Straight Leg Dead Bug

Perform the Straight Leg Dead Bug to engage your core and improve stability.

  1. Lie on your back with your arms extended towards the ceiling and legs straight up.
  2. Slowly lower your right leg and left arm towards the floor while keeping your back flat.
  3. Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
  4. Continue alternating sides while maintaining control and stability.

How to perform the Straight Leg Dead Bug

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Straight Leg 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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