Dragon Flag

Muscles worked by the Dragon Flag

Primary

AbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

Lower BackErector SpinaeHip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesObliquesOblique AbdominalsDeep CoreTransversus Abdominis

Also called: abs, six-pack, rectus abdominis, abdominals, stomach muscles.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Dragon Flag

1. Lie on a bench and grip it firmly behind your head.
2. Raise your body up so only your upper back stays on the bench.
3. Keep your body rigid in a straight line.
4. Lower your body under control until nearly horizontal.
5. Raise back up and repeat.

Form tips

• Keep your body rigid from shoulders to toes and move only at the shoulders.
• Lower as slowly as you can — the eccentric is the exercise.
• Start with tucked or single-leg progressions before the full flag.

At a glance

Dragon Flag in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Bicycle Crunch
• Cable Crunch
• Crunches
• Dead Bug
• Decline Crunch
• Kettlebell Russian Twist
• Machine Seated Crunch
• Russian Twist

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "dragon-flag",
  "name_en": "Dragon Flag",
  "name_de": "Dragon Flag",
  "name_es": "Dragon Flag",
  "description_en": "A demanding core hold performed on a bench: gripping behind your head, you raise your entire body into a rigid straight line supported only by your upper back.",
  "description_de": "Eine anspruchsvolle Rumpfübung auf der Bank: Du greifst hinter deinem Kopf und hebst den ganzen Körper in eine starre gerade Linie, die nur vom oberen Rücken getragen wird.",
  "description_es": "Un exigente ejercicio de core en banco: agarrando detrás de la cabeza, elevas todo el cuerpo en una línea recta y rígida apoyada solo en la parte alta de la espalda.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "advanced",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae",
    "hip_flexors",
    "obliques",
    "transverse_abdominis"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "crunch",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on a bench and grip it firmly behind your head.",
    "Raise your body up so only your upper back stays on the bench.",
    "Keep your body rigid in a straight line.",
    "Lower your body under control until nearly horizontal.",
    "Raise back up and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Lege dich auf eine Bank und greife sie fest hinter deinem Kopf.",
    "Hebe deinen Körper so an, dass nur der obere Rücken auf der Bank aufliegt.",
    "Halte deinen Körper starr in einer geraden Linie.",
    "Senke deinen Körper kontrolliert, bis er fast waagerecht ist.",
    "Hebe wieder hoch und wiederhole die Übung."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate en un banco y agárralo firmemente detrás de la cabeza.",
    "Eleva el cuerpo de forma que solo la parte superior de la espalda permanezca apoyada en el banco.",
    "Mantén el cuerpo rígido en línea recta.",
    "Baja el cuerpo de forma controlada hasta quedar casi horizontal.",
    "Sube de vuelta y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep your body rigid from shoulders to toes and move only at the shoulders.",
    "Lower as slowly as you can — the eccentric is the exercise.",
    "Start with tucked or single-leg progressions before the full flag."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte den Körper von den Schultern bis zu den Zehen starr und bewege dich nur aus den Schultern.",
    "Senke dich so langsam wie möglich ab — die exzentrische Phase ist die Übung.",
    "Beginne mit angezogenen Beinen oder einbeinigen Progressionen, bevor du die volle Flag versuchst."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén el cuerpo rígido de hombros a pies y muévete solo desde los hombros.",
    "Baja tan despacio como puedas: la fase excéntrica es el ejercicio.",
    "Empieza con progresiones con piernas recogidas o a una pierna antes del dragon flag completo."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/dragon-flag-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/dragon-flag-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "dragon-flag");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.