Lower back, hips and neck
Dead Bug: Supine March
A very accessible entry point for core training: alternating gentle foot lifts builds anti-extension motor control with minimal demand on your spine.
How to do it
- 1
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet down
Feet hip width, arms resting by your sides, a pillow under the head if you like.
- 2
Set your lower back in its neutral position
Neither pressed into the floor nor arched away from it.
- 3
Lift one foot a few centimetres off the floor
Just enough to clear it. The knee stays bent and the pelvis stays completely still.
- 4
Set it down and lift the other foot
One foot at a time, slow and even, like a very small march.
- 5
Continue for 30 to 60 seconds
This is the gentlest starting point in the family, so there is no need to lift higher or move faster.
What to watch for
The pelvis rocking side to side as you change feet, or both feet leaving the floor at once. One foot lifts, the other stays down, and the pelvis does not react at all.
Ways to adjust it
- 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.
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.