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Lower back, hips and neck

Dead Bug: Classic

Trains your core to prevent your lower back from arching as you lower your limbs, building the anti-extension control that protects your spine during reaching and lifting.

Stability / Core30 to 60 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie on your back with your knees over your hips

    Knees bent to a right angle, shins level, both arms reaching straight up toward the ceiling. A pillow under the head is fine.

  2. 2

    Set your lower back in its neutral position

    Not pressed flat into the floor and not arched away from it. Find it before anything moves, because holding it there is the whole exercise.

  3. 3

    Lower one arm and the opposite leg together

    Slowly, and only as far as the lower back stays exactly where you set it.

  4. 4

    Return to the start and change sides

    Reset your back position between repetitions instead of rushing into the next one.

  5. 5

    Work for 30 to 60 seconds, alternating slowly

    The bent knee version, or arms only, are the ones to take if the back position starts slipping. Cut the repetitions if anything begins travelling into a leg.

What to watch for

The lower back lifting away from where you set it as the limbs travel out. That is the exact moment the exercise stops doing its job, so shorten the reach rather than chasing the floor with your heel.

Ways to adjust it

  • Bent knee
  • Arms only
  • Pillow under head

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Dead Bug 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.

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 session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.