CalisthenicsIn review

Floor Back Extension

A face-down back exercise that lifts the chest a little off the floor while the legs stay down.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Trunk extension
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Lie face down with the legs straight and the toes on the floor.
Place the fingertips lightly at the temples, with the elbows out to the sides.

Do the rep

Lift the chest a little off the floor and keep the legs down.
Hold for one second.
Lower the chest to the floor under control.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the chest lifts off the floor with the legs down, holds for a moment, and returns to the floor under control.

One rep starts face down, lifts the chest a little off the floor with the legs down, holds for a moment, and lowers.

Breathing

Exhale as you lift; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Lift long, not high.
Keep the eyes on the floor.
Hold each lift longer when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Lifting too high
What you seeThe lower back arches hard and the ribs leave the floor.
FixLift only until the chest clears the floor.
A small lift trains the back without pinching the lower back.
Pulling on the head
What you seeThe hands push the head forward or up.
FixKeep the fingertips light at the temples.
A neutral neck protects the neck.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you feel pain in the lower back.
End the set when you cannot lift and lower under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Spinal erectors · moderate confidence

Assisting

Glutes · moderate confidence
Upper back · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

Optional: Floor mat

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Manual

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 3, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Rule 2 gives the back extension the trunk role.
Skill tier and failure cost follow rule 3: beginner, low.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_bird_dog, as the batch 2 alternating superman does.
The CSV muscle list puts the upper back and rear deltoids first; the record lists the spinal erectors first.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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