The problem with modern life is that millions of people worldwide sit at a desk all day, hunched over a computer. A few days of that won’t do any harm. But spending thousands of hours in the position leads to tight muscles, poor posture, and aches.

Luckily, there are numerous practical exercises we can do to counteract the adverse effects of modern living, and one of them is the superman. The idea is to lie on your stomach, extend your body, and hold the position for some time. Doing so strengthens a range of muscles in the posterior, leading to better posture, fewer aches, and improved athleticism. 

The best part about supermans is that learning the exercise and integrating it into your training isn’t difficult. You can hold the position for a few seconds initially and gradually increase the duration over several weeks. We recommend including the exercise near the end of your workouts.

How to do a Superman

1. Lie face down on the floor with your legs straight and arms extended to the sides of your head. Your toes, knees, thighs, stomach, chest, and forehead should be in contact with the floor. You can keep your feet together or space them out a bit – whichever you prefer.
2. Take a breath and simultaneously extend your arms and legs toward the ceiling as much as you can. Your back should be arched, and your arms and legs should lift a few inches off the floor.
3. Hold the arched position for at least two seconds, exhale, and bring your body to the starting position.
4. Take another breath and repeat the motion.

What muscles does a superman activate?

The primary muscles involved in supermans are the erector spinae: longissimus, iliocostalis, and spinalis. The muscles are situated on both sides of the spine and produce back extension (1).

Similarly, other back muscles, including the trapezius, rhomboids, and lats, contribute to back extension and torso stability. Our shoulders (deltoids) engage to keep our arms off the floor during the superman.

The glutes and hamstrings also contribute during a superman because both muscles produce hip extension (2, 3). These muscles allow us to extend the lower body toward the ceiling.

Our rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques flex isometrically to offer some torso support during the exercise.

Cautions and Tips on Form when doing a Superman 

The superman is an exercise that requires significant spinal hyperextension, which can cause issues for some people. You should approach the exercise with caution and avoid overextending your body, especially if you have a history of lower back pain. 

Start doing the exercise by extending your body and bringing your arms to the sides of your head. Keep your neck relaxed in a neutral position and engage your back and midsection muscles. Don’t worry about lifting your chest or legs off the floor initially. Instead, get familiar with the exercise and learn to engage the correct muscles. 

You can then focus on your glutes and hamstrings, attempting to engage the muscles in a superman position. Again, don’t worry about assuming the correct position immediately. 

Experiment with raising your chest or feet off the floor for a few seconds once you’ve had some practice. You can then begin to raise your upper and lower body off the floor simultaneously, but the process should occur over a few sessions so you have the time to learn the exercise.

Variations and Modifications of the Superman

1. Cobra

Cobra is an effective bodyweight exercise you can do to strengthen your back, shoulders, and triceps. The objective is to extend your body, place your hands to your sides, and push your torso off the floor. Doing so improves your ability to extend your back and strengthens many of the muscles you would use in a superman.

2. Legs-Only Superman

The legs-only superman is an effective exercise you can perform to teach yourself how to engage your hamstrings and glutes. All you have to do is lie face down on the floor, plant your palms on the ground and focus on raising your legs off the floor. 

3. Alternating Arm/Leg Superman

Alternating arm/leg supermans are a beginner-friendly variation where you raise one arm and the opposite leg to the ceiling. You have to hold the position for a moment, lower your limbs to the floor and extend the opposite arm and leg.

Mistakes to Avoid

A common mistake with supermans is not breathing as you do the exercise. Extending your body makes it difficult to breathe but holding your breath starves your muscles of oxygen, cutting your set short. Avoid the mistake by taking a breath, doing a repetition, and exhaling as you relax. 

Another mistake with supermans is overextending your back, or worse: doing the exercise despite feeling lower back pain. The superman exercise is safe and effective when you raise your feet and chest a few inches off the floor. Pushing yourself to extend even more doesn’t offer extra benefits but puts pressure on your spine. 

The third mistake with the superman is rocking back and forth as you do the exercise. Trainees often find themselves rocking back as they extend and forth as they relax. Doing so is by no means fatal, but it can make the movement unnecessarily difficult and possibly rob your muscles of tension. Focus on doing each repetition slowly and with complete control of your body.

Similar Exercises to the Superman

Rack Pull

Rack pulls are a compound exercise that trains your glutes, back and arms. The goal is to elevate a barbell inside a squat rack, performing only the second half of the deadlift. In doing so, your legs do less work, and it’s primarily up to your back and arms to complete each repetition.

Glute Ham Raise

Glute ham raises are an effective bodyweight exercise that strengthens your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back (4). The goal is to anchor your feet inside a glute ham machine and use your posterior muscles to raise and lower your torso.

Deadlift (Band)

Deadlifts with a band are a great compound exercise for the hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, and entire back. The objective is to grab a resistance band with both hands, step over it, and perform the deadlift pattern. In doing so, you train all of the muscles involved in supermans, plus your forearms and quadriceps.

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The rack pull is a movement that has you lift a barbell from an elevated position. Doing so allows you to practice the hip hinge pattern, strengthen your back, and improve your deadlift lockout strength. Since you’re not lifting the barbell off the floor, your legs aren’t as involved.

