Bear Plank Bird Dog – Evil Core Exercise

Video Summary

Bear Plank Bird Dog: Serious Anti Rotation Core Strength

The Bear Plank Bird Dog develops core strength and stability in the anti-rotation pattern along with shoulders and hips.

How To Perform A Bear Plank Bird Dog

Starting in a Bear Plank Position – arms straight with the hands beneath your shoulders, balls of the feet engaged on the floor at hip width, knees raised, hovering just off the floor…

Then, maintaining a low hip position and a very slightly tucked pelvis, brace the core as if you’re about to take a punch to the stomach.

With as little torso movement as possible at the hips and shoulders, shift your weight equally between just two diagonal opposite points of contact–both one palm of your hand, and the ball of the diagonally opposite foot.

Then, simultaneously lift the free, unloaded foot from the floor along with the diagonally opposite unloaded hand –continuing to shift pressure equally between the two remaining points of contact–the grounded hand and foot.

Fully extend the free leg straight behind you, driving the heel towards the wall, while reaching out long with the free arm to the wall in front of you too.

Then lower both the arm and leg back to the start position, re-engaging the ball of the foot and palm of the hand with the floor as you alternate, extending the opposite leg to the wall behind you and opposite arm straight to the wall in front.

Throughout the exercise your shoulders stay down away from your ears and you squeeze your armpit to post your arm into the floor.

Your core remains tight and your spine long. Try to remain as still as possible, presenting your torso like a table top with a glass of water on it–don’t spill it!

Bear Plank Bird Dog Mistakes

Common mistakes are not slightly tucking the pelvis–placing undue stress on the lower back, allowing the shoulders to shrug and collapse, and not bracing the core correctly–allowing the hips to twist or shift excessively from side to side.

Making Bear Plank Bird Dogs Easy & Harder

o make the exercise easier, make both the leg and arm extension movements smaller.

To make the exercise harder, hold both the leg and arm at full extension for an isometric hold of between 2-5 secs on each rep.

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