Exercise guide · Beginner · Compound
Dead Bug: How to Do It & Muscles Worked
The dead bug lies on your back and slowly extends opposite arm and leg while keeping your lower back still. It teaches you to brace your core against movement, a skill that carries over to squats and deadlifts.
Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .
How to do the dead bug
- Step 1: Lie flat on your back with your arms extended towards the ceiling.
- Step 2: Bend your knees and lift your legs off the ground, creating a 90-degree angle at your hips and knees.
- Step 3: Engage your core and lower back to press your lower back into the ground.
- Step 4: Slowly lower your right arm and left leg towards the ground, keeping them straight and hovering just above the floor.
- Step 5: Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position.
- Step 6: Repeat the movement with your left arm and right leg.
- Step 7: Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions.
Form cues
- Lie on your back with arms straight up and hips and knees bent to 90 degrees.
- Press your lower back gently into the floor and breathe out.
- Slowly lower your right arm and left leg toward the floor without your back lifting.
- Return and switch sides.
Common dead bug mistakes
-
Lower back arching off the floor.
Fix: Shorten the range: lower the limbs only as far as you can keep the back down.
-
Moving fast.
Fix: Take three to four seconds per rep and exhale as you extend.
Sets, reps and programming
Do 2 or 3 sets of 6 to 10 slow reps per side as a warm-up or at the end of a session.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | 1–3 reps in reserve |
| Muscle growth | 3–4 | 6–12 | 2–3 min | 1–2 reps in reserve |
| Muscular endurance | 2–3 | 12–20 | 1–2 min | 1–3 reps in reserve |
Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.
Dead Bug alternatives
- Pallof press — Anti-rotation core work.
- Ab wheel rollout — Harder anti-extension.
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Dead Bug FAQs
What does the dead bug exercise work?
Mainly the deep abdominal muscles (transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis) and the obliques, which work to stop your lower back arching while your limbs move.
More abs exercises
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Hanging Leg Raise
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Arm Slingers Hanging Bent Knee Legs
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Arm Slingers Hanging Straight Legs
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Arms Overhead Full Sit-Up (Male)
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Assisted Hanging Knee Raise with Throw Down
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Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
- Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
- Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.
Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.
This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.