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Method 1: Basic Exercise
1. Lie down on a flat bench and grip the edge behind your head. Use a stable, flat weight bench and lie down on your back. Find the upper edge behind your head and grip it firmly with both hands so you’re anchored well to the bench.
Gripping the top of the bench allows for more stability than gripping it on the sides by your ears.
If you don’t have a flat weight bench, find something stable like a pole, pillar, or post and lie down on the ground so the top of your head is almost touching it. Raise your arms over your head and take a firm grip on the stable object.
2. Tighten all of your muscles to create tension in your body. Take a breath and brace your core muscles so your abs, hips, and chest are primed and ready to go. Flex your arms and legs so there’s tension all along your body, and you’re ready to do the movement.
It’s super important that there’s tension in all of your muscles so you’re able to do the exercise safely and correctly. If your lower back starts to round, for instance, it could lead to an injury.
Think about trying to flex all of your core muscles as hard as you can before you start the dragon flag.
3. Lift your legs until your feet, legs, and torso form a straight line. Keeping your core tight and your muscles tense, start raising your legs up. Continue lifting them until your butt and lower back raise up. Keep your body in a straight line and raise your legs until your feet, legs, hips, and torso form a straight line and only your head and shoulders are on the bench or ground.
Keep your feet flexed so your toes are pointing straight.
Avoid using a jerky or swinging motion with your legs. Raise them slowly and steadily with control.
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4. Pause at the top and then slowly lower your body back down. When you reach the top of the movement, maintain the tension in your body, and pause for a brief moment. Then, slowly lower your legs, hips, and back down to the bench or ground with control.
Again, slow and steady is the key. Try not to allow yourself to flop back down on the bench or ground. You could hurt yourself, and it isn’t giving your core the work that you want.
5. Repeat the movement up to 5 times. Keep your body braced and tense as you raise and lower yourself to do your dragon flags. Shoot for sets of 5 reps, but make sure you’re using good form. If your form starts to break down, call it a day to avoid potential injuries.
You’ll start to feel the burn pretty quickly, but don’t push yourself too far. Do as many reps as you comfortably can.
6. Use an incline bench to make the movement more challenging. If you feel like the standard dragon flag is too easy (what are ya, crazy?), you can take it to the next level by doing them on an incline. Adjust a weight bench so it’s at a 45-degree angle, lie down on it, and grip the upper edge above your head. Then, try out some super challenging dragon flags.
Make sure the weight bench is stable so it doesn’t rock or wiggle at the top of the movement.
Doing the dragon flags on an incline also means you don’t get a brief rest at the top of the movement, making it even more challenging.
Aim for sets of 3-5 reps for a killer core challenge.
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In this section, I explained how beginners can master the basic exercises for Dragon Flag and talked about the preparatory exercises.
Artemus Vazhui