Dead Bug alternatives
If the Dead Bug isn't happening today — the equipment is taken, you don't have it, or the movement doesn't feel right — here are 8 substitutes for the same job, each with what changes.
Which one when
- You need different equipment. For the same job — Machines and cables: Cable Crunch.
- Same equipment, different angle or grip. If the movement feels off but the equipment is there — Plank, Ab Wheel Rollout, Crunches, Hanging Leg Raise, Hanging Knee Raise, Reverse Crunch, Bicycle Crunch.
- It hurts. If it's uncomfortable, try a substitute with a different grip or a machine and go lighter. Sharp pain, or pain that doesn't go away, is a reason to see a doctor, not to search for a substitute on a list.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
- Measured in time: progress by adding seconds.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- A higher entry bar: 3 of 3 versus 1 — start light.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- A higher entry bar: 2 of 3 versus 1 — start light.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
- Different equipment: Machines and cables instead of Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
- Progress by adding weight.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
- Equipment: Bodyweight.
- Same muscle: Abs.
- Same entry bar: 1 of 3.
These are the same substitutes I show in the bot under "Alternatives", plus catalog exercises for the same muscle and movement. Difficulty is shown where I've broken the exercise down on its own page.
Swapping in the diary
In the bot, substitutes live on the exercise card: Exercises → the exercise → Alternatives. If one isn't in your list yet, I'll add it with one tap. A substitute keeps its own history and records — I don't mix them with the main exercise, so progress on each stays honest.
Log the substitute as its own exercise — I'll remember the weight and reps and give you a target next time.
Prefer Telegram? Open the bot — same diary.
Read next
Position photos from the open free-exercise-db.