Brian Carroll Coaches the Birddog

ANOTHER MCGILL BIG 3 POST? Yes, in this video, I coach the birddog. It’s not difficult to execute, but execution is critical when correctly performing an exercise concerning a back-painted person. Different pain triggers and pain generators/ damaged tissues can limit one’s ability to do birddog or, for that matter, even get on and off the floor.

Most of you will be able to follow along with this video and have no issues once you see the main cues hammered consistently:

1. Push the earth away

2. Stiffen the torso, pushing out with both oblique muscles

3. Don’t raise the leg too high – if in doubt, lower the leg

4. Play with stiffness, heel angle, and leg height

More Birddog Context and Coaching 

I know this may surprise many of you, but even the most confident athletes tend to mess up the Birddog. Is it the end of the world? No, not for most of the people. For some, it’s keeping them in back pain; others never build a solid, rigid, and resilient core until they start doing them correctly for stiffening. A few videos out there make it very difficult to understand its purpose. The leg is jacked up in the air; the bird dogger is not holding the exercise for time, instead pointing, as demonstrated by about 9/10 physical therapists in my experience. The last most common error I see is the lack of stiffening of the torso. You might start to see that everything I see most commonly wrong with the Birddog has created a system of cues (listed above) to remind the dogger of proper form and attack the most common mistakes I see.

When I get a chance, I will discuss more modifications of the Birddog, depending on the injury, pain generators, and the end goal. I will also show you some progressions to make them more difficult. I also think the purpose of the Birddog is confusing to some, while others understand it’s part of a bigger plan, not the plan to build a core of iron or to build a more resilient back. More soon!

Brian offers Virtual & in-person coaching

Back Injured Average Mary or Joe who wants their life back

Back Injured Athlete Wanting to Return to Sport

Lift and exercise coaching & cueing to troubleshoot form

Program adherence & accountability coaching

Nutrition & Supplementation Coaching & Guidance (10 or 20 weeks)