Lower back, neck, hips, knees, shoulders and wrists
Bird-Dog: Small Range
The gentlest version of bird-dog: small limb movements let everyone access this essential spinal stability exercise, building motor control at a comfortable pace.
How to do it
- 1
Start on hands and knees
Hands under shoulders, knees under hips. A folded blanket under the knees makes this much more comfortable.
- 2
Find a level back and keep it
Imagine a glass of water resting on your lower back that must not spill. Everything that follows is about not spilling it.
- 3
Slide one leg back until the toes brush the floor
The toes stay in contact. In this version the leg does not lift, which is what keeps the demand on your lower back low.
- 4
Return, and repeat on the other side
Slowly. The moving limb is not the point; the still spine is.
- 5
Continue for 30 to 60 seconds
If that feels steady, the same movement with the opposite arm sliding forward is the next step up.
What to watch for
The hips rocking sideways as the leg moves. That is the thing this exercise is training you not to do, so slow down or shorten the range until they stay level.
Ways to adjust it
- Reduce reps
- Blanket
- Toes floor
- Forearms if needed
- Fists
- Forearms
Other ways to do this movement
Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Bird Dog versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.
Before you try it
Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.
Also part of sessions for
Each of those explains what the condition is, what the published guidance recommends, and where this movement fits.
One movement is a start. A session is the thing.
A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.
Start your first sessionFrom the clinically authored Vinys movement library.