CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Deadbug Floor Press

I don’t say this lightly.

I am IronmanDeadbugs are underrated and you need to be doing more of them.

I believe they’re as important and integral of an exercise to your success in the weight-room as squats, deadlifts, or just about any barbell lift you can think of.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say “the more deadbugs you include in your training (and the more proficient you get at them), the higher the likelihood you’ll see improvements in all your lifts.1

Copyright: tankist276 / 123RF Stock Photo

Deadbugs Are About as Exciting as Listening to Bobcat Goldthwait Narrate 50 Shades of Grey

As much as I’m a fan of deadbugs I get why most people tend to roll their eyes when they come up in conversation.

Client: “I’m so excited to get started on my new program. What are we doing today?

Me: “We’re starting off with some deadbugs and then…..”

Client (cue tossing of shade):

via GIPHY

I’ll admit deadbugs aren’t super exciting to perform and there are many, many things clients/athletes would likely rather perform:

  • High rep squats.
  • Fran
  • A colonoscopy

But since when does exercising have to be exciting or sexy? While I can appreciate there should be some form of “give and take” with regards to what I feel clients need to do and what they want to do, I have yet to come across anyone – regular Joes and Janes alike to professional athletes – who haven’t benefited from more deadbugs being peppered into their program.

The ability to stabilize and maintain a “neutral” pelvis/spine while simultaneously moving the extremities has a profound effect on one’s ability not only reduce the incidence of injury, but to also improve performance.

NOTE: For more of the what, why, and how’s on the topic I’d encourage you to read THIS quickie article I wrote a few years ago, in addition to THIS one which shows off a few solid progressions.

Learning to perform a deadbug correctly is step #1 (check out the links above), and not coincidentally provides a profound degree of respect people tend to lack towards the exercise.

Actually, screw it, lets press the pause button.

Watch this short video which details mistake #1 when it comes to deadbug execution:

 

It’s a lot harder than many think.

Another aspect not fully appreciated is the adaptability and “scaling” of the exercise which exists. The deadbug can seamlessly be regressed or progressed to fit the needs, goals, and ability level of the individual.

To that end here’s a nice progression I went over this past weekend while in Vancouver/Victoria teaching my Coaching Competency Workshop.

Deadbug Floor Press

 

Who Did I Steal It From?: I actually learned this variation a few years ago when I was speaking in London during one of my hands-on breakouts. I had all the trainers in attendance try a few of my variations, and as we had a little more of a back and forth dialogue this badboy made an appearance.

What Does It Do?: All of the benefits of a regular, vanilla deadbug (improved core stability, lumbo-pelvic control, anterior core activation, cueing “canister” position), but less instance of someone wanting to throw their face into a cement floor from boredom.

It’s a deadbug, but a little more “meatheady” and athletic.

Key Coaching Cues: Do NOT lowball the exhale. If you didn’t already, please watch the first video above which breaks down what a full exhale should look like.

Some other minor stuff I didn’t go over in the video:

  • When pressing (especially with a KB) make sure your knuckles point towards the ceiling. This will help reduce excessive wrist extension.
  • If need be, you can also decrease the lever of the move by bending the knee of the moving leg, and perform more of heel tap.
  • When the full exhale is complete and the leg is fully extended, try to let the leg “hover” for a 2-3s count before you return back to the starting position with an inhale.
  • I shot this video on June 5th. It was 55 degrees outside. WTF mother nature.

 

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Deadbug With Extension + Reach

It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s read this site for any length of time that I love me some LOLCats, beef jerky, pantless anything (insert things like writing, cooking, reading, crime fighting here) Deadbugs.

I feel they’re one of the most underused and underutilized exercises out there, due in no small part to how innocuous they look. This is unfortunate because they offer a ton of benefits and have applicability to pretty much every person, athlete or non-athlete, injury-free or not.

Not only are they a superb core training exercise, but their versatility in that they can be tweaked and progressed or regressed (depending on a person’s ability level) is what also lends them to MVP (or, MVE – Most Valuable Exercise) status in my book.

Plain ol’ vanilla deadbugs – when done right (controlled cadence, movement comes from hips and shoulders and not lumbar spine, with a full exhale – are more than challenging for 90% of the population. I’ve had professional athletes and very strong individuals humbled by this “wimpy” looking exercise.

