6 Best Bird Dog Variation Exercises for Balance & Stability

Bird Dog is a simple core exercise that improves your stability, helps you keep your spine neutral, and eases lower back pain. This exercise position works with your core, hips, and back muscles by using your whole body. It also helps people stand up straighter and move their bodies more.

You can change up your routine by doing different versions of the bird dog exercise. This will help make these exercises more interesting and also challenge you in different ways, helping to make your muscles stronger.

Elbow-to-Knee Bird Dog and 5 other Bird Dog Variation Exercises

These six exercises will work out your core properly.

1) Stability Ball Bird Dog

The stability ball is unstable by nature and has fewer points where it touches the ground. That makes you aware of your body and technique right away, because if you don't, you could fall on your face. Being unstable makes you move more slowly so you don't fall over. This allows your working muscles to spend more time under stress. If you try to move too quickly, you might fall off the ball, which is something you definitely don't want.

To do the Stability Ball Bird Dog:

Roll the stability ball to your stomach while on all fours.
Put your hands under your shoulders and up against the ball with your thighs.
Raise slowly the opposite arm and leg while keeping your balance on the ball.
Repeat on the other side until each side has done the same number of reps.

2) Resistance Band Bird Dog

When you do the resistance band bird dog, you add resistance to the movement and increase the amount of rotational force and the need for core stability. This makes it much harder to keep your spine in a neutral position, and it also makes your upper back work harder.

To do the Resistance Band Bird Dog:

Get on all fours and lie on your back.
Attach a light looped resistance band to your left hand and right foot.
Make sure it's locked down.
Stretch out your left hand and right leg, but keep your middle still.
Slowly move back to the starting point and do it again.

3) Isometric Bird Dog

Think of the isometric bird dog as a plank done in the bird dog position. Here, you'll hold for time instead of reps to feel all of your muscles working. Putting only one hand and knee on the ground makes you better at resisting rotational forces and gives you a little burn in your glutes. If your front planks are getting old, this is a good replacement.

To do the Isometric Bird Dog:

Get down on the ground and put your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
Put your hands down hard on the ground.
Ensure you have a neutral spine.
Reach the lockout position with your left hand and right leg.
Hold for between ten and thirty seconds.
On the other side, do it again.

4) Elbow-to-Knee Bird Dog

The elbow-to-knee version of the bird dog has all the good things about the bird dog, plus a few more. At the beginning of the move, you train your thoracic mobility by bringing your elbow and knee together. That mobility in the thoracic spine is important for snatches, overhead squats, and pretty much any other overhead lift with a barbell. This move works your core similar to a sit-up, but it does not bend your back. This gives your hip flexors some extra love and care.

To do the Elbow-to-Knee Bird Dog:

Start by getting on all fours with your arms shoulder-width apart.
Put your hands right under your shoulders, and your knees right under your hips.
Engage your core and reach out with both your left hand and right leg.
Bring your arm in until your elbow touches your right knee.
Do all the reps on one side before you move on to the other.

5) Quadruped Bird Dog

The quadruped bird dog on a bench makes you move your feet closer together. You can add to the difficulty by attempting to stay balanced on a shaky weight bench. Compared to the regular bird, this makes it harder. Here, you'll get immediate feedback because if you turn your hips or arch your lower back too much, you'll lose your balance.

To do the quadruped bird dog:

Put your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders while on all fours on a weight bench.
Slowly stretch out your left hand and right leg, keeping your balance on the bench.
Go back to where you started.
All of your reps should be on one side. On the other, do it again.

6) Close Base Bird Dog on Bench

The close-base bird dog on a bench is a step up from the four-legged bird dog on a bench because the base of support is even narrower. This is because you are moving around on the bench. You'll have to work harder to fight against the increased instability and forces of rotation. So, you'll need to work on your core stability even more than before.

To do the Close Base Bird Dog on Bench:

Instead of putting your hands and knees along the length of the bench, put them across it.
Get both hands on the bench.
Put your left arm out in front of you and your right leg out behind you.
Slowly move back to the starting point and do it again.
Do all of your reps on one side before moving on to the other.

There are a lot of fancy core exercises, but the simple bird dog is one of the best. The regular bird dog and its variations help you build stability in your core, strength in your lower back, and strength against rotation. If you do these variations of the bird dog as part of your warm-up or as a break between strength exercises, you can improve your lower back strength, balance, and core stability.