CalisthenicsIn review

Superman Hold

A face-down back hold with the arms and the legs lifted a little off the floor.

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 arms straight overhead and the legs straight.
Rest the forehead on the floor or the mat, and look down.

Do the rep

Lift the arms, the chest and the legs a little off the floor at the same time.
Hold the position and breathe.
Lower the arms and the legs under control at the end of the time.

What counts as a rep

Time counts while the arms, the chest and the legs stay off the floor and the neck stays long.

Count only the time held with the arms, the chest and the legs off the floor and the neck long.

Breathing

Breathe steadily during the hold; do not hold the breath.

Cues

Lift long, not high.
Keep the eyes on the floor.
Hold longer when the time gets easy.

Common mistakes

Lifting too high
What you seeThe lower back arches hard and the chest lifts far off the floor.
FixLift the arms and the legs only a little.
A small lift trains the back without pinching the lower back.
Bending the knees
What you seeThe knees bend to lift the feet.
FixKeep the legs straight and lift from the hips.
Straight legs keep the work in the glutes and back.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you feel pain in the lower back.
End the hold when the arms or the legs touch the floor.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Spinal erectors · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence
Upper back · moderate confidence

Assisting

Rear deltoids · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · 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 superman the trunk role.
Skill tier and failure cost follow rule 3: beginner, low.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_forearm_plank, the closest Wave 1 hold. The batch 2 alternating superman copies ex_bird_dog, which allows five goals, not seven; the switch-on PR must choose for both.
The CSV says reps or duration. A hold is timed, so the record uses duration only, as the forearm plank.
The CSV muscle list puts the upper back 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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