{"id":4079,"date":"2025-02-20T21:36:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T10:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/mastering-the-duck-walk-technique.html"},"modified":"2025-02-20T21:36:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T10:36:39","slug":"mastering-the-duck-walk-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/mastering-the-duck-walk-technique.html","title":{"rendered":"Mastering the Duck Walk Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Compared to the\u00a0bear crawl\u00a0and the\u00a0mule kick, the duck walk may not sound like the fiercest animal-inspired exercise \u2014 and waddling around the weight room may earn you a few strange looks from your fellow gym-goers.<\/p>\n<p>But in all its awkward glory, the duck walk exercise is one of the most challenging and beneficial\u00a0bodyweight movements\u00a0you can do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe duck walk gives you all of the\u00a0benefits of a bodyweight squat and then amplifies them,\u201d says Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S. \u201cThe duck walk keeps you in that squatting position for the entire set, maximizing time under tension, a key growth stimulus.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Duck Walk Exercise: Step-by-Step Instructions<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stand with your feet hip-width apart and feet flat on the floor.<\/li>\n<li>Push your butt back, bend your knees, and lower your hips so your thighs are parallel to the floor (or as low as you can comfortably go while keeping your feet flat on the floor).<\/li>\n<li>Keep your chest up and extend your arms in front of you for balance.<\/li>\n<li>Maintaining a squat position \u2014 or staying as low as you can comfortably go \u2014 step forward with the left foot, then the right foot. Be sure to keep your weight in your heels as you walk.<\/li>\n<li>Continue to move forward in this manner for the specified number of steps, then reverse the movement and waddle backward to your original starting point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What Are the Benefits of the Duck Walk?<\/h2>\n<p>Once you know how to do duck walks, you can do them pretty much anywhere. You don\u2019t need any equipment or much space \u2014 a hallway, stretch of sidewalk, or corner of a playground all work.<\/p>\n<p>And it only takes a few steps of the duck walk exercise to fire up your quads and glutes.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to strengthening most of your lower-body musculature, the duck walk also engages the core musculature.<\/p>\n<p>A strong core\u00a0is crucial to posture, balance, and proper movement mechanics in both athletic and everyday movements, whether you\u2019re running or carrying groceries.<\/p>\n<p>Incorporating core exercises like the duck walk into your fitness routine can help\u00a0prevent injuries.<\/p>\n<h2>What Muscles Does the Duck Walk Work?<\/h2>\n<p>Ducks aren\u2019t known for having strong legs, but you will be if you learn to walk like one \u2014 the muscles targeted by the duck walk are some of the largest in your lower body.<\/p>\n<h3>Quadriceps<\/h3>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-144925\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/02123541\/do-squats-make-your-butt-look-bigger-600-quads.jpg\" alt=\"quad muscle anatomy | do squats make your butt look bigger\" width=\"600\" height=\"253\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Located on the fronts of your thighs, the quadriceps muscles are responsible for extending your knee.<\/p>\n<p>The four separate muscles of your quads are the rectus femoris, the vastus lateralis, the vastus intermedius, and the vastus medialis.<\/p>\n<h3>Glutes<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-146206\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/15112352\/dumbbell-deadlift-600-butt-anatomy.jpg\" alt=\"glute muscle anatomy | dumbbell deadlift\" width=\"600\" height=\"323\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Your glutes, a.k.a. your butt muscles, are good for more than just\u00a0filling out a pair of jeans.<\/p>\n<p>Together, the gluteus maximus, the gluteus minimus, and the gluteus medius work to extend the hips, draw your thighs outwards and rotate the legs, and stabilize the pelvis.<\/p>\n<h3>Calves<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-144292\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20105755\/how-to-slim-calves-calf-muscles.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"394\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Your calves, located on the backs of your legs between your knees and heels, are responsible for plantar flexion, or pointing your toes \u2014 like when you jump, leap, or run.<\/p>\n<p>The soleus and gastrocnemius are the two main muscles that make up the calves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Compared to the\u00a0bear crawl\u00a0and the\u00a0mule kick, the duck walk may not sound like the fiercest animal-inspired exercise \u2014 and waddling around the weight room may earn you a few strange looks from your fellow gym-goers. But in all its awkward glory, the duck walk exercise is one of the most challenging and beneficial\u00a0bodyweight movements\u00a0you can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4080,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4081,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4079\/revisions\/4081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}