Note: The term “Porcelain Post” came about last year through a collaboration between Brian Patrick Murphy and Pete Dupuis. In short, it describes a post you can read in the time it takes to use the restroom.
Okay, that turned out to be more specific than I intended. Enjoy.
THE BIRDDOG EXERCISE: PLEASE, START COACHING IT RIGHT
The birddog exercise shows up in many fitness programs. It’s common in yoga and Pilates circles and is sometimes called the donkey kick or chakaravakasana. And yes, some jokes about it being awkward are common—but let’s focus on the movement.
The birddog not only works the back but also the hip extensors. More importantly, it teaches you to move the hips and shoulders in harmony while keeping the spine stable.
The image above shows the opposite: a big overextension of the lower back, an exaggerated forward lengthening of the abdominal muscles, rib flare, and a tilted neck. In short, it looks like spinal stability is being ignored.
Maybe the person pictured was coached for a specific reason. I won’t pretend to know the backstory. Still, I’ve found little benefit in the birddog when it’s performed this way, and it’s likely doing more harm than good. When I see it done like this, it makes me shake my head.
LET’S CLEAN THINGS UP, SHALL WE?
What’s most frustrating is how people react when I ask them to perform the birddog. I’ll work with someone who has a history of low-back pain, screen them, and then ask them to demonstrate the exercise. Nine or ten times out of ten, the same person who has been dealing with pain for weeks or months—despite advice from other fitness professionals on the merits of the birddog—ends up in the poor form shown above.
Case in point: I had an evaluation with a new female client last week. She’d been referred by another trainer in the Boston area and had chronic low-back issues for several years. To the other trainer’s credit, much of her approach with the client was solid. But the birddog tends to be one of those “easy” exercises where people let their guard down unless you coach them closely.
Before and after videos show the difference:
Before — her form fed into her symptoms and likely didn’t help.
After — with a few subtle cues and a better fit for her ability, the movement became more challenging and she felt better.
The key difference was placing a small support under the moving leg to reduce extension. With the leg straight, she lifted the foot a little and “owned” the position, holding it for a 3–5 second count and performing 3–5 repetitions per side. We celebrated with a quick moment of progress.
Coaching often means paying attention to the details, even with simple exercises we take for granted. With the birddog, it’s wise to slow people down, use more hands-on guidance (to build kinesthetic awareness), and hold them accountable to precise technique on every rep. That’s what separates effective corrective work from programs that don’t deliver results.
Or maybe I should just have a warm glass of “shut the hell up.”
