How many reps of the traveling ape should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Start with 2 sets of 4 to 5 hops in each direction, keeping the travel distance short enough that every landing is quiet and controlled. Add distance or a third set only once the hips stop popping up between hops.

How do I make the traveling ape easier or harder?

To make it easier, step the feet across instead of hopping, keeping one foot in contact with the floor at all times. To make it harder, increase the travel distance per hop or add a full rotation partway through the pattern.

What is the traveling ape good for and when should I skip it?

It is a conditioning and mobility drill that trains hip and ankle range together with light landing power, a good fit for warm-ups and animal-flow circuits rather than a strength builder. Skip it on a day your knees or ankles are already irritated, since every landing loads them in deep flexion.

Intermediate

Traveling Ape

The traveling ape moves a deep squat sideways by planting the hands out to one side and shifting the feet to catch up, mimicking how an ape swings across the ground. The quads and adductors carry the load in the bottom position while the shoulders bear weight on each plant. It is a demanding conditioning and mobility drill that rewards patience and control over speed.

Equipment: Body Weight
Body part: Quads, Shoulder
Type: Balance, Functional
Browse by muscle: Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Deltoid Anterior
Browse by movement: Squat

How to do it

1
Drop into a deep wide squat with the chest tall and heels down.
2
Reach both hands out to plant on the floor to your right, shifting weight into the arms.
3
Lightly hop or step both feet to the right to catch up under your hips, staying low.
4
Land back in the deep squat with the hands lifting off the floor.
5
Repeat the plant-and-shift pattern to travel across the space, then reverse direction.
6
Keep every rep controlled, landing softly in the squat each time.

Tips

Load the hands before the feet leave the ground so you never lose a base of support.
Land quietly through the midfoot; a loud, heavy landing means you are dropping instead of controlling.
Keep the range short at first and prioritize a stable squat over covering distance.

Variations

Common mistakes

Once the pace picks up, the feet leave the floor before the hands are firmly planted, so there is a moment with no base of support at all.
The hips pop up to standing height during the hop instead of staying low, turning a squat travel into a series of little jumps.
The landing lands heel-first with a thud instead of through the midfoot, meaning the legs are dropping rather than absorbing the hop.
Covering too much distance per hop forces the knees to splay wide just to catch the landing.
The head drops to watch the hands plant, rounding the upper back instead of keeping the chest tall through the travel.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the traveling ape should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Start with 2 sets of 4 to 5 hops in each direction, keeping the travel distance short enough that every landing is quiet and controlled. Add distance or a third set only once the hips stop popping up between hops.
How do I make the traveling ape easier or harder?: To make it easier, step the feet across instead of hopping, keeping one foot in contact with the floor at all times. To make it harder, increase the travel distance per hop or add a full rotation partway through the pattern.
What is the traveling ape good for and when should I skip it?: It is a conditioning and mobility drill that trains hip and ankle range together with light landing power, a good fit for warm-ups and animal-flow circuits rather than a strength builder. Skip it on a day your knees or ankles are already irritated, since every landing loads them in deep flexion.

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