Inchworm
Support yourself on your hands and feet with your hips high. Keeping your core braced, walk your hands forward until you are almost in a plank, then follow with your feet in small steps. Your shoulders stay over your hands the whole time, and your hands keep contact with the floor: only one hand moves at a time. If space is tight, simply move forwards and backwards.
In the inchworm you move along on your hands and feet, walking your hands out, then your feet in. Your core holds your trunk firm the whole time, your shoulders and arms carry part of your body weight, and when your hips are high you feel the stretch in your hamstrings and calves.
All you need is a small patch of floor. It fits well at the start of a session to get your whole body moving.
From the studio: The inchworm is one of my all-time favourite exercises. Every client learns it with me, and so far every one of them has improved at it. That is what I see in the studio.
Starting position
Start standing, bend forward and place your hands on the floor in front of your feet. Your hips are high, your legs as straight as you can manage, and your shoulders are over your hands. Brace your core; it stays braced for the whole exercise.
Now slowly walk your hands forward until you are almost in a plank. Then walk your feet in with small steps until your hips are high again. Keep your weight forward so your shoulders stay over your hands. Move one hand at a time; the other always stays on the floor.
Keep repeating this to travel slowly forwards. To go backwards, reverse it: walk your feet back until you are almost in a plank, then walk your hands back until your hips are high again. If you are short on space, walk forwards and backwards in a small space.
The three cues
- Keep your core braced the whole time
- Shoulders always over your hands
- Hands stay on the floor
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Your shoulders drift behind your hands | Keep your shoulders over your hands at all times; that is the key point. |
| Your core relaxes and your lower back sags | Keep your core braced throughout, especially when your hands are out in front. |
| Your hands leave the floor together or hop | Move one hand at a time in small steps. |
| Your feet jump forward | Walk your feet in with small steps. |
| Your shoulders creep up towards your ears | Walk more slowly and keep your shoulders steady over your hands. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Inchworm to plank (a separate exercise) | From standing, walk your hands out only as far as a plank, hold briefly and walk back to standing. Once you can do this with control, start travelling. |
| Inchworm forwards and backwards | Walk your hands out and your feet in, core braced, shoulders over your hands, forwards and backwards in a small space. |
| Longer distance | Once your shoulders and core stay steady throughout, walk further or for longer. |
Reps and load
Move slowly and with control, forwards and backwards in a small space or over a longer stretch. Keep going for as long as your core and shoulders stay steady.
It fits well into your warm-up before strength work, for example before a Romanian Deadlift or a Push-Up.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Abs M. rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | Hold your trunk firm so your lower back stays in line |
| Obliques Mm. obliqui externus et internus abdominis | Stabiliser | Keep your pelvis steady when a hand or foot lifts |
| Serratus anterior M. serratus anterior | Stabiliser | Holds your shoulder blades against your ribcage while your arms support you |
| Delts M. deltoideus | Synergist | Bring your arms forward under load as your hands walk out |
| Triceps M. triceps brachii | Stabiliser | Keeps your elbows straight while you support yourself |
| Hip flexors M. iliopsoas, M. rectus femoris | Synergist | Help bend at the hips as your feet walk in and your hips rise |
In the inchworm your core and shoulders hold steady while your hands and feet move. You feel a stretch in your hamstrings and calves whenever your hips are high.
Explained in full
Andreas shows the inchworm forwards and backwards in a small space and explains what matters: core braced, shoulders over your hands, hands always on the floor. · 0:51
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
See the workshopsNew exercise pages are added all the time — the newsletter keeps you posted.
Sources
Behm DG, Blazevich AJ, Kay AD, McHugh M. (2016). Acute effects of muscle stretching on physical performance, range of motion, and injury incidence in healthy active individuals: a systematic review. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 41(1):1–11. DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2015-0235 — A systematic review in healthy, active people: immediately after dynamic stretching performance was on average 1.3% higher, after static stretching 3.7% lower; all forms of stretching improve range of motion in the short term (mostly under 30 minutes). The basis for placing the inchworm at the start of a session. No study has looked at the inchworm itself, so this is extrapolated from dynamic stretching. Young, active samples; limited transfer to people aged 40 to 60. (Evidence type: Systematic review)
Matsuo S, Takeuchi K, Nakamura M, et al. (2025). Acute effects of dynamic and ballistic stretching on flexibility: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci Med 24(2):463–474. DOI: 10.52082/jssm.2025.463 — 17 studies: dynamic and ballistic stretching improve flexibility acutely with a small effect (effect size 0.37), with no difference between young and middle-aged or older people and no difference between hamstrings and calves. Supports the idea that movements like the inchworm can loosen the hamstrings and calves in the short term, including in the target group. The age subgroup is small and the inchworm itself was not studied; one single study (O'Sullivan 2009) actually found reduced flexibility after dynamic stretching, so the page describes the stretch rather than promising greater range of motion. (Evidence type: Meta-analysis)
Behm DG, Chaouachi A. (2011). A review of the acute effects of static and dynamic stretching on performance. Eur J Appl Physiol 111(11):2633–2651. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-1879-2 — A narrative review: dynamic stretching leaves subsequent performance unchanged or improves it; the recommended warm-up is light aerobic work, dynamic movements through a large range, then sport-specific drills. The abstract explicitly includes trained middle-aged people. The basis for placing the exercise in the warm-up before strength work. (Evidence type: Narrative review)
Ludewig PM, Hoff MS, Osowski EE, Meschke SA, Rundquist PJ. (2004). Relative balance of serratus anterior and upper trapezius muscle activity during push-up exercises. Am J Sports Med 32(2):484–493. DOI: 10.1177/0363546503258911 — Measures the serratus anterior and upper trapezius during push-up exercises in 30 people (healthy or with mild shoulder complaints). In hand support the serratus anterior was highly active (up to 123% of maximum in the push-up plus) and the upper trapezius much less so. The basis for listing the serratus anterior as a stabiliser. Measured in the push-up plus rather than the inchworm; age not given in the abstract. (Evidence type: EMG)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.