Bird Dog Plank

Also known as: plank bird dog

Secondary muscles
Delts, Triceps, Glutes
Body part
Core
Position
Prone
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Extending one arm and the opposite leg from a plank shrinks your base to two points of contact, and the fight to keep the hips level is where the training effect lives. It is far harder than the kneeling bird dog because the plank denies you a stable hands-and-knees base; move slowly and pause each extension.

How to do the Bird Dog Plank

  1. Start in a high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your body in a straight line from head to toe.
  2. Engage your core and squeeze your glutes to maintain a stable position.
  3. Lower your body down onto your forearms, one arm at a time, maintaining a straight line from head to toe.
  4. Hold this position for the desired amount of time, keeping your core and glutes engaged.
  5. To return to the starting position, push through your forearms and lift your body back up into a high plank position.
  6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Pull the elbows toward the toes and the toes toward the elbows without moving either to fire the whole core.

Muscles worked

Primary

Abs · Core

The abs resist the hips from sagging and should feel like they are tightening more with every exhale.

Secondary

  • Delts — The shoulders hold the upper body up and get more work on shoulder tap variations.
  • Triceps
  • Glutes — Squeezing the glutes locks the hips in line with the spine and takes the load off the lower back.

Common mistakes

  • Hips sagging — squeeze the glutes and tuck the pelvis slightly so the lower back stays flat; a plank with an arched back trains nothing useful.
  • Hips too high — the body should be a straight line from head to heels, so check in a mirror or have someone lay a bar along your back.
  • Time over tension — a two minute plank with a loose core is worse than 30 seconds with everything braced; shorten the hold and squeeze harder.
  • Holding the breath — breathe normally through the hold and keep the abs braced through each exhale.

Where it fits in a workout

Planks go at the end of a session or in the warm-up to switch the core on before squats and deadlifts. Superset a front plank with a side plank each way.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Without bodyweight

Easier and harder

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.