Bird Dog

The bird dog exercise is a bodyweight, core-strengthening exercise with an additional glute and shoulder burn. It is a staple in both general fitness and rehabilitation programming. It can be done virtually anywhere, making it accessible to many people.

The bird dog features a starting position with both hands and knees on the ground. You then transition into extending your opposite arms and legs from this tabletop position. This challenges your strength, balance, stability, and coordination.

Read on to learn more about how to incorporate bird dogs into your routine today!

How To Do

  1. Start in a tabletop position, with both hands and knees touching the ground. Your spine should be in a neutral position. Inhale and engage your core.
  2. Exhale while slowly extending your right arm forward and your left leg backward, keeping both limbs parallel to the floor.
  3. Pause briefly and bring your arm and leg back to the starting position.
  4. Repeat on the opposite side.

Tips From Expert

  • Ensure your shoulders are over your hands and your glutes are over your knees. This gives you a stable base to work from.
  • Keep your core engaged throughout the movement. This ensures you can maintain stability and target your core.
  • Don’t let your hips and torso sag towards the ground. If you notice this, take a breath and reset.
  • Use controlled arm and leg movements throughout. This helps to keep the correct movement pattern and reduce the risk of injury.
  • Avoid rotating your hips as you bring you move your legs and arms. This ensures targeted muscle development.
  • Imagine you’re stretching your limbs out as you maintain a stable torso position.

Optimal Sets and Reps

The graph below outlines the ideal sets and reps to complete based on your primary fitness goal.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 6–8
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–12
Endurance Training 2–3 12–15
Power Training 3–4 4–6 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Bird Dog

How to Put in Your Workout Split

When programming the bird dog into your split, you must consider your training style. This will determine how closely you work to your one repetition maximum. Your 1RM is the heaviest weight you can lift for one repetition while maintaining good form.

  • Strength Training — For optimal strength, focus on a lower repetition range and work close to fatigue. You should work within 80%–100% of your 1RM for 3–5 sets. This will require a longer rest period, about 2 minutes or more.
  • Hypertrophy Training — For optimal muscle building, focus on a moderate repetition range. You should work within 60%–80% of your 1RM for 3–4 sets. Your rest period should also be moderate, or about 30 to 90 seconds.
  • Endurance Training — Select a high repetition range to develop muscular endurance. You should work below 60% of your 1RM for 3–4 sets. To keep your heart rate up, your rest periods should be minimal, or about 15 to 60 seconds.
  • Power Training — For power training, focus on explosive movements. Your repetition range will be quite low due to the high force produced during power training. Your weight will be variable, but you should be working close to failure. Rest adequately between sets, about 2 minutes or more.

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Secondary Muscle Groups

Gluteus

Large, superficial muscles located at your buttocks just below your lower back area.

Serratus Anterior

Small, fan shaped muscle that lies deep under your chest and scapula.

Gluteus

The glute muscles are in the buttocks region. The gluteus maximus is the largest and strongest of the glute muscles.

In a bird dog, the glutes perform hip extension when you lift your leg off the ground and straighten it. Here, the glute muscles shorten and contract to drive your leg backward.

Research shows that bird dogs activate the gluteus maximus at a similar rate to conventional exercises, such as a bodyweight squat.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings are a muscle group on the posterior (back) thighs.

In a bird dog, the hamstrings assist in knee stability throughout the movement. You flex at the knee joint in both the starting position and when returning to the starting position. Additionally, they also work alongside the glutes to perform hip extension.

Given this, bird dogs can be incorporated into your leg workouts to promote strength and stability.

Latissimus Dorsi

The latissimus dorsi is a triangle-shaped muscle located on the back, extending from the shoulder blades to the pelvis.

During a bird dog, the latissimus dorsi helps you maintain shoulder stability as you extend your arm forward. It also helps activate the core to maintain proper balance and form by controlling shoulder movement.

Serratus Anterior

The serratus anterior is on the sides of the body, above the ribcage, and below the shoulders. It helps move the shoulder blades forward and upward. It also plays a key role in overhead lifting, throwing, and punching movements.

In a bird dog, the serratus anterior helps keep the shoulders stable during extension. This helps prevent excessive or improper movements.

Upper Trapezius

The trapezius is a muscle in the center of the upper back. It is divided into three regions — the upper, middle, and lower trapezius. All three regions play a slightly different role in helping move and stabilize the upper body.

The upper trapezius elevates and rotates the shoulder blades. This allows us to complete exercises that involve shoulder shrugging or overhead arm movements.

In a bird dog, the upper trapezius helps us raise our arm, stabilize the shoulder, and maintain a neutral spine.

Middle Trapezius

The middle trapezius helps us pull the shoulder blades towards the spine. It plays a key role in pulling actions, such as rowing a boat or opening a door.

In a bird dog, the middle trapezius plays a role in stabilizing the shoulders throughout the exercise.

Lower Trapezius

The lower trapezius helps us pull our shoulders down, which contributes to stability and facilitates arm elevation.

In a bird dog, its role is no different. The lower trapezius helps keep the shoulders in the correct position. This aids in movement, stability, posture, and control.