To that point, I am never too quick to jump on the “lets make this exercise harder for the sake of making it harder” wagon. Because, frankly, more often than not…it’s not necessary.

43488580 - a black bumpy foam massage roller. foam rolling is a self-myofascial release technique that is used by athletes and physical therapists to inhibit overactive muscles.

Copyright: stocksnapper / 123RF Stock Photo

SIDE NOTE: this is why I’m amused at people who feel the need to up the ante on things like foam rolling. We now have people using foam rollers with spikes and bumps (some even vibrate) on them or even PVC and lead pipes, thinking they’re more effective. 

I’m half expecting rolling on a live grenade to be the next progression.

It has to hurt in order to work.

However, this isn’t to imply that the deadbug exercise can never be progressed or made more challenging. Truth be told: I’m always intrigued whenever I come across new variations. Like this one. which I came across yesterday:

Deadbug With Extension + Reach

 

Who Did I Steal It From: Luka Hocevar of Vigor Ground Fitness and Performance.

What Does It Do: Well, it’s a deadbug, so it’s already a killer anterior core exercise, and serves as a great way to teach someone to dissociate lumbar movement from hip movement. I.e., the idea is to maintain a neutral spine position and not allow the lower back to “fall” into extension as you move the extremities.

With this variation, however, there’s a bit more in play:

1. First, it’s important to “vet” individuals for this exercise. If they lack ample shoulder flexion to bring their arms overhead, it won’t be a good fit.

2. Holding the KB above makes it easier to engage anterior core (which will help to posteriorly tilt the pelvis, which is important for those people stuck in excessive APT).

3. Lowering the KB (under control) cues the individual to create a flexion moment in the abdominals while simultaneously promoting an extension moment in the thoracic spine (where we want extension to occur).

4. Too, adding the “reach” at the end (where you keep the rib cage locked to the pelvis) is another fantastic way to increase more core demand and strength (and allow flexion, albeit with a teeny-tiny bit of load. Don’t worry, you’re spine will live).

Key Coaching Cues: To reiterate above, go SLOW when lowering the KB. Own the movement, keep the ribs down. When it comes to the reach: try not to get movement from flexing the neck. Instead, “lead with your chest,” as if the chest were pushing the KB towards the ceiling. Hold for a 2-3s count, lower, switch legs, and repeat.

3-6 reps per side should be more than enough to respect the movement.

CategoriesExercise Technique Exercises You Should Be Doing Rehab/Prehab

Deadbugs: The What, Why, and How

I know what some of you may be thinking:  “Really, Tony, a post on deadbugs?  What’s next….telling us how much you love Twilight or that you’re adopting another cat?  You haven’t gone soft on us now have you?”

<—– LOL, get it??  I actually put a picture of a “dead bug” here, when I’m actually just referring to the exercise.  High five!

Full confession time.  Okay, I admit it: back in 2008 I read the first Twilight book.  But only because I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about and see for myself why so many people were going bat shit crazy over it.

Well that, and it was a dark period in my life. I was single at the time and was going through some existential phase where I was trying to figure out what everything means.  Vampires wasn’t the answer.

I read it, didn’t care for it, and moved on with my life.

As far as the cat thing.  I plead the 5th…..;o)

With regards to deadbugs, however, in many ways I feel they get a bad rap and that they’re one of the more UNDERrated core exercises out there.  Perhaps a more apropos way to explain things would be that deadbugs are almost universally seen as a “sissy” exercise and a waste of time by many trainees, meatheads, and athletes alike.

I couldn’t disagree more.

I was recently asked by MensHealth.com to provide a “hot list” of some of my favorite go to core exercise that I either use with my athletes and clients, or that I pepper into my own training as well.

While I offered the prerequisite favs like Pallof press variations, stir-the-pot, and carry variations, I purposely OMITTED deadbugs for a few reasons:

1.  I didn’t want the incessant eye rolling pointed in my direction.

2.  Despite their perceived “easiness,” deadbugs are actually an exercise that are absolutely butchered by, well, everybody.

3.  As such, I took the greedy way out, held back, and decided to keep deadbugs to myself and dedicate an entire post on them in an effort to persuade everyone reading that they’re the bees knees (and that they should take the time to pay a little more attention to detail).

