Training guide
A bird dog is a core exercise on your hands and knees: you reach one arm forward and the opposite leg back until both are level with your body, hold for a few seconds and come back, keeping your back and hips still. It's one of Stuart McGill's big three for spine health, with the curl-up and the side plank.
It works the muscles along your back and your glutes, mostly at under half of their maximum in muscle activity studies, so it's control work rather than a strength builder. In one lab study it was among the lower-load exercises for the back, but core exercises like it help back pain about as much as other exercise, not more.
This guide covers the set-up and the reach, whether to hold or do reps, the steps from one limb at a time to harder versions, what bird dogs work and how they load your spine, how many to do, and what the evidence says about back pain. It also covers sore wrists and knees, pregnancy, and how bird dogs compare with dead bugs and supermans, with a 3D demo of each step.
Kneel on all fours, hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips, back flat and neck long. Reach one arm forward and the opposite leg back until both are level with your body, hold a few seconds, come back and swap. The skill is what doesn't move: hips and shoulders level, no twist and no arching.
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It works the back muscles beside your spine and the glute of the lifted leg, with your side abdominals stopping a twist. Most muscles worked at under half of their maximum in muscle activity studies, though the big glute passed 45% in one study of 30 adults.
Hold each reach for 3 to 10 seconds. Our workouts use 3 to 5 second holds; McGill's routine holds for about 10 seconds in falling sets of 5, 3 and 1 each side, and adds reps rather than seconds.
Lift one arm, then one leg, at a time first (leg lifts ask more of your trunk than arm lifts), then the full bird dog. To make it harder, draw small squares with your hand and foot, or reach on a diagonal.
2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side with 3 to 5 second holds, 2 or 3 days a week, as our back pain plans and 30-day ab challenge use (editorial starting points). Or McGill's 5, 3 and 1 holds of about 10 seconds, which Harvard Health says you can do daily after a while.
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In one lab study it was among the lower-load back exercises (we could read only its abstract), and people with long-lasting back pain rated it very tolerable. But core exercise helps back pain about as much as other exercise, not more, and 6 weeks of bird dogs and bridges didn't improve trunk endurance in active young men.
On all fours, your trunk has to stop your back sagging, arching or twisting as an arm and the opposite leg lift away. It's one of Stuart McGill's big three for spine health, with the curl-up and the side plank. Research calls it the quadruped (or four-point kneeling) arm and leg lift, and our plank guide files it under resisting rotation, with the Pallof press.
The back muscles beside your spine (the erector spinae, and the deeper multifidus) and the big glute (gluteus maximus) of the lifted leg, with the obliques at your sides stopping your trunk twisting and your shoulder holding the reaching arm. In the studies, most muscles worked at under half of their maximum.
One limb at a time, the full bird dog with holds, McGill's squares, diagonal reaches like the hands of a clock, and Pilates swimming and the bear crawl as harder relatives, each with a 3D demo; the all-fours straight-leg raise and glute kickback work the glutes more. The bird dog crunch (elbow to knee under you between reaches), an ankle weight or band, and a bird dog from a plank have no demo of their own.
Most studies on this page use EMG (electromyography: electrodes measuring how hard a muscle works over a few reps) or ultrasound. Neither is a validated predictor of which exercise grows a muscle more, so treat the numbers as clues, not verdicts.
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In 12 healthy adults on all fours, the obliques worked harder than the six-pack muscle, and the back muscles and big glute worked hardest when the leg lifted, all at under 41% of their maximum.
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The arm and leg lift drew more than 45% of maximum from the big glute in 30 adults, which the authors took to suggest it may help strengthen that muscle. Most of the 9 exercises in the study stayed under 45%.
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In 29 adults, the internal oblique worked hardest on the side of the raised arm and the back muscles on the other side. In 20 adults, the multifidus (the deep muscle beside the spine) worked more selectively in the arm and leg lift than in a face-down trunk raise.
In 30 sedentary women, the classic bird dog drew about 51% of a reference contraction from the back and deep trunk muscles, more than two other versions on all fours (about 47% and 44%). The one that lifted the arm and leg on the same side drew the least, but it was the hardest to balance and felt hardest.