Posterior Deltoid

The deltoids are our shoulder muscles. They are divided into three parts — the posterior, anterior, and lateral deltoids. The posterior deltoids are on the back of the shoulders.

In a bird dog, the posterior deltoid supports the arm in extension as you reach forward. Here, it helps stabilize the shoulder to help you complete the movement with proper alignment and form.

It also supports the arm as you reach forward, ensuring proper alignment and balance.

Add this exercise to your shoulder and trap workout for enhanced strength and stability.

Iliopsoas

The iliopsoas is a deep muscle in the hip region. It consists of two parts — the psoas major and the iliacus.

In a bird dog, the iliopsoas muscle assists in hip flexion when you pull your leg back toward the start position. It also helps stabilize the pelvis throughout the movement, contributing to proper form and core activation.

Equipment

Bodyweight

Bodyweight

Requires bodyweight resistance and additional equipment for proper execution.

Who Should Do?

General Gymgoers

A well-rounded fitness routine includes resistance training, cardiovascular exercise, stretching, and mobility work. Bird dogs can be easily added to many different workouts to help you achieve your goal.

The bird dog exercise is a total-body workout. As a compound exercise, it activates multiple muscle groups, including the core, lower body, and upper body muscles. This simultaneous muscle activation helps strengthen weaker muscles and stretch overactive muscles. 

Older Adults, Beginners, And Individuals Struggling With Balance

Bird dogs are also functional exercises, meaning they can help you perform better in your everyday activities. Examples of everyday activities that bird dogs may help strengthen include walking, climbing, and lifting. 

Functional exercises are particularly beneficial for the aging population. This exercise is considered low-impact, putting less strain on the muscles and joints. Lastly, this exercise can be completed anywhere if you have stable ground. It can easily be added to your back workouts at home.

Who Should Not Do?

Individuals With Poor Hip Mobility

Hip mobility is the ability to move your hips across a full range of motion. When this is compromised, the body compensates by recruiting the spine and lower back. It can lead to muscle imbalances, pain, and injuries. 

Leading a sedentary lifestyle can increase your risk for poor hip mobility. As the bird dog exercise requires hip extension, individuals with poor hip mobility may find it very difficult to complete. Improper form can lead to excessive lower back arching or hip rotation.

Focusing on developing hip mobility and core strength in other ways can help prepare you for bird dogs. This includes both stretching and strengthening exercises. If you have existing injuries or muscle imbalances, it’s best to recruit a professional to help with exercise selection. 

Individuals With Shoulder Instability

Shoulder instability may occur due to a weak, loose, or injured shoulder joint. This increases the risk of the shoulder slipping out of place, especially during exercise or everyday movements.

Bird dogs can be very challenging for individuals with unstable shoulder joints. This exercise requires the non-working shoulder to support your body weight while the other extends. When this occurs, you are creating an unstable environment.

This instability is ideal for muscle recruitment in the presence of a strong and stable shoulder joint. However, those with preexisting shoulder instability could put themselves at an increased risk for pain or injuries.

If you are struggling with this, it is best to complete exercises that do not place the shoulder joint in a vulnerable position. If you have no issues with balance, a standing bird dog may be suitable. The upright positioning does not require bearing any weight on the shoulder joint.

Benefits Of The Bird Dog

Strengthens Muscles 

Muscles are strengthened through resistance exercises and applying the principle of progressive overload. Progressive overload simply refers to increasing the difficulty of your workouts for continued results. 

Compound movements like bird dogs may be preferential to those looking to develop total body strength and muscularity. The simultaneous activation of different muscle groups helps build a well-rounded physique. This can help us perform better in the gym and with everyday activities.

Research shows that the bird dog produces a wide range of muscle activation without significant fatigue. This means you should be able to gain strength with less injury risk.

Improves Coordination 

Coordination is defined as the ability to move multiple body parts smoothly and effectively. Good coordination is essential for everyday mobility, athletic performance, and injury prevention.

Bird dogs challenge coordination by having you extend one arm forward while simultaneously extending the opposite leg back. This engages multiple muscles, requiring them to work together to maintain adequate form and mobility. 

Relieves Back Pain 

Back pain is one of the top injuries seen in the fitness community. It is often multifactorial and can be difficult to troubleshoot. Luckily, research has made great strides in determining which exercises are most suitable for those struggling.

In the absence of shoulder injuries or poor hip mobility, bird dogs are excellent for those suffering from back pain. Back pain is often caused by weak core muscles, which bird dogs directly target. You can strengthen your core to support your back by programming bird dogs into your routine.

A 2019 study shows bird dogs effectively activate erector spinae muscles and are well-tolerated for individuals with back pain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of exercise is the bird dog?

Bird dogs are a bodyweight core stability exercise. Because they activate multiple muscle groups, they are also considered a compound movement.

Is the bird dog effective?

The bird dog effectively increases strength, balance, and coordination. As a functional movement, this exercise also strengthens muscles that aid everyday activities.

How often should I do the bird dog?

Training frequency will depend on your primary goal. As a general rule, training a muscle or muscle group twice a week is best for results.

Can I do the bird dog every day?

While not required for optimal benefits, you can safely perform the bird dog daily. If you would like to add bird dogs to your daily exercise routine, you can use them as a dynamic warm-up.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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