MELBOURNE, Nov. 17 (UPI) — An Australian man has helped to popularize a new form of exercise that mixes crawling and running by endorsing the workout on Facebook.
Shaun McCarthy, 34, coined the term “running” and is the founder of the Crunning Australia Facebook page, which hails the exercise as, “a game changer to personal fitness.”
According to McCarthy the exercise, which involves moving quickly on all fours with knees above the ground, provides significant benefits in comparison to traditional running.
It’s an opportunity to exercise your upper body as well as your lower body,” he told news.com.au. “After a half a kilometer you’re slaughtered. It’s really good for the thighs I’ve found. I’m really bulking out.”
McCarthy believes that the phenomenon can extend outside of Australia to countries such as the United States, where personal trainer Karim Baylor confirmed the benefits of crunning to Today.
“Any exercise that involves full body motions leaves the chance to develop a lot of strength,” he said.
However, both McCarthy and Baylor stress caution and careful preparation before trying something like crunning.
McCarthy highly advises that anyone interested in crunning use a pair of gloves in order to prevent injury to the hands and fingers.
“You really need those gloves, thank God I got them,” he said. “You certainly wouldn’t want to do it barehanded, you need to cover those fingers. Any sneakers are fine, it’s just the gloves that are crucial.”
While crunning may be on its way to becoming a global phenomenon, McCarthy made a point to separate it from a similar trend that has recently emerged in China.
“Crunning is running on all fours, what they’re doing is ‘cralking’, so that’s walking on all fours” he said in a Facebook video before declaring running superior.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.