Is There A Better Lower Back Exercise Than
The Superman Exercise?

The Superman Exercise Is A Boot Camp Fitness Favorite For Good Reason

The superman exercise is a lower back exercise that's hard to beat.  It's simple, effective, easily modifiable, and you don't need any equipment, i.e. custom made for a boot camp workout.

Why do this exercise?  Because there is more to a strong, healthy core than just six pack abs.  The lower back muscles are just as important for core strength and stability.

The only thing you really need to watch out for is excessively arching your back.  So many people do that.  You simply want to lift the arms, chest, and legs off the ground.  The idea is NOT to see how high you can lift them.

Picture Superman flying.  He doesn't look like the letter “U”.  

Think about engaging the muscles down your back, through the glutes and hips, and down to the hamstrings.  If you feel undue strain in your lower spine, you're trying to arch too much.


A Quick Note On Common Sense

If you feel any of the wrong kind of pain in your back or shooting down your legs, particularly if you have had a back injury or any other back problems, just avoid the superman exercise.  If that's you, there are plenty of plank exercises that will probably work just fine for you.

Technique

  • Lie on your stomach on the ground with your arms extended in front of you and your legs extended.
  • Keep your head and neck in line with your upper body.
  • Raise your arms, chest, and legs off the ground a few inches and hold for 2 to 5 seconds.  Exhale during that movement.  
  • Return to the starting position in a slow, controlled manner while inhaling.
  • Repeat.
  • Pro tip: stretch your lower back when your are done.  You can even stretch it between sets.


Keep In Mind...

Squeeze your lower back and glute muscles at the top of the exercise

Extend your arms and legs but don't lock them out

Don't hyper extend

Breathe


Modifiers

  • First, simply extend the time you are in the Superman position.  Start with 5 to 10 seconds per rep, and steadily increase it to 30 seconds.
  • For less intensity, lift one arm and one leg at a time.  Go opposite sides - left arm/right leg or vice versa.  This will reduce the intensity if you're not ready for both arms and both legs at the same time.
  • Here are some others.

Extend Arms Out

Arms out to your side.  See how that feels across the shoulder blades.

This is also a good alternative if you don't have the shoulder flexibility to extend your arms in front of you.

Arms At Your Sides

Arms at your sides and lift your chest and legs up.  It changes the dynamic a little bit because your arms aren't extended in front of you acting as a counterweight to your legs.

Hands Behind Your Head

This modifier will test the flexibility in your shoulders.  Also notice that I kept my feet on the deck for this one.  That works the targeted muscles and adds stability.

Legs Only

Leave your arms on the ground and just left the feet and legs.

The superman exercise isolates the lower back muscles like few other exercises can.  All of the other muscles in the posterior chain get involved, but it is the lower back that you will feel right away.

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