Lizard Crawl — Elbow Touch: A Complete Guide

Quick Intro

The Lizard Crawl — Elbow Touch is an animal-movement crawl performed from a push-up plank, driving the same-side hand and knee forward together and pausing with the knee fully touching the elbow before advancing. That deliberate pause at the deepest point of the reach is what sets this apart from the base Lizard Crawl, since every step now includes a short hold in the deepest hip position.

Equipment Needed

No equipment is required. A yoga mat is optional, mostly to soften the hands and knees on a hard floor during the extra time each hold spends in contact with it.

Why It Matters

Holding the knee against the elbow for a beat before advancing asks for sustained mobility from the muscles that lift the thigh toward the torso (hip flexors, iliopsoas), where the base crawl only passes through that position. The chest muscle (pectoralis major), the front of the shoulder cap (deltoid, anterior) and the back of the upper arm (triceps brachii) all have to hold the body steady through that extra beat, and the muscles along the sides of the waist (obliques) pick up extra work managing the deeper same-side twist. A deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset (transverse abdominis) keeps the hips from sagging during the hold, and the largest glute muscle (gluteus maximus) keeps the trailing hip from dropping.

When to Do It

This variation works well once the base Lizard Crawl feels smooth and controlled over a full set, as a deliberate mobility and coordination challenge inside a primal movement or crawling session. Two or three sessions a week, with a day of rest for the hips and shoulders between them, suits most people building toward this level.

Anyone with a current hip, groin, wrist or shoulder issue should get individual guidance before starting, since the held pause at maximum hip flexion adds time under load beyond what the base version asks for.

Getting Ready

A few minutes of hip circles or a deep squat hold, followed by a short set of the base Lizard Crawl without the pause, warms the hips and shoulders up and confirms the same-side pattern is solid before adding the held touch. A slow single rep on each side, pausing briefly at the elbow, previews the demand before a full working set begins.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. The setup. Get into a push-up plank with the hands stacked below the shoulders and the feet set roughly hip-width apart.

2. The reach. Drive the right hand and the right knee forward together, drawing the knee all the way in to touch the same-side elbow.

3. The hold. Pause for a brief beat with the knee and elbow in full contact, keeping the hips low and level.

4. The switch. Push back out to the plank and repeat the same reach and hold on the left side, alternating as the crawl travels forward.

How Many, How Often

Lizard Crawl — Elbow Touch is dosed by distance or time, not by reps, since the aim is a clean, low crawling pattern with a pause built into every step.

Holding the pause with the hips level matters more here than how far the crawl covers, since rushing through the touch to cover more ground turns this back into the base crawl without the extra mobility demand.

Modifications and Variations

As an easier regression, Lizard Crawl removes the pause and only asks the knee to travel in close to the elbow while moving, without stopping to hold the deepest position.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Rushing through the pause. Touching the knee to the elbow and immediately pushing on without holding it removes the demand this variation adds over the base crawl. Holding a deliberate beat at full contact keeps the extra challenge in place.

Letting the hips rise during the hold. Popping the hips up to make the held position easier turns the pause into a rest break instead of a mobility test. Keeping the hips level with the shoulders through the whole hold is what makes the pause count.

Losing the same-side pairing under the added fatigue. The extra time under tension at each pause makes it easier for a tired set to slip back into an opposite-side reach without noticing. Deliberately checking that the moving hand and knee share the same side on every rep keeps the pattern intact.

After Your Set

Stepping one foot forward into a low lunge and easing the back hip toward the floor releases the hip flexors that just spent extra time under tension at each pause. A few slow wrist circles, followed by spreading the fingers wide against the floor, settles the wrists and forearms that carried that same load a little longer than usual.

Going Deeper

This variation usually works well once the base crawl feels smooth, since the added pause puts a short mobility hold into every step. The longer time under tension at each pause makes the hips more likely to drift up or the same-side pairing more likely to break down than in the base version, so a set that looks fine on the first few steps often degrades well before the muscles themselves give out. Slowing the whole set down and accepting a shorter distance with a clean pause every time tends to fix this faster than pushing for more ground covered.

Someone moving up to this variation typically holds a clean, brief pause within the first few sessions, then works toward a longer, fully held pause over two to four weeks as the hips adapt to spending time in that deep position.

How to Know You’re Improving

1. A knee that reaches full contact with the elbow on every rep
2. A pause that holds for a deliberate beat, not a quick touch-and-go
3. Hips that stay level with the shoulders through the whole hold
4. The same-side hand-and-knee pairing holding up through a longer set than the base crawl allows

A full, held pause with level hips shows progress better than the distance covered.

Muscles Worked

• Pectoralis Major (the chest muscle, helping lower and press the body through each reach and hold)
• Iliopsoas (the deep hip flexor, sustaining the deep position through the pause)
• Transverse Abdominis (a deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, keeping the hips from sagging through the hold)
• Anterior Deltoid (the front of the shoulder cap, absorbing load through the extended hold)
• Triceps Brachii (the back of the upper arm, supporting the body through the low position and the pause)
• Gluteus Maximus (the largest glute muscle, holding the trailing hip level during the pause)
• Obliques (the muscles along the sides of the waist, managing the deeper twist through the hold)

FAQ

Is Lizard Crawl — Elbow Touch better than the base Lizard Crawl? Neither is strictly better. This version adds a held pause at full knee-to-elbow contact for a deeper mobility and core challenge, while Lizard Crawl keeps the same pattern moving without stopping, and most people build the base version first before adding the pause.

Why does holding the pause feel so much harder than just touching and moving on? A brief touch lets the hips and supporting muscles pass through the deepest position quickly, while a held pause asks those same muscles to sustain that position under tension, which is a different demand from simply reaching it.

What’s the difference between this and the base Lizard Crawl? Lizard Crawl drives the knee in close to the elbow while continuing to move, while this version stops and holds full contact for a beat before advancing, adding time under tension at the deepest point of the reach.

Is some hip or shoulder fatigue after this exercise normal? Yes, fatigue through the hips and the arms bearing weight is expected, and it tends to build faster here than with the base version because of the added hold. A sharp pinch that shows up specifically during the held pause is a different matter, and it’s worth getting a doctor or physical therapist to check.

How often should this variation be trained? A couple of sessions a week suits most people, especially once the base crawl is already comfortable and this version is folded into other hip-mobility or crawling work in the same session.

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Related to Lizard Crawl, the same movement pattern without the held pause at full knee-to-elbow contact.