Dragon Flag

The Dragon Flag is an advanced bodyweight core exercise that trains you to hold your whole body in a straight line while lowering yourself from a shoulder stand. It mainly challenges the abdominals and hip flexors, with help from the lats, obliques, and glutes.

Lie on a bench and reach overhead to grip the edge or a sturdy support behind your shoulders. Press your upper back and shoulders into the bench so only your shoulders touch. Lift your hips and extend your legs until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to toes, angled slightly upward.

Keeping your body rigid, lower your torso and legs together as one unit. Do not let your hips bend or your lower back round. Only your shoulders stay on the bench. Lower under control as far as you can while keeping that straight line, then return to the start by driving through your hips and using your lats.

Breathe in and brace your midsection before you start the lowering phase; exhale as you come back up. If the full movement is too hard, begin with negatives or bend your knees into a tuck. To make it harder, keep the legs straight and lower closer to the bench without touching down.

Fault: The hips bend and the lower back rounds during the lowering phase. Fix: Treat your body as one solid plank from shoulders to toes; lower only as far as you can keep that straight line, and regress to tuck negatives if the line breaks.

Fault: The shoulders lose contact with the bench or the grip relaxes. Fix: Grip firmly overhead and drive your shoulders down into the bench so only your shoulders touch; that anchor is what lets you control the movement.

Fault: The descent is rushed or drops uncontrollably. Fix: Lower slowly on every rep; if you cannot control the speed, switch to a tucked-leg or negative-only variation until you own the tempo.