Exercise library
McGill Big 3
Dead bug
How to do it
- 1Lie on your back with your arms reaching straight up toward the ceiling and your hips and knees bent to 90 degrees, so your shins are parallel to the floor.
- 2Gently flatten your low back toward the floor and brace your core, holding that contact the whole time.
- 3Slowly lower one arm overhead and the opposite leg toward the floor, going only as far as you can while keeping your low back flat.
- 4Return to the start with control and repeat on the other side, breathing steadily and moving slowly throughout.
Why this exercise
The dead bug trains your core to lock your spine in place while your arms and legs move, without loading your back. It is the anti-arch counterpart to the bird dog.
Make it easier
- Move only the legs, or only the arms
- Shorten the range (lower the limb part-way)
- Fewer reps
Make it harder
- Standard dead bug (lower one arm and the opposite leg, then return)
- Same movement with a 3-second pause at full extension before returning
- More reps once your low back stays flat the whole set