It’s a move that pops up in a variety of fitness classes, from prenatal core workouts to the most intense bootcamps. And while it may seem straightforward, the bird dog is a serious strength-building exercise that’s not only accessible but also incredibly functional, helping to improve posture, alleviate certain types of back pain, and even help prevent injuries. But to truly reap the benefits of this powerhouse move, it’s important to understand the mechanics, the benefits, and the avoidable mistakes to achieve proper form. Here’s everything you need to know to tackle bird dog with confidence. 

What Is the Bird Dog Exercise? 

Bird dog is a bodyweight exercise performed on all fours (i.e., hands and knees) that requires you to lift one arm and leg at a time. It’s essentially like the dead bug exercise, but flipped over so your hands and knees are on the floor, instead of your back. 

While bird dog it’s primarily considered a core exercise, it works a ton of different muscles (more on that in a bit), and can help promote stability and muscular endurance in a variety of body areas. It’s also a yoga pose—Bird Dog (Parsva Balasana). Bird dog doesn’t require any equipment and can be safely incorporated into workouts of almost all levels.

“It's a really accessible, full body movement that builds [strength and skills] that are going to improve your quality of life over a long period of time,” explains Peloton instructor Denis Morton. “Most of us aren't going to be lifting cars off of people in our lives, but we do want to be able to step off the curb confidently and reach overhead to get into the cabinets. Practicing these movements will make our lives easier over the passage of time.”

How to Do Bird Dog Correctly

Bird dog may look deceptively simple, but executing it correctly requires some practice and skill. Here’s how to perform it correctly:

Bird Dog Exercise Benefits

The subtlety of the bird dog may challenge the expectations of exercisers who believe every workout move needs to be as intense as possible. Rather than focusing on maximum power, speed, or load, bird dog is meant to challenge the body in more subdued but equally important ways.

“It's a full body exercise designed more to build stability, balance, and coordination than it is strength,” Denis says. “Because while you’re load bearing, a lot of the load is borne by your knee and your hip, which are really strong to begin with. You're not challenging the muscles that are holding you off the ground in the same way that you would with something like a sit-up, where you're lifting the entire weight of your torso and head off the ground with just one small muscle group. With the bird dog, you're not putting enough load on any particular muscle group to make it a real strength activity.”

That being said, not every exercise is designed to improve your brute strength or result in major muscle growth (aka hypertrophy). A well-rounded fitness plan includes functional moves and activities that help you thrive in everyday life, and the bird dog is definitely a practical, longevity-focused exercise worth incorporating into your routine. 

“It's great for your posture and your body awareness,” Denis says. The move helps you balance muscle contraction on all sides of the body, which he says is a key benefit. "Our bodies aren’t relaxed in the bird dog; when we’re in that position, the muscles all have to stay in balance in order to hold us there.” 

Which Muscles Does Bird Dog Target?

While the bird dog may not be a traditional strength exercise, it still works a long list of muscles, training them to work in harmony, and allowing you to move through life with more stability, balance, and coordination over time. Here are all the muscles that work hard in the bird dog:

It’s safe to say the bird dog is a full-body move that touches on a ton of muscles, head to toe. “Everything is working in unison in order for the movement to go smoothly,” Denis says. “And because it’s a relatively light lift, it’s a really accessible exercise that incorporates most of the major muscles of the body in order to build stability and coordination.”

Tips for Doing Bird Dog with Proper Form

“What fires together, wires together,” Denis says. “Neurologically speaking, if we do things with poor form, we'll bring those same muscular connections and firing patterns with us when we stand up from the exercise. So you want to practice good posture anytime you're doing one of these exercises.”

While bird dog may seem like a simple move, there are a lot of form cues to keep in mind. Here is Denis’s go-to checklist:

Mistakes to Avoid During Bird Dog

In addition to focusing on the proper form to-dos, it’s important to be aware of the most common bird dog mistakes so you can really reap the benefits of the exercise and avoid injuries. Here are some points to keep in mind:

Bird Dog Variations

Depending on your fitness level and experience, you may want to progress or regress the classic bird dog. While hand and ankle weights could theoretically up the intensity of the bird dog, Denis says you’d probably be better off looking for those strength gains in other exercises. “I think that there are more efficient and effective movements to achieve the same result,” he says. “Once you're talking about adding weight to a bird dog, it might be more beneficial to progress to a more challenging movement—that would be my personal recommendation.” 

Here are a few of Denis’s favorite ways to mix things up.

Single-Arm or -Leg Bird Dog

Rather than lifting an arm and leg simultaneously, you can make the move slightly easier by just moving one limb at a time. “You can regress it by simply taking a hand off the ground or a foot off the ground, which are both going to challenge your stability,” Denis says. “You could absolutely keep everything the same and do it one limb at a time just to build the coordination and firing pattern.” 

To further modify the move, you can also put the ball of the extended foot behind you on the ground for more stability. As you progress, try slowly lifting the back foot off the ground, which engages the hamstring and forces you to rely on just the knee for balance. “Or as you extend the hand forward, you could put fingertips on the ground and float the foot behind you,” Denis says. 

Lateral Bird Dog

Another move to try is lateral abduction, which means opening the hip, extending the leg out to the side, and extending the arm to the opposite side. “This challenges your lateral balance and really engages the transverse abdominus in pursuit of anti-rotation,” Denis says.

Bird Dog Crunch

Another way to progress the exercise is to perform additional movements with your lifted limbs. Instead of bringing your extended limbs back to the ground to rest between sides, try drawing your elbow and knee toward each other underneath your stomach in a crunch motion.

“Instead of just reaching forward and returning to quadruped, you reach forward with the arm and back with the leg and then bring the opposite elbow and knee together underneath you while drawing the abs up,” Denis says. That will give you a little bit more of a strength challenge, he says.

The Takeaway

Crushing your core doesn’t always have to mean performing dozens of crunches or working to feel that unmistakable ab burn. The bird dog is a great example of a core move that can help improve your stability, balance, and coordination, no matter where you are in your fitness journey. While the exercise is simple and accessible, it works a ton of muscles, including those in your shoulders, back, glutes, and core. 

Integrating the bird dog into your workout routine—whether you do it as part of a dedicated core strength workout or a full yoga flow on the Peloton App—will not only help you gain more control of your body in other fitness modalities, but it will also allow you to continue being mobile, active, and strong as you navigate aging and body changes over time.