Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeStrength
- Equipment RequiredBodyweight
- MechanicsCompound
- Force TypeIsometric
- Experience LevelIntermediate
- Secondary Muscles
None
Target Muscle Group
Abs
Ipsilateral Bird Dog Overview
The ipsilateral bird dog is a variation of the bird dog exercise and is used to strengthen the muscles of the core.
The ipsilateral bird dog stems from the plank exercise family tree and builds core muscle by requiring the core to stabilize the spine while reaching one arm forward and the same leg back.
Ipsilateral Bird Dog Instructions
- Assume a quadruped position with your knees under hips, hands under shoulders, and toes tucked.
- Extend the same arm and leg while keeping your hips and torso stable.
- Slowly lower the arm and leg back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Ipsilateral Bird Dog Tips
- You should first master the contralateral version of this movement before moving to the ispilateral version.
- When you extend the leg, ensure the movement comes entirely from hip extension and you don’t substitute lumbar extension instead (i.e. when you extend the leg, your back shouldn’t arch, you shouldn’t feel a contraction in your spinal erectors, and the leg should be inline with your torso.)
- Similarly, as you reach overhead, watch for excessive extensive through the lumbar spine as a compensation.
- As you reach overhead, you should be able to feel your lower trap (at the bottom edge of your scapula closest to your spine) working somewhat reflexively.
- If you find you can’t seem to get the hip fully extended or the arm fully overhead, check your core position first (i.e. fix the extension bias). Then, look at a lack of thoracic extension, glute activation, core stability, or scapular upward rotation.
- Exhale as you reach and push. Imagine you’re trying to balance a cup of water on your back as you complete reps. The goal is control repetitions, not just the quantity of reps performed.
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