Getting the obvious out of the way:  deadbugs are an exercise that, for all intents and purposes, help with motor control and can be seen as a “baseline” exercise to ascertain whether or not someone has any glowing imbalances that need to be addressed.

Let me explain.

While it’s fairly common in the athletic realm, more and more we’re seeing people in the meathead/weekend warrior or what I like to call the “I like to lift heavy things category” present with an overextended posture or anterior pelvic tilt.

While this isn’t necessary anything to write home about – there IS a “range” of acceptable anterior pelvic tilt – it does become problematic when it’s excessive and otherwise leads to other imbalances up and down the kinetic chain.

For starters, those in excessive anterior pelvic tilt will almost always have extension based back pain – where the facet joints, posterior discs, etc are placed in an ungodly amount of stress which can manifest into more profound issues like spondylosis (end plate fracture) down the road.

Mike Robertson has a cool term for this called Flawed Active Stability – whereupon you’re cueing the body to engage the paraspinals and spinal erectors, effectively crushing the spine, in an effort to gain stability.

What’s more, in general, because of the misalignment associated with APT, it’s not uncommon for people to experience chronic pulled hamstrings, anterior knee pain, hip pain, and a myriad of other issues.

All of this to say: it just plain sucks donkey balls and can really mess with one’s training in the long run if not addressed or at least kept under wraps.

But again, I’m just stating the obvious.

Do Your Deadbugs, Yo!

Deadbugs are a fantastic way to teach the body to “encourage” more posterior pelvic tilt while simultaneously enhancing motor control and to engage the lumbo-pelvic-hip stabilizers to do their job.

As note above, most people flat out do a piss poor job when it comes to performing deadbugs correctly.  Here’s a great example.

Upon first glance those don’t look too shabby, right?  Offhand those look pretty good.  But with a closer look we can definitely comb through some common technique flaws that many should be able to appreciate.

1.  Before anyone makes fun of me for tucking my t-shirt into my sweatpants, just know that I did it for a reason. Which was to show how most people perform their deadbugs:  with an excessive arch in their lower back and with their rib cage flared out.

Well that and we had people visiting the facility from Australia yesterday and I didn’t want to make things awkward by walking around with my shirt off.

Admittedly, it’s still hard to see in the video above, but if you were in the video with me (oh, hey, hello!) you would easily be able to fit your hand in between the floor and my lumbar spine.  This shouldn’t happen and essentially defeats the purpose of the entire exercise.

And this is why I tend to lean more towards deadbugs from the get go – rather than birddogs – because the floor provides more stability and kinesthetic feedback to the body.

2. Another mistake is that people tend to rush this exercise.  Many will just haphazardly flail their arms and legs around hightailing it through the set.  While we could make a case that extending the arms and legs may be too much of a progression and we need to REGRESS the exercise – read THIS for more ideas – much of the time it just comes down to slowing people down.

All that said, lets take a look at what PROPER deadbug should look like.

I know it doesn’t look much different than the first video, but I assure you there’s a lot to consider.

1.  My shirt’s still tucked in.

2.  My lower back is flush against the floor – and I’m encouraging more posterior pelvic tilt.

3.  Moreover I’m also taking a massive breath and inhaling THROUGH MY NOSE to focus more on a 360 degree expansion into my torso.  In other words:  I’m not just breathing into my stomach, but also trying to expand sideways and INTO the floor as well as my ribcage (but without allowing it to flare out too much).

4.  From there I lower contralateral limbs – controlled, in an effort to resist extension – while FORCEFULLY exhaling my air through my mouth.  I do this until ALL my air is out.

By doing this a few things happen (and I apologize in advance for all the enumerations in this post):

1. I slow myself down.

2. The diaphragm is better engaged.

3.  Many don’t think of this part, but with all my air exhaled out, I now have nothing to help stabilize my spine except the muscles themselves.

It’s not uncommon for people to literally start shaking as they proceed with their set. This is okay – so long as you maintain proper spinal position – as it just demonstrates that the muscles in the surrounding area are now doing their job more efficiently.

I’ll typically shoot for 2-3 sets of 5-8 repetitions PER SIDE.

And there you have it.  It’s nothing flashy or Earth shattering, but I guarantee that if you go a head and try to perform your deadbugs in this fashion you’ll notice how much MORE challenging they can be, and they’re anything but a sissy exercise.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.