Bird Dog Exercise Tutorial – Part 3

Bird Dog Exercise – Part 3

Overview

This advanced bird dog variation builds core strength, balance, and coordination while mobilizing and stabilizing the lower back and pelvis. By combining opposite arm and leg movements with controlled step-downs, it helps improve spinal stability and can relieve low back and pelvic pain.

Level

Beginner

Targets

Lower back & pelvis

Step by Step Instructions

Equipment

• A stair/step
• Stair railing (optional, for support)

Set-up

• Stand tall on a stair with feet hip-width apart.

• Lightly hold the railing if needed. Brace your core and keep your hips level.

A. Opposite arm/leg reach (foundation)

1. Lift your right arm forward to shoulder height.
2. At the same time, lift your left leg behind you to hip height.
3. Bring your right hand and left knee toward each other (small crunch), then return to the long reach.
4. Lower and repeat on the other side (left arm + right leg).

B. Progression: Hover balance

1. Repeat the movement above, but hover the lifted foot off the step (do not tap down).
2. Maintain single-leg balance while you bring opposite hand and knee toward each other.
3. Switch sides.

C. Full movement: Step-down cross crunch

1. From the stair, step down with your left leg.
2. As you step, drive the left knee across toward your right elbow (cross-body crunch).
3. Step back up to the stair and reset.
4. Switch sides (step down with right leg, drive right knee toward left elbow).

Reps & Sets

• 10–15 repetitions per side
• 3 sets, 1–2× per day

Form cues

• Keep your torso tall, core braced, and hips level.
• Move slowly and with control; use the railing as needed for balance.

[Video Transcript]

This is the third step to bird dog. You can see that I’m up right now and you’ve mastered step one. You mastered step two. Now we can put it all together while you’re standing. So while

you’re on a step, use a stair and then you’ll have the railing there if you need support. You bring your right arm up, you bring your left leg up, and you bring them towards each other. Justlike that. Okay? You do the other side too. Left leg or left arm, right leg. And once you’ve mastered this, you try to hover your foot off the step. So you’re actually not stepping down and you’re just hovering on one leg.

Takes a bit of coordination, it takes a bit of balance. Make sure you do the other side as well, just like that. Now once you can do this without any problem, the full movement would be to step down with your left leg and bring it towards your right elbow, just like this. And then we want to switch sides. I would do 10 to 15 repetitions of this. If you could do three sets, one to two times a day, that’s going to help you mobilize your lower back, your pelvis, which can also help stabilize low back and pelvis, relieving a lot of pain. So that is the third and final step of bird dog.

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