Dead bug: how to do it, muscles worked and variations
Lumbopelvic control lying on your back.
- Main muscles
- Rectus abdominis, Transversus abdominis
- Secondary muscles
- Iliopsoas, Obliques
- Equipment
- Bodyweight, Stability ball
- Variations
- 3
All 3 variations
Dead bug
Alternating arm and leg control lying on your back.
Form. Keep your lower back controlled while you extend the opposite arm and leg.
Common mistake. Losing lower-back contact or moving too fast.
Stability ball dead bug
Dead bug holding a stability ball between your hands and knees, whose pressure increases ab activation while the opposite arm and leg extend.
Form. Lie down with the ball between your hands and knees, press it to flatten your lower back into the floor and extend the opposite arm and leg at once without releasing the pressure; return and alternate.
Common mistake. Losing pressure on the ball, arching the lower back, moving quickly, or extending the arm and leg on the same side.
Legs-only dead bug
Dead bug regression where the arms stay pointing at the ceiling and only the legs extend alternately.
Form. Lying with your arms toward the ceiling and legs in tabletop, extend one leg forward without lifting your lower back and return; alternate with controlled breathing.
Common mistake. Arching your back as you extend, lowering the leg too far, moving the arms, or rushing.
Other exercises for the same muscles
