Dead Bug

beginner · anti_extension

Setup

Lie on your back with both arms reaching at the ceiling and your hips and knees bent to 90 degrees so the shins are parallel to the floor. Press your lower back into the mat until a hand cannot slide into the gap.

Execution

Breathe all the way out and keep the lower back pressed down; that is the condition for the whole exercise.
Reach one leg away and lower it while the opposite arm travels back over your head.
Only go as far as the lower back stays glued down, and stop the instant a gap appears.
Inhale and bring the arm and leg back to the start under control.
Switch to the other arm and leg, and count one rep only when you have done both sides.
Do 6-10 reps a set, slow and clean, rather than racing to a number.

Breathing

Exhale as the arm and leg reach away, inhale as they come back. The breath is the timer for this exercise.

Quick cues

Low back glued to the mat.
Reach only as far as you can hold.
Breathe out as you reach.
Opposite arm, opposite leg.
Slower is harder here.

Common faults

Fault: The lower back arching off the mat as the leg extends
Fix: Halve how far the leg travels and only extend further while the back stays down.
Fault: Taking the leg all the way to the floor from the first session
Fix: Stop with the heel one hand-span above the floor and lower that height week by week.
Fault: Holding the breath to keep the belly tight
Fix: Breathe out audibly as you reach, because the sound proves you are not holding it.
Fault: Racing through 20 reps as a counting exercise
Fix: Cut to 6 reps a set and make each one last a full exhale.

Equipment

bodyweight, mat

Muscle groups

core