Bird dog

Movement

What the movement is

In one study of core exercises, the bird-dog started from a quadruped position, meaning on hands and knees⁵. One leg and the opposite arm were lifted until the hip and knee were straight⁵. The lifted shoulder was in flexion, with the arm raised forward⁵. Many of the studies on this page measured muscle activity with electromyography (EMG), which picks up a muscle’s electrical signals^5,6,7.

Several results are given as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), a muscle’s hardest effort while the joint stays still^8,9.

How the versions change the challenge

Each finding below comes from one study that compared forms of the exercise^10,11:

• Arm and leg together. In 13 young male volunteers, adding an opposite-arm lift to a single-leg lift raised the challenge and demand¹². The study summary names no body position¹².
• Two points of contact. One study measured 76 men and women on force platforms, plates that measure how the body pushes on the ground¹⁰. Two-point positions produced more body sway than three-point positions¹⁰.
• Measured at the pelvis. In 57 physically active young men with a phone motion sensor on the pelvis, two-point positions were more intense than three-point ones¹¹. Moving the limbs was harder than holding them still¹¹.
• Drawing squares. In 8 healthy men, drawing squares with the hand or foot raised activity in many muscle groups¹³.

What it loads

The back muscles

The erector spinae make up most of the back’s muscle mass and are the main muscles that straighten the spine³. In the lumbar region, the lower back, they are two muscles: the iliocostalis lumborum and the longissimus thoracis¹⁴. Iliocostalis is the outermost column of the group, and longissimus the middle one. The thoracic region is the part of the spine that carries the ribs.

Each row below comes from one study of healthy people^1,2:

People studied	What the study found
12 healthy people	Erector spinae activity differed between difficulty levels and peaked when the leg on the same side was raised2
29 healthy volunteers	Erector spinae activity was greatest on the side opposite the raised arm15
30 healthy volunteers	The lumbar iliocostalis on one side and the thoracic iliocostalis on the other passed 20% of maximum1
30 healthy volunteers	With the opposite hip also bent, every back muscle measured except the latissimus dorsi, a broad back muscle, reached high activity1
10 healthy men	Harder levels of the exercise raised peak erector spinae activity16

In 14 able-bodied young women, the lumbar erector spinae worked evenly on both sides¹⁷. It was less active than the thoracic part¹⁷. Left-right differences in the thoracic part were largest with the opposite arm and leg lifted on hands and knees¹⁷.

In people aged 21 to 35, arm and leg raises on hands and knees kept lumbar multifidus and longissimus thoracis activity under 50% of maximum¹⁸. Three exercises, the prone Superman done face-down among them, reached 77% to 82%¹⁸.

The multifidus

The multifidus lies beside the erector spinae, nearer the midline, and belongs to a different muscle group¹⁹. A systematic review, a study that sums up all the research on a question, looked at core exercises in healthy adults⁶. Among core stability exercises, it found the highest lumbar multifidus activity, about 39% of maximum, in two⁶. These were the bridge and the bird dog with light loads on the lifted hand and leg⁶.

One study of 34 healthy adults used sensors placed in the muscle⁹. The deep multifidus made a larger share of the effort in the bird-dog than in the back extension, glute bridge or reverse hyperextension⁹. The surface multifidus and erector spinae were little active alongside it⁹. Even so, deep multifidus activity was 13.5% of maximum lower in the bird-dog than in the reverse hyperextension⁹. Adding a load of 10% of body weight raised it only negligibly across the exercises⁹.

In 17 healthy men, the lift direction and added weight changed the balance between the back muscles²⁰:

• Lifting the arm and leg out to the side raised multifidus activity on the lifted-leg side²⁰. It also raised the ratio of multifidus to lumbar erector spinae activity²⁰.
• Adding weight to both lifted limbs lowered that ratio, compared with the usual lift²⁰.

The buttock muscles

The gluteus maximus is placed to extend the hip, moving the thigh backward²¹. In 12 healthy people, its activity differed between difficulty levels and peaked when the leg on the same side was raised².

