Abs Strength
Dead Bug
The Dead Bug is a beginner-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the abdominals. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesAbs
Secondary muscles—
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Dead Bug
- Lie on your back on a mat with your arms reaching straight toward the ceiling.
- Lift your feet so your hips and knees are both bent to ninety degrees.
- Press your lower back gently into the floor and brace your abdominals.
- Exhale and lower one arm overhead while extending the opposite leg toward the floor.
- Stop just short of the floor while the lower back stays flat, then inhale and return.
- Repeat with the opposite arm and leg, alternating for the prescribed reps.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
- Trains anti-extension core control in a position that keeps load off the spine.
- Needs nothing but a mat, so it fits home, travel and rehab adjacent programming.
- Scales in both directions by changing limb range or adding light external load.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
- Letting the lower back arch off the floor, which means the core has stopped resisting extension.
- Moving faster than you can breathe, which turns a control drill into a flailing exercise.
- Reaching further than you can hold position, which trades range for the stability being trained.
- Holding the breath throughout, which reduces the bracing the movement is meant to teach.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Dead Bug, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
