Single-Leg Dragon Flag
The single-leg dragon flag lengthens the lever on one side while the other stays tucked, so it loads the abs harder than the tuck but less than the full flag. It is the natural next rep once tuck flags feel easy, and it exposes any tendency to let the hips sag or the spine arch. Program it as low-rep quality work near the start of your core session.
- Equipment
- Bench
- Body part
- Abs
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Lower Rectus Abdominals, Upper Rectus Abdominals
- Browse by movement
- Core Brace
- Target
- Lower Rectus Abdominals, Upper Rectus Abdominals
- Secondary
- Rectus Femoris, Abdominal External Oblique
- Tertiary
- Latissimus Dorsi, Erector Spinae
How to do it
- 1
Grip an anchor behind your head while lying on a bench, and stack your hips over your shoulders.
- 2
Extend one leg straight and keep the other knee tucked toward your chest.
- 3
Lower the whole body as a rigid unit until you hover above the bench.
- 4
Hold the line from shoulders to the extended foot without arching the back.
- 5
Raise back to vertical with the abs, then repeat and switch the extended leg between sets.
- 6
Exhale on the way up and control the descent on the way down.
Tips
- Keep the extended leg firm and the glute of that side squeezed to hold the line.
- If the hips sag, cut the range short rather than losing the brace.
- Alternate which leg extends so both sides get equal work.
Variations
Common mistakes
- The extended leg drops below the line of the body, which turns the rep into a split position and lets the pelvis tip instead of staying stacked.
- Bodies rotate toward the tucked side without anyone noticing, since the two legs no longer balance each other; keep both hip bones pointed at the ceiling for the whole descent.
- Switching legs only between workouts rather than between sets leaves one side several sessions ahead of the other by the end of a month.
- The tucked knee creeps toward straight as the set gets hard, which quietly makes the last reps longer-levered than the first and is usually where the back arches.
- Most people try this before their tuck flags are genuinely easy, and the extra lever then shows up as a sagging hip rather than as a harder set.
Frequently asked
- How many single-leg dragon flags should I do per side?
- Three or four sets of 4 to 6 reps per leg, resting a minute or so, done early in the session while your brace is fresh. Each set only trains one lever length, so do the same number of sets with each leg extended. When six reps a side look identical and nothing sags, extend the second leg for a rep or two and start working toward the full flag.
- How do I make the single-leg dragon flag easier or harder?
- Easier: bend the extended knee slightly, or stop the descent halfway down. Going back to the tuck flag for a few weeks is not a step backwards if the hips are sagging. Harder: pause three seconds near the bottom, lower over five or six seconds, or straighten the tucked leg part way. The full straight-leg flag is the end of this progression.
- Why do the single-leg dragon flag instead of the full one?
- It fills the gap where the tuck flag has stopped challenging you but the straight-leg version still collapses, and the uneven lever adds an anti-rotation demand the symmetrical versions do not have. Use it as low-rep quality work for the abs and hip flexors. It is a poor choice for anyone who has not owned the tuck version yet, and it is not a conditioning drill, since the position degrades long before you get any metabolic effect.
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