Two studies read the gluteus maximus results differently^2,22:

• In 30 healthy people, 19 men and 11 women, the authors suggest the arm and leg lift may help strengthen the gluteus maximus²².
• In 12 healthy people doing the Dying Bug and Quadruped exercises, no muscle measured passed 41% of MVIC². Those authors suggest this is not likely enough to strengthen muscle in healthy people².

One study tested the standing bird dog, done on one leg⁸. In its moving version, peak activity was about 80% of MVIC in the gluteus maximus and 45% in the gluteus medius⁸. The gluteus medius is a buttock muscle beneath the gluteus maximus. The multifidus peaked at about 60% and the lumbar erector spinae at about 55%⁸.

The abdominal muscles

On each flank, the abdominal wall has three layers³. The external oblique is the outer layer, the internal oblique the middle one and the transversus abdominis the deepest³. The two obliques twist the waist and bend the trunk to the side³.

In 30 healthy volunteers, the internal oblique on one side and the external oblique on the other passed 20% of maximum¹. The rectus abdominis stayed below 10% of maximum in every exercise tested¹. In 12 healthy people, oblique activity was significantly greater than rectus abdominis activity². Oblique activity did not change as the exercise got harder².

In 30 healthy women, the full bird-dog produced more transversus abdominis, internal oblique and multifidus activity than one arm lifted alone²³. The right internal oblique was the exception²³.

Bracing and hollowing the abdomen

Studies also asked people to tense or draw in the abdomen^13,24,25. Bracing means tightening the belly wall¹³. Abdominal hollowing means drawing the belly button in toward the spine.

• In 8 healthy men doing the curl-up, side bridge and bird dog, bracing generally raised oblique activity, though some techniques shifted activity to other muscles¹³.
• In 15 healthy men, bracing and hollowing each raised the transversus abdominis shear modulus, a sign of muscle activity²⁴. It was the only muscle of those measured to rise significantly²⁴.
• In the same 15 men, hollowing reduced how much the lower back arched and extended, compared with the other instructions²⁴.
• In 44 healthy young adults, the bird dog and side plank with hollowing gave the greatest overall rise in thickness of three trunk muscles²⁵. Those were the transversus abdominis, internal oblique and lumbar multifidus²⁵.

Unsteady surfaces

Studies of unsteady surfaces pointed in different directions^26,27. In 9 healthy men, a hand-knee stabilization exercise on an unstable surface raised activity in the more global trunk muscles²⁶. These are the larger trunk muscles, as opposed to the small deep ones. In 18 people from fitness centres, the lower-back muscles were significantly more active on the ground than on a whole-body wobble board²⁷.

Studies in people with back conditions

A 2021 Global Burden of Disease analysis defined low back pain as pain lasting a day or more, between the lowest ribs and buttock creases²⁸. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is a sideways curve of the spine with no known cause that first appears around the teenage years. Each finding below comes from one study^5,29,30:

People studied	What the study found
13 outpatients with non-specific low back pain	The squat and the bird-dog were especially effective at activating the lumbar erector spinae, at EMG levels of 40% and 29%5
The same 13 outpatients	Every exercise tested, the bird-dog among them, was well tolerated except the lateral (side) plank5
10 people with chronic low back pain	Multifidus and lumbar iliocostalis activity was significantly greater with arm and leg raised than with either alone29
23 people with chronic low back pain	More arch in the lower back raised multifidus activity by 16.9% of maximum, compared with a neutral spine, its natural resting position7
8 young men with past low back pain, against 9 without	Latissimus dorsi and thoracic erector spinae activity on the lifted-leg side were linked to past pain31
40 people with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis	The multifidus was more active on the opposite side, and its ratio to erector spinae activity was above 1.030

In the study of 17 young men, the authors suggest that lumbar multifidus activity was not lower in those with past pain³¹. They suggest the lower back was not overly extended either³¹.

