Although the name of the exercise suggests it, we are not talking about needing an exterminator. The Dead Bug is a core, opposite arm, and leg strengthening exercise that is highly beneficial for people of all fitness levels.
People who have neck and shoulder injuries or who are unable to flex their spine due to scoliosis will find this exercise especially beneficial.
And when done correctly, it brings a number of benefits. Dead bugs can help us put ourselves in a neutral position, improve our posture and hopefully help relieve lower back pain as we gain control of our ribs/pelvis. In addition, they help strengthen the abdomen.
The technique seems simple enough: You lie on your back, arms extended toward the ceiling, and knees and hips at 90-degree angles so your shins are parallel to the ground. Then lower your right arm and left leg to the ground. You bring those limbs back, then repeat with the opposite arm and leg.
The problem is that if you're not actively engaging your core or have muscle imbalances and stiffness, the dead bug won't do much for you. Your lower back must be anchored to the ground at all times, and this implies an important core commitment, which is not always easy to touch.
How to do Dead Bug? proper technique
We will do this exercise on a padded mat. To support the neck, we will place a folded towel or a flat cushion under the shoulders. You will have to keep your hips and lower back still throughout the exercise. We will carry out the movement slowly and with control. We will engage the core muscles and press the lower back into the ground.
The steps to make dead bug are:
- Lie on your back (on the floor or any flat, stable surface) with both arms stretched toward the ceiling.
- Lift your feet off the ground so that your legs are bent at a 90-degree angle.
- With control, lower one arm and the opposite leg away from each other and toward the floor.
- Lower your extremities as far as you can, keeping your lower back on the ground. Fight the urge to arch your back by contracting your abs, pressing your navel down to anchor your lower back to the ground.
- Exhale as you return your arm and leg to the starting position in the same controlled movement. Repeat with the other arm and leg.
Why can't I make dead bug?
There are some errors and limitations that can prevent you from doing this exercise correctly. The dead bug is easy to strengthen the abdomen, but you have to take into account the proper technique.
If you cannot lower both limbs at the same time
Possibly we will need to improve coordination. It's like patting yourself on the head while rubbing your stomach, lowering your opposite arm and leg can take a bit of time before you get the hang of it. This is normal, since you are not doing that movement pattern in real life.
When a new activity is demanded and the person has not done anything similar to that movement before, the motor pattern for it has not yet been formed. Basically, your brain and muscles haven't talked about how to do the movement yet, so the communication is a bit clunky. This makes that new activity difficult because the body has not yet figured out a coordinated way to bring together the specific muscles that are needed.
The best solution to fix it is to practice. Just like learning to use chopsticks or riding a bike, you'll only improve your coordination if you keep at it. And as you do the movement, think to yourself opposite arm, opposite leg.
You can't keep your back on the ground
You may need to develop some fundamental core strength. This is kind of a catch: dead bug exercises improve your core strength, but you need a certain level of core strength to be able to perform them correctly.
The abs are posterior lumbar flexors/pelvic tilters, and when you lower your arm/leg, each of these limbs pulls your spine in the opposite direction, so the abs have to work harder to maintain lumbar flexion.
That is, you are asking your abs to do the exact opposite of what they are used to. And just like coordination, it takes practice to perfect.
To make this exercise easier, try a reduced dead bug by keeping your knees bent at all times. This will decrease the amount of force your core muscles need to generate to help you keep your back firmly against the ground throughout the movement. The result: You build core strength to gradually straighten your knees more and more.
Standing ab exercises are also recommended to help your clients build enough strength for dead bugs. You can even use them as part of a quick warm up before your ab workouts.
If you can't lower your leg all the way
You may have tight hip flexors. One of the consequences of sitting at your desk all day is straining your hip flexors because they are in a shorter position. And that's not doing your training performance any favors.
Hip flexor flexibility is important because you must be able to extend and flex the hip to perform the exercise correctly. If they're tight, you won't be able to lower your leg all the way, or your lower back will arch too much to compensate. And over time, that can lead to lower back pain.
Stretches stiff hip flexors. The hip flexor stretch is great, as is the Spiderman stretch.
Services
The dead bug exercise is a safe and effective way to strengthen and stabilize the muscles of the core, spine, and back. This improves posture and helps relieve and prevent lower back pain. Too We will improve balance and coordination. We may find that we have the strength and stability to move better during sports and daily activities.
The benefits of the dead insect are recognized by experts in all fields. It is one of the recommended exercises for people with arthritis, older adults working to improve muscle function, people with chronic pain, swimmers who want to improve their body position, and people with Parkinson's disease to facilitate daily activities and prevent injuries and accidents.
The dead bug is a movement suitable for beginners that helps us get used to the contralateral extension of the limbs while keeping the core stable and protected. Executed correctly, the dead bug encourages the deep, stabilizing muscles of the lower back, abdominals, and hips to engage, preventing the back from twisting or arching during the exercise. We'll finish by improving side-to-side coordination that can transfer effectively to athletic performance, while also improving deep core strength that can reduce the risk of lower back injury.
The dead bug is also an excellent choice for Beginners who are not yet ready for the more popular plank exercise. Both moves are designed to help promote core stabilization, but the plank can be challenging for people who don't have a lot of core strength or who have lower back pain. The dead bug can help improve the core stabilization needed to plank while also adding the challenge of contralateral limb movement to the mix.
Precautions
In general, the dead bug is a safe exercise for most people. As with any strengthening movement, the main risk of injury occurs when we sacrifice proper technique in an effort to "dump" a set of repetitions.
If the technique begins to suffer, the muscles are probably tired and it's time to end the set. Doing more repetitions with poor posture will not help your muscles get stronger and will actually can cause injury, especially in the lower back.
First of all, it is recommended to slow down and pay attention to the technique: we will make sure that the lower back is not arched and that the torso does not sway back and forth as we move. Second, if we have a known lower back injury, we won't push ourselves to perform the movement if it causes pain. Muscle pain or fatigue are one thing, but sharp or shooting pain, or any kind of discomfort, is what we want to avoid.
Dead bug variants
Whether we want to make it more complicated or easier, the dead bug supports some modifications.
overhead elevation
- We can take a resistance band and wrap it around the lower part of the thighs to keep us stable.
- We will lie on our backs, keeping our knees above our hips. We will use both hands, we will hold a weighted ball on our shoulders.
- Keeping the rest of the body very solid and stable, we'll lower the ball over the head and pause there. We will slowly return to the starting position.
Dead bug with Fitball
Spinal strength is totally underestimated. Adding a stability ball to the dead bug can improve spinal and core stability.
- We will lie on our backs, holding a stability ball between our hands and knees. We will avoid that the ball touches the chest, forearms or thighs.
- Pressing the lower part of the back against the floor, we will stretch the left arm and the right leg to the floor. We will keep the ball in its place. We will press up and in with the left knee and down and out with the right hand.
- We will maintain this position for a few seconds before returning to the starting position. We will repeat on the other side.
heel touch
Although this move is super simple, the core engagement is truly top-notch.
- We will lie face up in the starting position of dead bug.
- We will keep one knee bent and slowly stretch the other leg.
- We will lower one foot at a time and hit the ground with the heel.
- We will repeat on the other side.
dead bug with straight leg
- We will lie on our back and stretch our legs so that our feet are facing the ceiling.
- We will raise our arms.
- We will slowly lower one leg and let it float on the ground while the opposite arm also lowers.
- We will raise the leg up and repeat on the other side.