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In 13 outpatients with long-lasting low back pain, average age 52, the bird dog drew 29% of maximum from the lower back muscles, among the highest of 9 core exercises, and they rated it very tolerable.
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No trial has tested the bird dog on its own, for strength or for back pain. The one training trial we found combined it with bridges (see the back pain section below).
Of four back-strengthening exercises in 13 young men, those that lifted the trunk produced the highest spine loads and muscle activity. Extending one leg with the spine held still reduced the load on the spine, and the authors called it a low-risk exercise for starting to strengthen the back muscles; adding the opposite arm raised the challenge. We could read only the study's abstract, which gives no load figures, so we give none.
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Young men with a history of back pain did the bird dog without extra arching, using more of their lat and upper-back muscles on the lifted-leg side (17 men). In 15 men, drawing in slightly reduced arching at the lower back, though the effects were very small, and stiffened the deep muscles, as bracing did.
Drawing your belly button in works the deepest tummy muscle more selectively, bracing your whole trunk made the spine stiffer in lab studies, and changes in that deep muscle don't explain recovery from back pain. Our editorial view: either is fine. Tighten your trunk gently, so your back would hold steady if someone nudged you, and keep breathing.
From our move page, the bird dog of the American Council on Exercise (ACE), with its light bar across the back, and Harvard Health's guide, with its cushion. The hold times come from our workouts (3 to 5 seconds) and McGill's routine (about 10 seconds): coaching practice, not tested against each other in trials.
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The movement on the figure: Bird dog
From our one-limb move page. Arm lifts are the easier half: leg lifts asked more of the trunk in a study of people with back pain and in one of athletes.
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The movement on the figure: Bird dog, one limb at a time
McGill's routine holds each rep for about 8 to 10 seconds in falling sets. Harvard Health gives 5, 3 and 1 reps; ACE starts a reverse pyramid at about 8 reps, built up over time to 10, 8 and 6, then 12, 10 and 8. You build up by adding reps, not seconds. This rests on lab studies and clinical practice: no trial has compared hold lengths, as our plank guide says.
Our 30-day ab challenge and back pain plans hold each rep for 3 to 5 seconds; our McGill big 3 routine follows Harvard Health's 5, 3 and 1 with 10-second holds. Either is a fine starting point (editorial).
The exercise is the still trunk while your arm and leg are away from it. Swinging the limbs out and back without a pause skips that, so reach slowly and hold (our editorial reading).
Move on when every set reaches the top of its range with your back still (our editorial rule). One limb at a time, 2 sets of 6 each arm and each leg (our 30-day ab challenge), building to 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side with 3 to 5 second holds (our back pain guide); bird dogs, 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side with 3 to 5 second holds once one limb at a time is easy (our back pain guide and 30-day ab challenge), or 5, 3 and 1 holds of 10 seconds each side, building to 6, 4 and 2 (our McGill big 3 routine); squares, diagonal reaches or the bird dog crunch, 2 sets of 6 each side (editorial); Pilates swimming, 2 to 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds (its move page's dose); bear crawls, 4 crawls of 8 to 10 metres, forwards and back (its move page's dose).
2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side with 3 to 5 second holds (our back pain guide and 30-day ab challenge), or 6 each side in a circuit (our beginner core and beginner bodyweight workouts), or McGill's 5, 3 and 1 holds of 10 seconds each side (our McGill big 3 routine). These are editorial starting points.
Control, not failure: the aim is a steady position, as our 30-day ab challenge puts it. End the set when your hips start to tip or your back starts to move.
30 to 45 seconds between sets, as our 30-day ab challenge uses.
2 or 3 days a week, or daily for the McGill routine if your back likes it: Harvard Health says you can do the three moves daily after a while. Matched for weekly sets, training a muscle more often made little difference to growth.
Add a rep to each set rather than holding longer, as our McGill big 3 routine does, then move to the next step on the ladder.
Keep your hips and shoulders level, with no tipping towards the lifted leg, as our move page cues it. A cushion or light stick across your lower back shows you if you tip.
Your back arches. Reach long rather than high, and lift only as high as your lower back stays still.
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Set a flat back on all fours first, then reach.
