Core and stability exercise

Dead bug exercise

A core exercise done on your back: you slowly lower an opposite arm and leg while keeping your trunk still. It trains your core to hold steady while your limbs move.

Also called: dead bugs, dying bug

Type: Core and stability
Equipment: No equipment
Area: Lower back
Level: Beginner
Starting dose in Remedy: 3 sets of 10

How to do it

Lie on your back with your arms pointing at the ceiling and your hips and knees bent to 90 degrees.
Gently brace your stomach, as if getting ready for a light poke in the belly.
Slowly lower one arm overhead and the opposite leg toward the floor over about three seconds.
Stop before your low back starts to lift off the floor, then return to the start.
Repeat on the other side. Each side counts as one rep.

Form cues

Lower opposite arm and leg over 3 seconds.
If the low back lifts, use a smaller range.

Common mistakes

Moving fast. Slow is the whole point.
Holding your breath. Breathe out as the limbs lower.
Letting the low back arch away from the floor.

Easier and harder versions

To make it easier: Move only the legs, tapping one heel to the floor at a time, before adding the arms.
Harder: Bird dog exercise

Why it helps a sore back

Holding the spine steady while the arms and legs move is the job your core does all day. The dead bug trains it with the floor supporting you, so it is a common early step in back programs.

How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called Dead Bug. Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by bending or lifting. A typical starting dose is 3 sets of 10, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.