Dead Bugs: The Core Exercise Everyone Should Be Doing
Core muscles
When we refer to “the core” we are talking about more than “6-pack abs.” Your core encompasses the muscles surrounding your entire torso including your abdominals, obliques, hip flexors, and the muscles surrounding the spine.
Core training
It is common to think that core strength is best trained by producing movement using exercises such as sit-ups or crunches. However there are a couple of problems with is approach.
Traditional “ab exercises” require the lumbar spine to be repeatedly flexed and extended under load. This puts a lot of stress on the lumbar spine and can lead to injury.
The core’s primary function is to create stability, not movement. Every activity we perform - walking, running, carrying a bag of groceries, skiing - requires the core to function as a solid platform for our arms and legs can move against. To train the core for the function it performs, we must teach the core muscles how to better resist movement.
Core exercises primarily fall into three categories:
Anti-extension - used to prevent the spine from overarching backwards and prevent the pelvis from tipping forwards
Anti-lateral extension - used to prevent the spine from bending to the side
Anti-rotation - used to prevent the spinal rotation between the pelvis and ribs.
Start With the Basics
An anti-extension exercise that we recommend is the Dead bug. While this movement may appear simple, it is a great way to keep your core activated and engaged with a wide variety of levels of difficulty and modifications.
The Dead Bug helps develop motor control between the ribs and the pelvis and teaches you to prevent your spine from overarching. As with all novel activities, start simple and add complications as your body learns and adapts. Don’t move onto the next progression until you have mastered the preceding one.
The first three progressions incorporate a dowel as a cue to ensure that your core remains engaged and that you are maintaining proper technique for the duration of the exercise. In lieu of a dowel, you can substitute a broom stick or any solid object that is longer than the width of your hips.
Dead Bug With Stick
Lay on your back with your thighs vertical. Your knees should be bent at 90 degrees and hip width apart. Hold the dowel against your thighs, just below your knees and actively drive it into your thighs. Simultaneously push your thighs into the stick. Then drive your lower back into the ground so there is no space between your back and the floor. Make sure your back never loses contact with the floor. At this point, you should be creating a lot of tension. Keep driving for 5-10 seconds then take the pressure off to rest. Build up to 10 repetitions.
Add a Short Lever
Once you have mastered 10 reps of the Dead bug with a Stick, progress the exercise by adding movement. This will add a slight challenge and require the core muscles to compensate for the shift in balance of the pressure being applied. The set-up will be the exact same, with the dowel being pressed between the thighs and hands. To incorporate the movement, take a big inhale through the nose. As you begin your exhale, extend the right hip and tap your heel against the floor. Your knee should remain bent at 90 degrees at all times. Inhale as you return to the starting position. As you begin your second exhale, repeat the movement with your left leg. Work up to 10 reps on each side. If you can no longer maintain contact between your low back and the floor, your core is fatigued and you should stop the exercise.
Adding a Long Lever
This movement is a step-up in difficulty when compared to the Short Lever. Rather than keeping the knee bent at 90 degrees through the motion, you will extend the moving leg straight out to hover about an inch above the floor. As you exhale, extend the left leg by pushing your heel away from you. Keep driving your right leg against the dowel. Hold for a second and, on the inhale, bring the left leg back to 90 degrees and apply pressure to the dowel. On the next exhale, repeat with the right leg. Straightening your leg out completely in the movement will create more resistance as you extend the foot further from the center of your body. Work up to 10 reps on each side always keeping the lower back pressed into the floor.
Removing the Stick
Once you are able to complete 10 repetitions of the long lever with little difficulty, it is time to progress by removing the stick. Be conscious that you are removing the cue of having to press the dowel to hold it up and be sure you are keeping proper form with your back flat against the floor and 90 at 90 degrees to ensure that you are still getting the quality of core activation during the entire exercise. Start in the same position as before, but now hold your arms straight up towards the ceiling. They will now become part of the movement. Start with the short lever, as you begin your exhale, extend the right hip and tap your heel against the floor. Your knee should remain bent at 90 degrees. At the same time as you move your right leg also lower your left arm down towards the floor beside your head. On the inhale bring both your leg and arm back to starting position then repeat with your left leg and right arm. Once you are able to complete 10 repetitions of the short lever with little difficulty, increase intensity by switching to the long lever using the same technique.
