Pushup Bird Dog

Hello! Here’s another new Home Exercise of the Week for you to try! This week I have another very challenging upper body and core exercise for you called the Pushup Bird Dog.

The Pushup Bird Dog is a compound move that’s going to work your chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, upper and lower back, and glutes. You will also be working on your balance and all the little stabilizer muscles as you perform the bird dog. This exercise will take some practice so start off slow until you get the move down and if you have trouble doing the full pushup, you can start with the modified from-the-knees version which I’ve included in the video demonstration. 

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Pushup Bird Dog.

  • start by getting in to a full pushup position with your hands and feet wider than your shoulders and keep your hands in line with your chest
  • squeeze your abs and your glutes to keep your body nice and straight and to prevent your hips from dropping
  • now lower your body down towards the floor until you’re almost touching while keeping your arms at about a 45 degree angle from your body
  • push back up and once you have returned to the starting position, extend your right arm and left leg up while bracing your abs until you feel a nice squeeze on your back and glutes
  • lower your arm and leg back down to the floor and repeat your pushup
  • now you will extend your left arm and right leg up once you have returned back to the starting position after the pushup
  • keep alternating arms and legs after each pushup for your desired amount of reps or time
  • perform the pushup from your knees for a slightly easier version if you have trouble doing the full pushup

So there you have the Pushup Bird Dog. It’s a tough one but it’s very effective in targeting your chest and core and it will greatly improve your balance and coordination. You will also look pretty bad ass while doing it!

Give it a shot and let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!

Quick Tabata Workout


Tabata Protocol – 20 seconds of as many reps as you can do followed by 10 seconds of rest; 4 rounds of each pair of exercises followed by a 30 to 60 second rest before moving on to the next pair of exercises.

This 30 minute bodyweight Tabata is an intermediate level workout that you can do at home.  Great if you don’t have a lot of time or equipment!