Dragon Flag

How to do it

Lie on a bench gripping it behind your head, drive the whole body up so you are balanced on the upper back and shoulders, then lower the rigid straight body toward the bench as slowly as you can without bending at the hips.

Muscles worked

Primary: core · Also works: lats, glutes

Equipment

No equipment

Common mistakes

• Folding at the hips on the way down, which is a leg lower rather than a dragon flag
• Loading the neck by balancing on the head instead of on the shoulder blades
• Attempting it before you can hold a 60-second hollow hold and a clean tuck dragon flag

Variations

• Tuck dragon flag with knees to chest
• One leg straight, one tucked
• Negatives only, five seconds down

Can't do this one? Swap it for

• Hollow Body Hold
• Hollow Rock
• Hanging Leg Raise
• V-Up

Take care: ABROFIT automatically removes this movement for anyone who has flagged a lower back or neck problem. If that's you, use one of the swaps above and speak to a physio before loading it.

Related exercises

• Front Plankcore
• Dead Bugcore
• Hollow Body Holdcore
• Hanging Leg Raisecore
• Mountain Climbercore
• Defense Drill (Slip / Roll / Block)core