Strength Training · Calisthenics
Dead Bug
The dead bug trains your abs to keep your trunk steady while you lower opposite arms and legs from a position on your back.
- Beginner
- Compound
- Low injury risk
- Rest 30 sec
How to do it
- Lie on your back on the mat.
- Lift your legs with your knees above your hips, knees bent 90 degrees, and shins parallel to the floor.
- Reach your arms straight toward the ceiling above your shoulders.
- Slowly extend one leg toward the floor while lowering the opposite arm overhead.
- Return those limbs to the starting position.
- Repeat the movement with the other arm and leg.
Form cues
- Keep your lower back gently grounded.
- Keep your ribs down.
- Exhale slowly as you reach.
Common mistakes
- Reaching too farShorten your reach to a distance where your trunk stays still.
- Rushing the returnBring your limbs back at the same slow pace you used to lower them.
- Moving the same-side limbsPair your right arm with your left leg, and vice versa.
Safety
Letting your back arch as your limbs lower can aggravate your lower back, especially when fatigue makes trunk control harder.
- Keep your head resting on the mat to avoid straining your neck.
- End the set when you can no longer control your position.
- Stop if you feel back pain rather than abdominal effort.
If you have ongoing back pain or a recent abdominal surgery, ask a physiotherapist or doctor whether this exercise is appropriate.
Muscles worked
Primary muscles
Secondary muscles
Equipment
- Exercise Mat
Sets and reps
- Sets
- 2–3
- Target
- 6–10 reps per side
- Rest
- 30 sec
Count each opposite-arm-and-leg reach as one rep.