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What I've Learned So Far:
The Bear Necessities of Shoulder Strength
Well, October has officially been the month of the BEAR.
If you’ve participated in Bear Crawl Across America, you’ve probably discovered two things:
One mile is a LOT longer when you’re on all fours.
Your shoulders are capable of experiencing levels of discomfort you didn’t previously know existed.
But what exactly is happening to those shoulders while we’re crawling around like a bunch of confused grizzlies?
Turns out, there’s some actual science behind our madness.
THE STUDY
In 2021, researchers published a study titled “Activity of Different Shoulder Muscles during Dynamic Bear Crawl Exercise.”
They recruited 21 healthy young men and compared two exercises:
The Push-Up Plus: Essentially a push-up with an extra shoulder blade protraction at the top.
The Dynamic Bear Crawl: Our beloved quadrupedal locomotion, with knees hovering off the ground.
Using electromyography (EMG), which measures the electrical activity of muscles, researchers examined four important shoulder stabilizers: the serratus anterior, upper trapezius, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius.
Basically, they hooked these dudes up to some electrodes and made them crawl around to see which muscles were working overtime.
THE RESULTS
The results were pretty interesting.
1. Serratus Anterior: The Bear’s Best Friend
This is that funky, finger-looking muscle along the side of your rib cage. Its job is to help control and stabilize your shoulder blade.
During the push-up plus, median muscle activation was 15.4% of maximal voluntary contraction.
During the bear crawl? 39%!
That’s roughly 2.5 times the activation.
Not too shabby for an exercise that makes you look like you’re searching for your lost contact lenses.
2. Upper Trapezius: The Bear Goes Beast Mode
This was the biggest difference.
Push-up plus: 6.08% activation
Bear crawl: 40.82% activation
That’s approximately 6.7 times greater muscle activation during the bear crawl!
Your upper traps, those muscles running from your neck toward your shoulders, are putting in some serious work while you crawl.
3. Middle and Lower Trapezius: Push-Ups Strike Back
Interestingly, the push-up plus actually produced MORE activity in the middle and lower trapezius muscles.
The middle traps showed about 51% greater activation during the push-up plus, while the lower traps showed roughly 2.4 times the activation.
So despite my obvious bear-crawling bias, the push-up plus deserves some love too.
SO WHAT DOES THIS ACTUALLY MEAN?
Well, first off, not all shoulder exercises are created equal.
The bear crawl appears particularly effective at recruiting the serratus anterior and upper trapezius, two muscles involved in controlling the shoulder blade.
Meanwhile, the push-up plus does a better job emphasizing the middle and lower trapezius.
From a physical therapy perspective, that’s pretty useful information.
From a friends perspective, that's why I got over 10 DM's from people saying their traps were screaming at them after the mile challenge...sorry yall!
So if you’re trying to target specific shoulder stabilizers, exercise selection matters.
The researchers even suggested that push-up plus exercises may be more appropriate earlier in certain rehabilitation programs, while dynamic bear crawls could be introduced later as the shoulder becomes ready for more complex movement.
One important distinction, though: More muscle activation doesn’t automatically mean more strength.
This study measured electrical activity during exercise, not long-term strength gains, injury prevention, or rehabilitation outcomes. And with only 21 healthy young men participating, there’s still plenty more to investigate.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY
One thing I love about bear crawling is how deceptively simple it is.
No fancy equipment. No expensive gym membership. No complicated movement patterns to memorize.
Just you, gravity, and an increasingly questionable decision to travel an entire mile on your hands and feet.
But underneath that simplicity is a pretty demanding exercise.
Your shoulders are stabilizing your body while your arms and legs coordinate movement, and your trunk is working to maintain position.
And now we’ve got some research showing just how active certain shoulder muscles become during that process.
Does this mean everyone needs to start bear crawling a mile?
Absolutely not.
But does it mean bear crawling deserves a spot in the exercise toolbox?
I’d argue yes.
So, to everyone who participated in Bear Crawl Across America this October, congratulations. You didn’t just crawl around on the ground for an unreasonable amount of time.
You gave your serratus anterior and upper traps one heck of a workout.
So remember: "Give Back, Not Up." ...And Keep Crawling ~
Research Reference: Pachava, S. R., & Yadav, D. (2021). Activity of Different Shoulder Muscles during Dynamic Bear Crawl Exercise. Asian Pacific Journal of Health Sciences, 8(4), 126–129.
This was the FALL BEAR CRAWL ACROSS AMERICA month, of course. What an adventure it was. I "Q'd" (lead) 25 workouts at F3 beatdowns this month, torturing (I mean exposing) my fellow men to my love of Bear Crawls. That was a lot of 4:30 am wake up calls, but a great challenge indeed in more ways then one.
