>>mark:hi, if you are new tobuiltlean, i'm mark perry the creator of builtlean and today i'm gonna show you how to do a bird dog. and i'm not only gonna show you how to doa basic bird dog, i'm gonna show you some other variations which become more advanced. so wether you are a beginner, or a littlebit more advanced, you can get a lot of watching thisvideo. and, the bird dog is a classic core exercise that not only improves your abs and lowerback strength,
but also improves your stabilization. i really think even if you are a beginneror advanced, you should incorporate it into your program. and so, let me start out by showing youthe basic bird dog exercise, so how it works, is youare gonna start out, with your hands right below the planeof your shoulders. and you are gonna put your knees right belowyour hips so you are essentially forming a box with90⺠angles. and so, you're gonna start out by puttingyour right hand
and your left leg out, and you areextending them simultaneously. you're gonna repeatalternating between one side and another. a couple ofthings to really keep in mind, you don't want to put your hand too fardown or up as you are doing this exercise you also don't want to wobble fromside to side which is what requires that core stabilization. those are just a couple tips, okay sowe've talked a little bit about the basic bird dog exercise, but there are also someother variations you can try.
and so, one variation is, you're going to take your elbow, you are gonna crunchand touch your opposite knee. and you're gonna do this on the same sidefor as many as 10 wraps and then switch to the other side. you can even do a more advanced variationwhich is you're actually gonna touch your knee to your nose. this certainly isn't easy, and so, you cangive it a try and see how it goes. another bird dog exercise variation isusing a stability ball.
and this of course makes it harder, becauseinstead of being planted on the ground you are now on a stability ball couple of things to keep in mind, keep yourhips on top of the ball. as opposed to your stomach. a final variationwhich is the hardest, is doing a bird dog, essentially without yourknees. and so you are gonna be in a push up position and you're gonna do, put your right arm,and extend your right arm and your left leg, and repeat with the otherside, trying to make sure that you don't fallto one side or the other
by keeping as straight as possible. so that's really it, those are some variationsof of the bird dog, again i think it's a classic exercise and if you are a beginner you shouldreally make a staple in your exercise program. if you are more advanced, you should certainlydo it here and there. if you have any questions for me please letme know as always i have more information about it at builtlean.com on this exact videoand on the blog, so thank you very much for watching, and i'llsee you next week.