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The Elephant Walk Exercise

What is an Elephant Walk Military Exercise

I love this exercise because everybody as fun while doing it, it’s very challenging and most of all it requires mental focus. This workout also requires a little bit of patience, but a lot of strength.

The elephant exercise started in the ranks and the military and police to maintain control of large groups of people. The story of this magnificent exercise is inspired by the coordination of the movements of an elephant herd.

In the elephant walk exercise people link arms and move as one, just like an elephant heard, hence the name. 

The elephant exercise has many benefits. It is used by many to improve teamwork, and make people communicate better with each other.

It also helps people warm-up and exercise their muscles. Even though this amazing workout is primarily created for the military, everybody can benefit from it.

Some people use this exercise as a warm-up to more challenging exercises, some just leave this exercise by itself. No matter at what lever your work out.

Whether you are a beginner or an athlete this workout helps with mobility and muscle building.

The exercise makes you crawl on all fours, and at the same time you need to keep your legs off the ground while lifting one arms and the opposite legs, and then switching sides.

After a few exercises people have seen a major improvement in their mobility. This exercise builds strong hips and legs while those who lack equilibrium and coordination have seen their life change in front of their eyes.

couple doing pushups

Elephant Walk Exercise Benefits

The are many benefits to this full body workout. If you want to build muscle, the elephant exercises are just for you, because it targets the core muscles, the glutes and especially the shoulder.

It is quite the difficult exercise because it requires great balance and unimaginable stability. There are many benefits to this miraculous exercise. When you do the elephant walk your build your core and improve your balance.

You also work out your shoulders by moving your arm nonstop. Because of the fundamental movements of this workout the elephant walk exercise helps you with daily activities, like lifting and carrying objects.  

If you need a good way to worm up, the Elephant Walk exercise has you covered. A great exercise for your legs, hips and lower back, this amazing workout can be mixed with other workouts or you can just do it by itself.

This workout is best done early in the morning after you just got out the bed, and before your first meal. This way you start your day fresh and full of energy.

For the Elephant walk drill the man or woman, whichever works out, shuffles his or her feet pointing forward with their hands and trying to touch their toes while walking, thus resembling an elephant’s walk.

The purpose of this exercise is to work out the entire body by increasing the body’s temperature, while at the same time helping the person move better and be more flexible.

While this workout does all that you can be sure that your muscles will do overtime and be toned to the max. Start every workout with a few minutes of walking like a elephant, even before you go to the gym, or go jogging or even go for a hike.

This intense workout will work out your shoulders, strengthens you back and tone your core muscles, which is equally important for coordination, as well as stability and balance.

This is how you do this exercise: you get on all fours, then you lift one arm in the air, and at the same time the opposite leg. Left arm and right leg or right arm and left leg, then repeat.

African-American woman stretching outside

What Can the Elephant Walk Exercise Do For You

Now, let’s discuss some benefits linked to this workout. One of the best benefits of the elephant walk exercise is that it will save you a boatload of money on gym equipment.

Because, let’s face it, you don’t need any; also, you can throw your gym membership away because more times than not is a waste.

The elephant walks military exercise, sometimes called the military press, will also work your delts; get your triceps in shape, and tone your upper chest muscles.

Also, when you do this workout the right way you can engage your traps, forearms, and upper back muscles, therefore having a full body workout.

This total body exercise will also build and fortify your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and inner thighs.

Elephant Walk Exercise By Numbers

But what this exercise will do for me, you might ask. There is a boatload of benefits that the Elephant Walk Exercise will do for your body.

All the people who work in the medical and physical therapy field, agree unanimous that by doing this exercise everybody will build up muscle.

Walk more balanced. Be more flexible and overall improve your health. This exercise is a great calorie burner, you can usually burn between 8 and 10 calories per minute.

Not only this, but you can also raise your heart rate to 80-100 beets per minute, which burns fat cells rather quickly.

The Elephant Walk will increase your legs and core endurance, will help strengthening each muscle, while at the same time, this exercise will build up stamina.

For people of certain age and the disabled who have minimum balance this exercise requires the person to balance their feet and hands while trying to shift their weight from one side of the body to the other.

The Elephant Walk will help you stretch and loosen up your muscles if you feel some tightness in them. This exercise will take the unwanted fat off your hips, while relaxing your, as well as alleviating lower back pain.

Benefits of the Elephant Walk Exercise

Since we came to this section of our article lets dive into some benefits of this tremendous workout. This exercise will improve your quality of life exponentially, by only working out just for a few minutes a day.

This practice will strengthening your legs, work your back, and at the same time engage your core muscles. It will improve your balance and stability.

This way you will also feel a great stretch in your hips, hamstrings, and of course your spine. On the psychological front the elephant walk will relieve stress and tension.

For people with intense bloating and other digestive problems, look no further than here. After a few days of practice you will find great release of your symptoms. People with kidneys and liver problems will also notice a major improvement.

Woman doing the elephant walk exercise

How to do the Elephant Walk Exercise – A Step by Step Guide

If you wish to do the Elephant Walk exercises fallow these easy and simple steps:

Start on all fours, by placing your palms and knees on the floor and try to keep both your hands and your feet a bit apart.

The most important part of this, sometimes difficult, workout is trying to keep your back straight. The next step is lifting your left arm and the other right leg – remember, one arm with the opposite leg.

Then lift the right foot and left hand to the side. Then bring them back and alternate. Left food and right hand while keeping your body still and moving at a steady pace and repeat.

Try to keep your core muscles engaged throughout the exercise to engage your core, your glutes and especially your legs.

The motion of this high intensity workout will help you with your balance and stability. Because the Elephant Walk Exercise will be hard to do at the beginning start off with only a fer reps;. As you progress, increase your workout.

List of Elephant Walk Exercises

woman with a black top working out

Conclusion

In conclusion what is most important is to find out which exercises are best for you because some might be too easy; and some might be too challenging.

So, find what is right for you. Even though you have many choices, it doesn’t mean you have to do them all. Another critical advice that I want to give, don’t push your body to the extreme or you will hurt yourself.

Choose what is best for you and your body, don’t forget to rest occasionally, and above all, have fun.