Here is a collection of a few workouts I led! I go by "Flying V" in F3. That's my codename. It relates to The Mighty Ducks movie, because I grew up playing roller hockey in Southern California. But I am forever loyal to the LA Kings, don't forget that...GKG
Who said you can't do a "BEAR-A-THON" in a month?
I was able to get us over the line by donating the final $1,020 for my personal goal of $2,620!
Next month (November):
The 3rd annual TRENCH WARFARE is coming to a park near you, specifically Franklin Park in Tacoma. With a new charity partner this year, the Dirt Therapy Project
They have the goal of helping veterans re-assimilate back into their civilian lives after being deployed, by hosting outdoor adventures (such as mountain biking). Very cool idea, huge fan of that. Especially because I work for the Air National Guard, so I know the sacrifice those guys make every day.
Gold Division* Construct a 'Marine Corps Fighting Hole' as an individual, or pair of 2.
Remember to tag me on Instagram (TriumFit_Challenge) with a photo of you in your trench!
OR
Silver Division* "Chad 1000x" Workout
1,000 step-ups on a 20-inch box with ~30-45 lb weight vest or ruck
*Both divisions must write a Letter to a Veteran after the challenge (hand-written preferred), and give it to them as a thank you for their active service.
Pay $25 for any event to be registered as a "TriumFit Athlete" (25% of TOTAL ticket sales go to a relevant charity)
Or buy ALL 7 challenges at once and get 1 challenge FREE
"Bear Crawl Club" Updates
A patch for the brave few...
"TriumFit and Chill" is now "Bear Crawl Club." A bi-monthly group fitness challenge and social hang in Tacoma, WA. Read more about the WHY below!
10/4/26 Bear Crawl Club 21
New members: Bjorn, Forest, Jon, Arwa, Toshii, Donnie, Char, Thomas
10/11/26 "Bear Crawl Club 22
New members: Adrian
10/18/26 "Bear Crawl Club 23
New members: Brian Yip
10/25/26 "Bear Crawl Club 24
New members: Beau Corey
The next couple club dates are:
November 8th
November 22nd
So how many people completed the 1-mile Bear Crawl Challenge in 2026?
I had 58 patches shipped to me, and by last count I had about 18 left, so about 40 people total completed the challenge.
Only 2,960 short of my ultimate goal. But hey, at least I know the baseline.
How can I get to 3,000 one day? I'm not too stressed because I know good things take time.
Some strategies:
1) Get Strava to include a "Bear Crawl" activity tag on their platform
2) Collaborate on a Bear Crawl Challenge that appears on the Strava app main page at the start of October each year.
3) Again, put in an application for Guinness Book of World Records for "largest group of people bear crawling 1-mile for charity." I did that this year, but didn't hear back, unfortunately. But in 2027 I bet A LOT more people would sign up if I could confirm they would be in the records books!
4) Next year I should probably just pay fitness influencers to do the mile and promote it across their channels.
What ideas do YOU have to make it go viral next year?
I also want to include special awards in the months for:
1) Fastest bear crawl mile
2) Longest UNBROKEN bear crawl distance
3) Most miles completed in a day/week/month
4) Most $ donated to GiveDirectly.org
What is Bear Crawl Clubs purpose?
America is Broken. Not beyond repair, but cracked where it matters most. We’re politically polarized, physically unfit, and angry at anyone but ourselves. We’ve lost the muscles that made us: grit, grace, unity, humility. So we are rebuilding it. Not with opinions. With actions. Introducing: TriumFit’s Moonshot Challenge “The Fall Bear Crawl Across America” 3,000 athletes. 3,000 miles. $30,000+ raised for charity. One mile at a time. In October the goal will be to get every day athletes to register and commit to Bear Crawling 1 mile in 1 day, and raising $10+ for GiveDirectly.org It will be a completely VIRTUAL challenge, no location limitations. One day it would be cool to actually pass a baton or something across the United States, but not yet. We start on all fours — bear crawling across a divided country to prove something simple: We don’t need to agree on everything to move in the same direction. Because strength isn’t found in shouting louder. It’s found in those who bear their weight and keep moving forward.
🧭 What Training For This Looks Like (local to where I am) Every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. Unless otherwise noted. 📍 Location Stadium High Football Field, Tacoma WA 🕑 Time 10 am - Noon Hour 1: Fitness (Bear Crawl Challenge) Hour 2: Fun — bring a nostalgic snack + drink combo to share 🐻 Distances (choose your level) ¼ mile · ½ mile · ¾ mile · 1 mile 👉 Gloves recommended JOIN THE MISSION AND CRAWL FOR A CAUSE!
After my October Bear-A-Thon, I am officially a GRIZZLY member now! That means I'm hunting the Polar Bear now.
p.s. If you paid for and completed a TFC event, use this editable document to keep track of your completion times after each event, to see how your fitness is improving!