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Keep your neck in line with your back, looking at the floor just ahead of your hands. There's no need to tuck your chin hard (our editorial cue).
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Reach slowly and hold for a real 3 to 5 seconds, as our workouts do.
Keep your elbows soft. Make fists or use push-up handles if your wrists hurt, as our move page and hypermobility routine advise.
Neither is better. The bird dog works the back of your trunk and your glutes on all fours; the dead bug works the front of your trunk while you lie on your back. In one ultrasound study of 44 young adults, the bird dog ranked first of 7 exercises for the deepest tummy muscle and the dead bug fourth. Our beginner core workout pairs them.
The superman lifts your chest, arms and legs face down. Exercises that lift the trunk loaded the spine most in the lab study above, and a superman lifting both arms and legs worked the multifidus hardest in 21 athletes. Start with bird dogs and move on to supermans and back extensions, as our back extension guide suggests.
The plank resists arching on your elbows and toes and works your shoulders hard; the bird dog resists twisting and arching on all fours. Our plank guide suggests covering each direction rather than choosing one.
Cat-cow moves your spine through its range, which makes it a warm-up; the bird dog keeps your spine still while your limbs move. Core session B of our 30-day ab challenge does cat-cow first, then bird dogs.
Motor control (core stability) exercise of this kind beat minimal treatment for long-lasting low back pain, by about 13 points on a 100-point scale in the long term, across 29 trials and 2,431 people, but it wasn't clinically better than other exercise. Exercise of any kind lowered pain by about 15 points against no treatment, usual care or placebo, across 249 trials.
Outpatients with long-lasting back pain rated the bird dog very tolerable. In 10 people with long-lasting back pain, the full bird dog asked more of the back muscles than lifting one limb, and the authors advise building up to it.
Six weeks of front, back and side bridges and bird dogs, twice a week, didn't improve trunk endurance, trunk stability or balance against no training in 60 active young men, beyond the tasks they practised. In 48 people with long-lasting back pain, stabilisation exercise, walking, and both together all eased pain during activity over 6 weeks.
Three network meta-analyses ranked Pilates, core-based, strength and McKenzie programmes near the top, but they didn't agree on a winner, and some of the evidence was low quality. The authors advise choosing exercise you enjoy.
Our back pain guides start with one limb at a time, then bird dogs "once one limb at a time is easy", at 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side with 3 to 5 second holds, 2 or 3 days a week alongside walking. Their doses are editorial starting points.
Discomfort up to about 5 out of 10 that settles within an hour or so and is no worse the next morning is acceptable, as our back pain guides say. Stop or shrink any move that sends pain, pins and needles or numbness further down your leg; our spinal stenosis guide says to stop bird dogs if they bring on leg symptoms. The NHS advises stopping back exercises that make the pain worse and seeing a GP.
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Make fists or use push-up handles instead of flat hands, as our move page says, and warm up with wrist rocks.
Kneel on a folded mat or cushion, as our Pilates for hypermobility workout suggests.
Reach the leg only, if reaching the arm hurts, as our yoga for shoulder pain routine says.
The bird dog is our swap for lying on your back after the first trimester, when the NHS advises against lying flat for more than a few minutes. Lift one arm or one leg at a time, sliding the leg back along the floor at first, if you wobble; our pregnancy strength workout uses the full bird dog in the first and second trimesters if you feel steady. Stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell, as the NHS advises.
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Start with the gentle tummy exercises the NHS describes. Our postnatal strength workout uses bird dogs, one limb at a time if you wobble; stop any move that makes the middle of your tummy dome (bulge into a ridge).
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Harvard Health's physical therapist suggests starting on your hands and knees on a bed.
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Dead bugs, 6 each side in 3 rounds (our beginner core workout); knee side planks and McGill curl-ups, 5, 3 and 1 holds of 10 seconds (our McGill big 3 routine); glute bridges, 2 to 3 sets of 10 (our back pain guide); all-fours straight-leg raises, 1 to 2 sets of 5 to 10 each leg (its move page's dose); glute kickbacks, 10 each side with your knees padded (our Pilates glute workout); locust holds, 3 of 10 to 15 seconds (our posterior pelvic tilt routine); cat-cow, 8 waves, slower than feels natural (its move page's dose), and wrist rocks, 10 in each hand position (our wrist and forearm routine), to warm up; child's pose, 1 to 3 minutes (its move page's dose), to finish.
