Singer Jennifer Lopez swears by a body-weight workout called the ‘platypus walk’ which involves taking angled steps with the legs spread apart. Recently, her trainer David Kirsch posted a video on Instagram of the singer doing the move.
Jennifer Lopez has a meticulous gym routine, including glute bridges and a varied abs workout. But Kirsch said in a recent interview that, “Jennifer and I do a lot of platypus walks with a wide stance. It is also known as a sumo walking squat.”
The video shows Lopez adopting a wide stance with knees turned outward. She takes angular steps, while holding her hands on the back of her head. She does the first set walking forward and then walks backward for the second set. It's great for your inner thighs and butt.
The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway has been “platypus walking” too, to get in shape.
“The Platypus Walk is an incredibly accessible exercise done with a wide stance with feet turned, requiring loads of external rotation at hips.
Standing and walking in that stance strengthens core muscles and hamstrings, glutes and external rotators. Keeping the hands behind your head during the walk loads the muscles around the shoulder, giving you a good burn. This looks easy but it’s not a cake walk either,” says Zaineb Ali, a certified Pilates instructor.
The tricky part is getting the right form. To do a platypus walk, you squat down at a 90-degree angle and direct your knees outward, not forward. “The knees must also be stacked on top of the ankle, with most of your weight sitting on the ankle. Connecting your core, keeping your neck long, activating your inner thighs so that you don’t collapse your knees is a must here. And most importantly, don’t forget to breathe,” adds Zaineb. Moving forward is more difficult than moving backward.
Explaining the benefits of the platypus walk, Zaineb says, “It lifts the butt a good inch higher, working the inner thighs.”
How to do the Platypus Walk
While in the plié squat position (an exercise that strengthens the legs, glutes, and calves and increases the range of motion in your hips), waddle forward with your right foot in front of your left. Then, do the reverse. During the movement, you want to make sure your hands are behind your head, your thighs are parallel to the ground, your knees are straight and forward, and your weight is in your heels.
Combined workouts
A zero-equipment exercise, this can be done anywhere, anytime, and can be included in combinations of workouts
• Warm-up
• Cardio to get your heart rate up by increasing the pace
• Strength training by adding weights (dumbbells, ankle weight etc)
Try doing this for 40 seconds forward; take a 10-sec rest and do 40 seconds backwards for a set of three repetitions.
