Dead Bug

How to perform

1. 01Begin lying on your back with your hands extended above you toward the ceiling.
2. 02Bring your feet, knees, and hips up to 90 degrees.
3. 03Exhale hard to bring your ribcage down and flatten your back onto the floor, rotating your pelvis up and squeezing your glutes. Hold this position throughout the movement. This will be your starting position.
4. 04Initiate the exercise by extending one leg, straightening the knee and hip to bring the leg just above the ground.
5. 05Maintain the position of your lumbar and pelvis as you perform the movement, as your back is going to want to arch.
6. 06Stay tight and return the working leg to the starting position.
7. 07Repeat on the opposite side, alternating until the set is complete.

Form cues

• —Brace your core before the first rep and keep it braced.
• —Lead with the elbows and finish by squeezing the target muscle.
• —Control the lowering phase — that is where most of the growth stimulus lives.

Common mistakes

• —Using momentum instead of the target muscle.
• —Cutting the range of motion short to add load.
• —Adding weight before the movement pattern is clean.