5 Best Bird Dog Variation Exercises for Women

The bird dog is a beginner-friendly core exercise that promotes a neutral spine, enhances stability, and eases lower back pain.

It is a full-body workout that targets and strengthens your hips, back, and entire core muscles while also boosting your range of motion and encouraging good posture. The bird dog is suitable for people at all fitness levels, including seniors, and can be used as a warm-up or individual core exercise to align your spine, prevent injury, and alleviate back problems. This exercise allows you to stabilize your lower back and engage your abdominal muscles, thus adding to your muscle strength and endurance.

Fortunately, there are several variations of the bird dog exercise that you can incorporate in your workout routine. You can modify the exercises for variety or simply make the movement more challenging for your muscles.

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Bird Dog Variation Exercises for Women

Here’s a look at some of the most interesting bird dog variations you must definitely try. They are especially beneficial to women.

1. With a Resistance Band

Performing a standard bird dog with a resistance band makes the core more flexible and also adds more resistance to the entire movement, making it quite challenging to keep your spine neutral. Further, the band also offers increased upper back involvement at all times.

Here's how you should do it:

• Take a tabletop position and loop a resistance band around your right hand and left foot.
• Now start to extend your right hand and left leg while keeping your abs steady.
• Return to the start, repeat a few times more and then loop the band around the opposite arm and leg.
• Repeat.

2. Push-Up Bird Dog

This variation allows you to start the exercise in the standard push-up with only four points on the floor instead of the six points that you have with the traditional bird dog exercise. This position increases your core strength and also strengthens your glutes, shoulders, and lower back.

Here's how you should do it:

• Take a push-up position with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders.
• Keep your lower back in a neutral position and engage your glutes while lifting your right arm and left leg off the floor.
• Return to the initial position and repeat the exercise on the opposite side.
• Continue the back and forth movement for a few reps.

3. With a Stability Ball

The stability ball bird dog variation is one of the best ways to enhance the intensity of the exercise. The ball causes instability and allows fewer points of contact with the floor.

Here's how you should do it:

• Get on all your fours and keep the stability ball to your stomach.
• Position your hands under your shoulders and keep your thighs against the ball.
• Lift your opposite leg and the opposite arm at the same time while maintaining proper balance on the ball.
• Perform a few reps on each side.

4. Quadruped Bird Dog on a Bench

This variation narrows your base of support and challenges your core due to the instability caused due to balancing your entire body on a bench. This variation increases your balance and also promotes good form.

Here's how you should do it:

• Get on a weight bench and take a position on all fours.
• Position your knees under your hips and your hands stacked under your shoulders.
• Slowly move your opposite leg and arm at the same time even as you maintain your balance on the bench.
• Move your arm and leg to the start and perform a few reps.
• Now extend your other arm and leg and repeat.

5. Elbow-to-Knee

This exercise improves thoracic mobility, increases your balance, and targets your hip flexors and core muscles without stressing your lower back.

Here's how you should do it:

• Get on all fours and keep your arms shoulder-width apart.
• Position your hands underneath your shoulders and knees under your hips.
• Keeping your core muscles engaged, move your left hand and right leg simultaneously.
• Now bring your left elbow to touch your right knee.
• Finish a few reps on this side and then switch to do the exercise on the other side.

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Takeaway

Although there are many core exercises, only a few are as productive as the standard bird dog and its variations. The aforementioned exercises work to enhance your overall core stability and lower back strength and target some major muscle groups as well. When performing the moves, however, be mindful of your form and posture to get the best out of them and to avoid pain or injury.