Fire Up Your Core Workout: 3 Advances For Your Dead Bug Exercise
Dead Bugs Belong In Your Workouts
The cat’s out of the bag and roaming the streets, telling everyone how much I love dead bugs. These anti-rotation, anti-extension core exercises have endless variations that you can program into your workouts week after week.
Frankly, when I started dead bugs, I didn’t love them. Like many fitness enthusiasts, I was doing them wrong.
The key is to time your breath accordingly, and get your core cooperating, so you don’t end up going all arch-deluxe when you move your limbs away from your center.
It’s no small feat to dead bug like a pro, and here are a few of my fav upgrades you can add to your workout routine.
Band iso-hold dead bug
- Fix a band securely overhead behind you.
- Scoot out away from the apparatus, so you get some good tension on the band.
- Lock the scapula in place.
- Press your back into the floor, so your entire torso is flush with the mat or surface.
- Hold the band stead and move one leg out into extension.
- Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.
Weighted dead bug
- Grab your favorite weighted kettlebell or dumbbell. Don’t be a hero by using a heavy weight as you can wreck your shoulders. Go easy there, partner!.
- Lock the scapula in place.
- Press your back into the floor, so your entire torso is flush with the mat or surface.
- Extend the arms overhead and think about using all those juicy muscles in the back of the shoulder.
- As you extend through the arms, move one leg out.
- Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.
Single-arm braced dead bug
- Grab your favorite weighted kettlebell or dumbbell. Don’t be a hero by using a heavy weight as you can wreck your shoulders. Go easy there, partner!
- Lock the scapula in place.
- Press your back into the floor, so your entire torso is flush with the mat or surface.
- Press the weight overhead and hold it in place
- As you extend through the opposite, move one leg out.
- Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.
How To Use These Moves
I recommend programming dead bugs into your workouts at least once per week. Pick one of these moves and work through in it in a four-week cycle. Then next month try another move!
You can do 2-3 sets of 3-6 reps each side.