The “gorilla walk” — moving on all fours the way primates do — has become a growing fixture in gyms, calisthenics and animal flow classes, used as a warm-up that activates muscle chains rarely engaged in daily routines. The movement, inspired by the primate dance craze that swept the early 2000s, is prized both for being entertaining and for working parts of the body that ordinary exercise leaves untouched. The craze was Melody’s “El baile del gorila.”
American fitness influencer Sam Hope wrote in an opinion column that she could feel how stiff her muscles were when she dropped into the starting squat position, and that she was glad to have devoted nine minutes a day to trying the gorilla walk. By the end of the week, she said, she noticed a difference in her hips and in the tendons of her hamstrings, the muscle at the back of the thigh. She added that the primate movements are excellent for developing mobility in the hips, shoulders and wrists, in addition to working the body’s main muscle groups, including the core.
From Primate Gait to Gym Warm-Up
Humans have walked upright for millions of years, but before adopting bipedal locomotion they moved on four limbs like monkeys and gorillas. Upright walking became not only the most habitual way to travel and perform physical activity but also a key skill for exploring new territories, settling in different regions and surviving in challenging environments. Research cited in the report suggests that performing this movement for even a few minutes could be exactly what people need to build strength and better mobility without external equipment such as weights or gym machines. Because the gait is unfamiliar, it puts strength and coordination to the test, requiring the body to move in a different way using all four limbs at once.
What the Movement Works
- Hip mobility: In an era when people spend most of the day seated, hip movement is minimal and the joint weakens. The gorilla walk engages the flexors and extensors through forward, backward, side-to-side and rotational movements.
- Balance and coordination: Using limbs the body is not accustomed to moving with demands significant coordination to synchronize legs and arms, while shifting weight between arms and legs contributes to stability.
- Shoulders, wrists and core: Gorillas’ famously powerful, muscular arms come from walking and balancing their body weight on their arms; the exercise also involves unusual wrist and knuckle movements that improve mobility, while engaging the body’s main muscle groups, including the core.
An Undeniable Benefit, Says a Sports Physician
Dr. Santiago Kweitel (M.N. 93789), a sports physician and director of the Pediatric Sports Medicine Diploma at Universidad Favaloro, said the gorilla movements stand out for the ability to maintain balance and to work coordination and mobility, which ultimately become undeniable benefits for the body’s well-being.
