If your gym has a weighted dragging sled, count yourself lucky. It can take your strength, cardio, and recovery to a new level. It can also allow you to perform one of the all-time toughest and most effective ab exercises—the alligator walk. There are so many challenges to the alligator walk, it’s no wonder you seldom see it being performed. Your core has to contract isometrically to keep your spine straight while you walk on your hands and drag the sled behind you. That means it’s fghting the urge to let your lower back and hips collapse, or to allow your torso to twist to either side—all while acting as a bridge between the force generated by your shoulders and arms and your legs trailling behind you with the heft of the sled beneath them.
Work alligator walks into your routine, either to finish a shoulder day or as part of a high-intensity ab or cardio circuit (they also get your heart rate up fast), and you’ll show everyone who the real animal in the gym is.
How to Do It
■ Get into a pushup position on the floor and rest your feet on the sled. Make sure your abs and glutes are braced and your arms are beneath your shoulders.
■ Maintain your body position and walk forward on your hands. You’ll look like an alligator dragging its tail. Go for distance or time, and build up from there.
Quick Tips
If this is too easy, wear a weighted vest or place a weight plate on the sled. Loading the movement will increase the difficulty, so be conservative.