How the body adapts

In a randomised trial, 60 young, physically active men were split into a control group and two training groups⁴. The training groups did bridging and bird-dog programmes twice a week for six weeks⁴. Neither improved trunk performance or whole-body balance compared with the control group⁴.

The two training groups did change in different ways⁴. The higher-intensity group changed more on bridging and bird-dog balance tests⁴. The higher-volume group changed more on trunk endurance tests⁴. The authors read this as training changes being specific to the task⁴.

In a randomised trial of home exercise, 40 people with non-specific low back pain were randomised to a six-week programme, and 30 completed it³². It combined the plank, side plank, a foot-raised side plank, the dead bug and the bird dog³². Disability scores fell from the start in both the game-style group and the take-home-packet group³². The change did not differ significantly between the groups³².

Progressive overload

A 2026 position stand describes progressive overload as the need to raise the stimulus on the muscle through a training programme³³. The trials below progressed the bird dog by variation, hold time, tempo or sets, each inside a programme of several exercises^4,34,35.

Harder variations

In the six-week randomised trial of young, physically active men, both groups trained twice a week, 48 hours apart⁴. Each session had four repetitions of five exercises, the bird-dog among them⁴. The higher-intensity group held each repetition for 15 seconds, and the higher-volume group for 30 seconds, on a variation that had produced lower pelvic acceleration⁴. Both rested 1 minute between exercises and 30 seconds between repetitions⁴.

In the fourth and eighth sessions, each man tried the next-harder variation⁴. The one that fell in his group’s pelvic-acceleration range became his new exercise⁴. Most men, 83.3% and 78.9% of the two groups, moved up at least one level in each exercise⁴. The authors suggest that six weeks of these 21.5- to 26.5-minute sessions do not seem to give enough stimulus for significant changes in that population⁴.

Longer holds and a set tempo

In a randomised trial of 26 adolescent male sub-elite handball players, the training group did three sets of the bird dog three times a week³⁴. Holds rose from 45 seconds to 60 and then 75, every two weeks over six weeks³⁴. Holds were static in odd weeks, and in even weeks the movement kept a beat of 60 per minute³⁴.

The programme also had cross curl-ups and side bridges³⁴. It improved back and side trunk endurance scores more than handball training alone³⁴. Throwing speed showed no change specific to the group³⁴. The authors note that the team-wide progression allowed neither individual progression nor load measurement³⁴.

Adding sets

In a study of 32 elite soccer players, the bird dog was one of six bodyweight exercises done four times a week for 8 weeks³⁵. Each started at 5 sets of 10 repetitions per side, adding one set each week³⁵. Sprint times over 5 m and 30 m improved significantly after the six-exercise programme³⁵.

Choosing the variation

• In 57 young, physically active men, the order of difficulty was very similar across people¹¹. The authors still conclude that progressions need to fit each person’s control of the lower back and pelvis¹¹.
• In 76 men and women, people with high trunk control showed fewer significant differences between variations than people with low trunk control¹⁰.
• From ultrasound scans in 21 recreational athletes, the authors suggest arm lifts first, then leg lifts, then both, to raise multifidus thickness³⁶.
• In 20 people with mild-to-moderate multiple sclerosis, the three-point positions were the only bird-dog forms feasible for most³⁷.

Connections

The muscles it works

These muscles, each with its own entry, were measured in bird dog studies¹:

• The erector spinae, the main muscles that straighten the back^2,3.
• The gluteus maximus, which extends the hip^1,21.
• The external oblique, the outer layer of the flank^1,3.
• The latissimus dorsi, on the lower back^3,31.
• The rectus abdominis, which stayed at low activity¹.

Muscles without an entry yet

The multifidus, internal oblique, transversus abdominis and gluteus medius were also measured in bird dog studies^8,23.

Related pages

One study compared the bird-dog with the back extension for deep multifidus activity⁹. Another compared it with the side plank and other trunk exercises for trunk muscle thickness²⁵. A home-exercise trial combined it with the plank and side plank³².

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Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 23, 2026 Added a Progressive overload section.
• September 29, 2026 First published.