Rack pulls are one of the most straightforward and most efficient exercises you can use to build your back, improve your athleticism, and straighten your posture. Practicing the rack pull also builds grip strength, allowing you to perform many everyday tasks with ease: carrying groceries, picking things off the floor, and more.

How to do a Rack Pull

1. Elevate a barbell on a rack (such as inside a squat rack) or blocks. 
2. Add weight plates to the barbell. The barbell should be an inch or two below knee level as you stand in front of it.
3. As you position yourself to the barbell, your shins should be a couple of inches away from it.
4. Bend forward and grab the barbell with an even overhand grip at shoulder-width distance. Doing so will place your shins against the barbell.
5. Bring your chest out and bend your knees slightly. This maneuver will straighten your back and put your hips in the correct position for the lift.
6. Engage your abs and take a breath.
7. Pull the barbell in a straight vertical line by digging your heels into the floor and engaging your back.
8. Lift the barbell until you’re upright and squeeze your glutes to lockout. Don’t hyperextend your lower back.
9. Lower the barbell in the same straight line down, exhaling near the bottom. Keep your shoulders back as you lower the weight; don’t let the barbell fall.

What muscles does the rack pull activate?

The primary muscles involved in rack pulls are the ones in your back: erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, rhomboids (major and minor), and trapezius. All of them work hard to keep your spine neutral as you lift the barbell. Since rack pulls are a hip hinge movement, they also involve your hamstrings and glutes. Both muscle groups play an essential role in hip extension, allowing you to stand up with the weight.

Similarly, rack pulls also work your quadriceps to some degree. Your quadriceps produce knee extension, allowing you to straighten your legs at the top. Quadricep involvement depends on the height of the barbell’s starting position. 

And finally, rack pulls are fantastic for training your forearms and grip strength. Your forearms work hard during the movement, and your grip strength improves since you’re forced to hold onto a heavyweight.

What is the difference between rack pulls and deadlifts?

Deadlifts and rack pulls are similar. Both are hip hinge movements that train your posterior chain and build your grip strength. The primary difference has to do with the weight’s starting position. With a classic deadlift, the barbell is on the floor, and you have to get into a lower position to pull it successfully. Your knees and hips are much more flexed. The deadlift is more challenging than rack pulls because the range of motion is much longer. Plus, getting into the correct deadlift starting position is more complicated than setting up for a rack pull.

Deadlifts are great for training your entire posterior chain and place more emphasis on your glutes and hamstrings than rack pulls do. The movement also trains your quadriceps more since your knees are much more flexed in the starting deadlift position.

Rack pulls represent the top half of a deadlift. In other words, you skip the initial pull off the floor and only move the barbell through the top half of the deadlift repetition. As a result, rack pulls emphasize your upper back more and involve your legs less. Plus, you can pull more weight, which is beneficial for your grip and deadlift lockout strength.

Variations and Modifications of Rack Pulls 

1. Block Pull

Block pulls are the same as rack pulls. Instead of elevating the barbell inside a squat rack, the only difference is that you’re using blocks made of wood or something similar.

2. Above The Knee

This rack pull modification has you position the barbell above your knee. Doing so allows you to lift even more weight and further emphasize your upper back.

3. Trap Bar Rack Pull

Trap bar rack pulls are variations where you elevate a trap bar inside a rack or on blocks. Using a trap bar allows you to maintain a slightly more upright torso and emphasize your quadriceps better.

4. Resistance Band Rack/Block Pull

The banded rack pull is a variation where you wrap a resistance band over the barbell. Doing so lengthens the bands as you lift the bar, which progressively increases the resistance, peaking at the top.

Mistakes to Avoid

The most common mistake to look out for is using too much weight. Since the range of motion is shorter, people often use it as an excuse to add tons of weight and train their egos. But doing so only increases the risk of hitching the weight and getting injured.

The second common mistake with rack pulls is to allow the barbell to travel forward. Remember that rack pulls are a deadlift variation. As such, the barbell should remain against your legs throughout each repetition. If you create distance between the barbell and your thighs, you only make the movement unnecessarily more difficult and round your lower back.

The third mistake to watch out for is bouncing the barbell off the rack or blocks to do more repetitions. As you lower the weight, avoid slamming it into the rack for momentum. Sure, that allows you to lift a bit more weight, but it pulls the tension away from your muscles, which defeats the whole purpose of doing the exercise.

Similar Exercises to the Rack Pull

Conventional Deadlift

The conventional deadlift has the same movement pattern as the rack pull. The primary difference is, deadlifts have you lift the barbell off the floor, which lengthens the range of motion and forces your lower body to work harder.

Sumo Deadlift

Sumo deadlifts are similar to rack pulls because it is also a hip hinge movement that trains your posterior chain. But similar to conventional deadlifts, the sumo variation has you lift the barbell off the floor. The other difference is that sumo has you assume a wider stance, allowing slightly better adductor and quadricep involvement.

Trap Bar Deadlift

Similar to the previous two deadlift variations, trap bar deadlifts are another hip hinge movement that has you lift a weight off the floor. The primary difference is that trap bar deadlifts allow you to remain more upright, increasing quadricep involvement more than conventional deadlifts or rack pulls.

Reverse Hyperextension

Reverse hyperextensions are seemingly different from rack pulls. But both movements train many of the same muscle groups. Reverse hyperextensions train your hamstrings, glutes, and entire back, similar to rack pulls.

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