Movement Library
Dead Bug
- Pattern
- Core
- Trains
- Muscular strength
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Measured in
- Repetitions
How to perform
- 1On your back, extend the opposite arm and leg while your lower back stays pressed down.
- 2Move slowly and exhale as you extend.
Technique in detail
Lie on your back with your arms pointing straight up at the ceiling and your hips and knees bent to ninety degrees. Press your lower back gently into the floor and keep it there for the entire set — this contact is the whole exercise. Slowly extend one arm overhead and the opposite leg out straight, moving only as far as you can go without the lower back lifting. Return to the start with the same control and repeat on the other side. Move slowly and breathe out as you extend.
Common mistakes
- Letting the lower back arch off the floor as the leg extends. Shorten the range until you can keep contact, then rebuild from there.
- Moving too fast. Speed hides the exact loss of control the exercise exists to train — take three seconds out and three seconds back.
- Holding the breath. Exhale as the limbs extend; it helps the ribs stay down and the midsection stay braced.
Equipment
- No equipment
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Want these tracked — sets, reps and progress over time?
Start tracking freeThis library is general fitness education, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, injured, or managing a health condition, check with a clinician before starting something new. Stop if a movement hurts.