Superman | Illustrated Exercise Guide

Primary muscles: Middle back, lower back
Secondary muscles: Abs
Equipment: No equipment
Exercises for the opposite muscles: Seated knee tucks, crunches

SUPERMAN INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lie on your belly, with your arms and legs fully extended.
2. Lift both arms and legs off the floor, and hold for a count of 2.
3. Return to the starting position and repeat.

PROPER FORM AND BREATHING PATTERN

Maintain a neutral spine and inhale as you lift your arms and legs off the floor. Pull your abs in, keep your core tight and use your lower back muscles to keep your arms and legs up.

EXERCISE BENEFITS

The superman targets your lower and middle back and helps to strengthen your core. This exercise also improves your posture and flexibility, and stretches your upper body.

DEMONSTRATION

SETS AND REPS

Add 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 16 repetitions of the superman exercise to your core routines. For a complete core workout pair the superman with bicycle crunches, V sits and the plank exercise.

CALORIES BURNED

To calculate the number of calories burned doing the superman, enter your weight and the duration of the exercise:

RELATED CORE EXERCISES

Try these other core exercises to tighten, sculpt and strengthen your abs, obliques, lats and lower back:
Knee hugs
Frog crunches
Plank leg lifts
Dumbbell plank rotation