Dragon Flag

How to do it

Lie on a bench and grasp the sides or the bench behind your head for support. Lift your legs overhead and raise your hips off the bench until your body is nearly vertical. Keeping your body straight from shoulders to feet, slowly lower your legs and hips toward the bench, controlling the descent and avoiding arching your back. Stop just before your lower back touches the bench, then raise your legs back up to vertical. Maintain tension throughout and move in a controlled manner.

1. 1Lie on a bench and grip behind your head; lift your body into a straight line supported by your shoulders, feeling intense tension in your core
2. 2Slowly lower your body as one unit while keeping your legs and torso rigid
3. 3Pause before your lower back loses contact with the bench and lift back up with control

Common mistakes

• ×Don't allow your hips to sag or your body to bend at the waist
• ×Avoid using momentum to swing yourself up, focus on pure core strength
• ×Don't hold your breath; breathe steadily even under high tension

Muscles worked

The dragon flag mainly works the upper abs, lower abs, and obliques.

• Upper AbsPrimary
• Lower AbsPrimary
• ObliquesPrimary
• QuadsMinor