercise

This exercise can improve mobility, as it is often used as a warm-up for functional training. Through a regular 9-minute daily routine, you may notice changes in your shoulder, hip, and wrist mobility. Additionally, the gorilla walk works major muscle groups and can increase flexibility in your hips and hamstrings.

The gorilla walk elevates your heart rate quickly, requiring coordination and considerable strength to transfer weight between your upper and lower limbs. It may be more challenging to do lateral gorilla walks since humans do not regularly move sideways.

However, the forward-motion gorilla walk can also be challenging, particularly on your fists, wrists, forearms, and shoulders. Alternating between forward and lateral variations can maximize your workout and increase the effectiveness of this full-body exercise.

Is the Gorilla Walk Exercise Suitable for You?

Integrating the gorilla walk into your workout routine can increase coordination, mobility, functional strength, and range of motion. Bodyweight exercises such as this one are beneficial for their ability to use your own weight for resistance.

While the gorilla walk might not fit into a hypertrophy or strength training program, it could be beneficial in a bodyweight High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) class or for those focusing on improving mobility.

This exercise is also an excellent warm-up before CrossFit or bodyweight workouts. It can activate nearly every muscle group and prime your muscles and joints for more intensive workouts. However, beware of potential strain on your forearms. If needed, a dumbbell forearm workout could help to build strength in this area.