Lie on your back with your arms extended towards the ceiling and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Engage your core muscles and flatten your lower back against the floor. Slowly extend your right arm overhead while simultaneously straightening your left leg until it hovers a few inches above the ground. Hold for a few seconds, then return your right arm and left leg to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side, extending your left arm overhead and straightening your right leg. Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions or duration.

How to perform the Dead Bug

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Dead Bug using your body weight.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your abdominals.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your abdominals rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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Variations of Dead Bug

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