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoKnee side plankBeginner · No equipment
3D demoMcGill curl-upBeginner · No equipment
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoAll-fours straight-leg raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoGlute kickback (quadruped hip extension)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLocust pose (Salabhasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoQuadruped wrist rocksBeginner · No equipment
3D demoChild's Pose (Balasana)Beginner · No equipmentOur McGill big 3 routine is the hold version; core session B of our 30-day ab challenge builds from one limb at a time to the full bird dog; the beginner core workout pairs bird dogs with dead bugs and planks; the plank challenge, Pilates for back pain and posterior pelvic tilt routines use them too.
The McGill big three for the core: curl-ups, side planks and bird dogs, each held for 10 seconds at a time in falling sets of 5, 3 and 1 reps.
12 minBeginner3 movesNo equipmentA 12-minute core session for the sides and back: side planks, bird dogs, a band press that resists twisting and an optional one-sided carry.
12 minBeginner10 movesA band, An anchor pointA 15-minute beginner core workout on the floor: dead bugs, bird dogs, knee planks, side planks and curl-ups.
15 minBeginner6 movesNo equipmentA 12-minute plank session for the 30-day plank challenge: front planks that get harder, not longer, plus side planks and bird dogs for the whole trunk.
12 minBeginner12 movesNo equipmentA gentle 15-minute Pilates-based routine for ongoing low back pain, built from neutral-spine moves with options for backs that dislike bending or arching.
15 minBeginner10 movesNo equipmentA 20-minute routine for a tucked pelvis or a flat lower back: pelvic tilts, hip hinges, back extensions, bridges and bird dogs, for control and strength.
20 minBeginner10 movesNo equipmentThe 30-day ab and plank challenges use the McGill big 3 routine; the beginner plan uses the beginner bodyweight workout, with bird dogs in its circuit; the pregnancy and postpartum plans use them, one limb at a time where needed.
A free 30-day ab challenge: four 12-minute core sessions a week, from dead bugs to hollow holds, with rest days and an honest word on belly fat.
4 training days12 minBeginner3 days a weekA free 30-day plank challenge that gets harder, not longer: three plank sessions a week, two optional McGill big 3 days and a plank test at each end.
3 training days12 minBeginner2 days a weekYour first four weeks: two, then three short strength sessions a week at home plus walks, building gently to a full routine.
2 training days20 minBeginner5 days a weekA pregnancy workout plan for each trimester: walks or swims, two strength sessions a week off your back, daily pelvic floor work and when to stop.
5 training days30 minBeginner5 days a weekA postpartum workout plan from the first days after birth to running and lifting again, week by week, with a caesarean track and readiness checks.
5 training days25 minBeginnerIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that feels tight, heavy or squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw or back; a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint; severe difficulty breathing; or angina pain that doesn't stop after rest and your medicine. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
If you haven't exercised for some time or have a medical condition, speak to your GP first, as the NHS advises. Breathe throughout the holds; never hold your breath.
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See a GP after any faint, and for dizziness that won't go away or keeps coming back.
Loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself. With sciatica, the NHS adds sciatica in both legs, and weakness or numbness in both legs that is severe or getting worse.
With a high temperature, or if you feel hot, cold, shivery or generally unwell, or if severe pain starts suddenly or gets worse quickly. In the US, use urgent care.
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Back pain that doesn't improve after a few weeks of treating it at home, stops your day-to-day activities, is worse at night or after resting, or comes with weight loss you can't explain or a lump or change in the shape of your back.
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Contact NHS 111 for severe wrist pain; feeling faint, dizzy or sick from the pain; a snap, grinding or popping noise at the time of an injury; not being able to move your wrist or hold things; a wrist that has changed shape or colour; or lost feeling in part or all of your hand. See a GP for wrist pain that stops normal activities, is getting worse or keeps coming back, or hasn't improved after 2 weeks of home treatment, or for tingling or loss of feeling.
