Walking on all fours: campus crawlers spark China-wide fitness craze as 4 million tap into primal movement fad online

Craze was born when group of Beijing university students were caught on camera crawling around in circles

Inspired by animal movements, trend could also be linked to primal reflex dating back to when our ancestors did not walk upright

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Walking on all fours is the latest exercise craze among university students in China. Believed to improve whole-body strength, the fitness fad is spreading nationwide. Photo: SCMP composite/handout

Published: 9:00am, 21 Nov 2022Updated: 11:58am, 21 Nov 2022

People across China are engaging in a strange form of exercise which is turning human evolutionary theory on its head - walking on all fours.

The craze - which has spread like wildfire with the help of social media - was born when a group of university students in Beijing were caught on camera crawling around in circles in a playground last week.

Chinese students walk on all fours in the latest exercise craze to hit campuses. The workout, which some believe can improve whole-body strength, is spreading nationwide. Photo: WEIBO

The country-wide spread of people walking on all fours has been inspired by the movement of animals like cats, crocodiles and bears.

However, the growing number of people doing or taking an interest in it, are tapping into a deeply primal form of human movement, and the return to a time before we walked upright is not only fun, it is good for your health.

Doing the “crocodile crawl” to a healthier life has become a fad among older people in some Chinese cities and is spreading across the country. Photo: myzaker.com

The primal movement workout took social media by storm and soon spread to other universities in the capital city.