Cross Crawl
Chiropractic works, but it works even better to reinforce the adjustment when combined with cross crawl type exercises.
What is a Cross Crawl? Cross crawling is the contra-lateral pattern of movement where one swings the right arm forward in tandem with the left foot forward during crawling, climbing, walking, or running. Our brain function can become out of sync resulting in neurological disorganization.
Have you seen how soldiers march? I was a soldier myself when I had to learn to march in unison with everyone around me, and now I know that it takes a lot of brain processing. I recall how some fellow soldiers cannot keep in rhythm with everyone else, no matter how hard they try.
Some soldiers got better with more training, but some cannot march any better than they started. They walk like a giraffe. They have neurological disorganization that needs to be corrected, and chiropractic adjustment is one of the most effective methods. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Every cross crawling stimulates the brain to function better. However, traumas can mess up this pattern and interrupt the flow of this signal to the brain. Chiropractic adjustments correct these disrupted patterns. As a chiropractor, I believe these cross crawl movements can help make the chiropractic adjustment last longer.
How does cross crawling work to improve chiropractic treatment outcomes? Cross crawl enhances whole brain thinking and stimulates both the left and right brain hemispheres to work together. Consider what babies have to do before they learn to walk – they crawl.
Some researchers argue that babies don’t need to crawl before walking. However, there is evidence to support that babies that crawl can reach for objects more accurately and have better memories!
From a structural perspective, cross crawling helps babies to straighten from their fetal posture so they can stand upright. It also helps create the lordotic curves of the cervical and lumbar spine.
Many babies go through the cross crawl phase to get their brains and body ready for walking. It is my opinion that babies who skip the crawling step before they begin to walk have more postural problems and even psycho-emotional problems in later life.
As much as babies do cross crawl to develop their brains, I encourage our elderly patients to perform cross crawl exercises to slow down brain degeneration to improve balance and reduce the chances of falls.
Who Should Practice Cross Crawl Exercise?
Every one of use should get back to the basics. Most of us will experience some form of physical, emotional, or chemical trauma that may result in neurological disorganization. You need chiropractic adjustment and cross crawling exercises if you have experienced any of the below:
- I am clumsy and easily trip and fall
- I sometimes stutter when I speak
- I cannot think as clearly as I need to
- I cannot control some of my impulse in word or deed
- I find my walking gait coordination if out of sync
- I feel weakness in my core strength and balance
- I think my mind is restless and in tension.
- I know I need more focus, reading, and writing
- I seem to have poor physical coordination in general
How Can I Learn More and Perform These Exercises?
As our chiropractic patients, you will find various cross crawl exercises in our patient app. Each patient should only do exercise as prescribed.