Exercise guide · evidence-graded

Medicine Ball Dead Bug

The medicine ball dead bug is a floor core exercise in which you hold a medicine ball between your hands and knees over your stomach, then extend one arm and the opposite leg while the other hand and knee keep the ball in place. It trains the abs and obliques to hold your low back flat while your limbs move.

Also called: Med Ball Dead Bug, Dead Bug with Medicine Ball, Dead Bug Ball Squeeze, Ball-Pinned Dead Bug · Equipment: medicine ball · Pattern: isolation

Open in the app
How to do it

Step by step

  1. Lie on your back with your arms straight up over your shoulders and your knees bent to 90° directly over your hips.
  2. Place a medicine ball between your hands and knees, over the middle of your trunk, and press into it lightly with both hands and both knees.
  3. Breathe out and brace so your low back is flat against the floor.
  4. Reach one arm back overhead and straighten the opposite leg towards the floor, while the other hand and knee keep pressing the ball in place.
  5. Extend only as far as your low back stays flat and the ball stays still.
  6. Bring the arm and leg back to the ball and press both hands and knees into it again.
  7. Repeat on the other side, alternating for the set. Take the ball in your hands before bringing your feet down to finish.
Coaching cues
  • Low back flat on the floor
  • Press the ball with hand and opposite knee
  • Reach long, not just down
  • Breathe out as you extend
  • Move slowly on both sides

In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.

Muscles worked

What it trains

MuscleRoleEvidence
Rectus abdominisPrime moverC
Obliques (internal/external)Prime moverD
Transverse abdominisStabiliserD
Latissimus dorsiStabiliserD
Hip flexorsDynamic stabiliserC

Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.

Common faults

What goes wrong, and the fix

Low back lifting off the floor

Fix: Shorten the reach and breathe out to flatten your back before each rep.

Ball slipping or dropping

Fix: Keep pressing the ball firmly with the hand and knee that stay in place.

Moving the same-side arm and leg

Fix: Move the arm and the opposite leg together.

Rushing the reps

Fix: Take about two seconds out and two seconds back.

Holding the breath

Fix: Breathe out as the limbs extend and breathe in as they return.

Programming

What the research says

Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitnessSport performanceEndurance

  • Muscle activity — An EMG study of the dead bug found abdominal activity was higher when arms and legs moved together than with the arms alone. There is no EMG data for the medicine ball version, and EMG measures activity, not growth.
  • Speed — The same study found faster movement raised abdominal activity. A common approach is still to move slowly to keep the back flat.
  • Reps — Many programmes use sets of 6 to 10 slow reps per side. There is no research on the best rep range for this drill.
Alternatives · VALDA FLEX

Swap it mid-workout

With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.

Log the medicine ball dead bug in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.