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See a GP for knee pain that doesn't improve within a few weeks, and for shoulder pain that is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
Core exercise of this kind helped long-lasting back pain more than minimal treatment but no more than other exercise, no trial has tested the bird dog on its own, and 6 weeks of bird dogs and bridges didn't improve trunk endurance in young men. It's a sensible, gentle part of a back pain plan, as our back pain guides use it, not a fix; walking, Pilates, strength work and other exercise you enjoy help as much.
Back and abdominal strength and endurance didn't predict who got back pain across 12 cohorts of 5,459 people, core stabilisation prevented no more back pain than ordinary exercise in 4,147 soldiers, and changes in the deep tummy muscle didn't track recovery. Our plank guide grades this mixed because one cohort did link good back-muscle endurance with fewer first episodes of back pain in men.
It's a good, gentle one: most trunk muscles worked at under half of their maximum, with the big glute the exception in one study, and one trial found 6 weeks of bird dogs and bridges didn't improve trunk endurance or balance. Muscle activity in one session isn't proof of better results; use it alongside planks, side planks and loaded work.
McGill's approach holds each rep for about 8 to 10 seconds and adds reps, not seconds. No trial has compared longer holds, as our plank guide says.
Lifting higher makes your lower back arch. Reach long, level with your body, and only as high as your back stays still: the low spine load in the lab study came from keeping the spine still while the limbs moved.
The big glute worked above 45% of maximum in one study, and squares, diagonals and the same-side version make it harder; people with back pain found the full version a step up from one limb at a time.
Core exercises build control and some muscle, but they don't burn the fat over them, as our plank and get abs guides explain. Fat comes off the whole body with your eating and activity.
The back muscles beside your spine and the glutes of your lifted leg, with your obliques stopping your trunk from twisting and your shoulder holding the reaching arm. Most muscles work at under half of their maximum, though the big glute passed 45% in one study, so it's control work more than a strength builder.
They're a sensible part of a back pain plan, and our back pain guides use them. In one lab study, which we could read only as an abstract, extending a leg with your spine held still was among the lower-load back exercises, and people with long-lasting back pain rated bird dogs very tolerable. But core exercise helps back pain about as much as other exercise, not more, so keep walking and choose what you'll keep doing.
Both: each rep is a short hold. Our workouts hold for 3 to 5 seconds; McGill's routine holds for about 10 seconds in falling sets of 5, 3 and 1, adding reps rather than seconds as you improve.
2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 on each side with 3 to 5 second holds, 2 or 3 days a week, as our back pain plans and 30-day ab challenge use. The McGill big 3 routine is the alternative. It's control work, so end the set before your hips start to tip.
Draw small squares with your hand and foot, move them on a diagonal like the hands of a clock, or bring your elbow and knee together under you between reaches (the bird dog crunch). Then move on to Pilates swimming or bear crawls.
Lift one arm or one leg at a time: arms first, then legs, which ask more of your trunk. Once each lifts without your back moving, lift the opposite arm and leg together.
You're lifting too high or too fast. Reach long rather than high, only as far as your back stays still, and keep your hips level; a cushion or light stick across your lower back shows you if it tips. Keep your neck in line, looking at the floor just ahead of your hands.
Neither: the bird dog works the back of your trunk and your glutes on all fours, the dead bug the front of your trunk on your back. Our beginner core workout pairs them, and doing both covers more of your trunk.
Start with the bird dog. The superman lifts your chest and both legs face down, and exercises that lift the trunk loaded the spine most in one lab study. Move on to supermans and back extensions once bird dogs are easy, as our back extension guide suggests.
For most people, yes, and they're our swap for lying on your back after the first trimester. If you wobble, lift one arm or one leg at a time, sliding the leg back along the floor at first, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell.
Make fists or use push-up handles to keep your wrists straight, and kneel on a folded mat or cushion. See a GP for wrist pain that hasn't improved after 2 weeks of home treatment, or that comes with tingling or loss of feeling.
They can be part of a plan, but stop or shrink any move that sends pain, pins and needles or numbness further down your leg, as our back pain guides say. Sciatica in both legs, or numbness around your genitals or bottom, needs 999 or A&E.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
